The most fun you'll have in an airport

I'm all in favor of randomness. The title for this blog came at random from a pulldown menu when I started to type. I like it, though.

I haven't seen the news for a few days, nor have I been concerned with anything other than my #1 goal for a long weekend that Mariellen and I took for ourselves: R & R (rest & relaxation, for non-military/police types). Still, I have a hunch that something I wrote a long time ago on my friend Jeff's blog, responding to his thoughts about racism, still applies:

I can think of a few ways to respond as a representative of the U.S., in a way.

1. It's interesting to see how U.S. policy affects Americans abroad. The "ugly American" stereotype is too often true, but I think people like you, Jeff, really do start to change people's minds about the U.S. I see now what you're saying about how many people don't seem to distinguish between American policy and the American people, and how it causes conflict for you and I'm sure for many others. Americans at home generally know that the war in Iraq is unpopular, and that Bush is a particularly easy-to-demonize president, but I think many of us realize that we really have no choice now but to continue at least part of the course we are on. The personalities of the president and the cabinet seem to have become the issue for people in other countries, which I think is interesting, but I'm not sure what we as Americans at home or abroad can do about that.

2. As far as Japan as a U.S. lackey, I think the U.S. generally views Japan as an important ally, but we also recognize that Japan has an independent voice on things like human rights and the environment. I think many people in the U.S. would welcome Japan and Germany on the Security Council, which is an interesting phenomenon, but the U.N. is an international body, and the Security Council should probably reflect the power and influence of other, non-"western" or "westernized" countries. I don't think President Bush will actively push to expand the UNSC, since he can't even get his nominee as ambassador to the UN through, but we'll see.

3. As far as the U.S. as a terrorist country, I think that hyperbole hopefully will die down when Bush is no longer in office. Three and a half years to go...