Goodbye Europe

Europe says So Long, and thanks for all the movies

If you get a chance, check out this article in Zeit Online: Thanks America, That’ll Be Al:lAndy Warhol, Big Mac, iPhone: It was a grand American epoch. But it’s over, by Florian Illies

In it, the author looks at Trump and the American Right’s foreign policy (such as it is) and concludes that the special relationship that used to exist between the US and Western Europe is gone for good. And, maybe, American cultural vigor has gone as well.

The article is a little bit tongue in cheek, but you have to admit, the author’s got a good point. Trump has effectively ruined our relationship with the rest of the world, in general, and with our allies in Europe in particular.

Frankly, that could hurt us far more than it could hurt Europe. For a long time, Western Europeans accepted our leadership, and devoured our popular culture. But, now, that happy time is gone.

And mind you, all of this was so that one Orange Man could impose his diseased conception of the world on events, and so that rabid MAGAts could “own the libs.”

Somehow, I don’t think the “victory” was worth the price.