During the decade of the naughts and the two administrations of George
W. Bush, Europe was seized by a veritable paroxysm of anti-Americanism
noted
John Rosenthal
a few years ago in regards to a German news report about "An Entirely Normal American" (Christine O'Donnell) or, rather, more loosely translated, "An Entirely Average American, a Simpleton Like the Rest of 'Em".
More precisely, this was the case for the “old” European core of
Germany and France, as well as the neighboring countries most influenced
by the latter. Back in the day, several “euro-blogs” documented the
phenomenon on a nearly daily basis. These included Davids Medienkritik, focusing on Germany, No Pasarán, focusing on France, and my own Transatlantic Intelligencer.
In the meanwhile, since the election of Barack Obama, the subject of
European anti-Americanism is rarely touched upon even in new media and
one could well have imagined that the phenomenon itself had simply
disappeared.
But as the reactions of leading French and German newspapers to the
Tea Party and the prospect of large Republican gains in the upcoming
congressional elections make clear, “old” Europe’s anti-American impulse
never in fact went away. At most, it merely went into a latent state,
awaiting the proper conditions to become virulent again.
Consider, for instance, the sub-head of a recent article in the German daily Die Welt on Christine O’Donnell as the supposed “nightmare opponent” [Angstgegenerin]
of the Democrats: “Christine O’Donnell is even simpler than Sarah Palin
— but the Democrats are afraid of her.” When applied to persons, as it
is in this context, the German adjective simpel carries a strong whiff of “simpleton.”
Lest it be imagined that the crack is reserved for just O’Donnell and
Palin and might somehow be construed as sparing their supporters and/or
Americans more generally, the front page features a distinctly
unflattering photo of a seemingly unhinged and cockeyed O’Donnell,
accompanied — with a wink and a nudge — by the headline: “An entirely
normal American.” (In an allusion to O’Donnell’s now famous “I’m You”
ad, the teaser-text states that this is what O’Donnell claims to be. But
it then quickly adds that “ordinary people [literally, ‘people in the
street’]” are indeed enthusiastic about her, thus lending credence to
the claim.)
Above is the October 18 [2010] front page of Die Welt, one of
Germany’s leading newspapers. It should be noted that of all Germany’s
major dailies, Die Welt is probably the least prone to anti-American
excesses.
