On 12 Sep 2003 16:52:18 GMT, ost (Chris Mark) wrote:

Some knowledgeable common sense on the subject:

A Funny Sort of Empire
Are Americans really so imperial?

By Victor David Hansen

It is popular now to talk of the American "empire." In Europe particularly
there are comparisons of Mr. Bush to Caesar — and worse — and invocations
all sorts of pretentious poli-sci jargon like "hegemon," "imperium," and
"subject states," along with neologisms like "hyperpower" and "overdogs." But
if we really are imperial, we rule over a very funny sort of empire.

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snip

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Add that all up, and our exasperated critics are left with the same old empty
jargon of legions and gunboats.


Chris Mark

You don't think all this new found hatred of the "American Empire"
will encourage a bit of defense spending in Europe do you? Nah, doubt
they would do anything that would hurt their pensions.

What a pity.

How can the US respect a world power who won't stand up against a
bully like us?