Vacation in Spain is eye-opening
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Editor,
Just a quick note from Barcelona, Spain. As I talk with people over here about our Presidential campaign, the 2012 election and the Republican fervor to defeat President Obama with all the talk about Obama being a liar and a poor excuse for a president, I'm discovering that this does not really sit well over here.
Ideas and comments seem to run something like this: "It is perfectly understandable that President Obama has not been able, in just three years, to undo the damage done by not only the Bush administration but many previous administrations. And it is completely understandable that he has not been able, in just those same three years, to accomplish all the things he promised about 'changing Washington.' What do you Americans expect? And why do you have just a four-year term for a President? That seems too short. You are always running for office. Why not at least a six-year term?"
At a New Year's Eve party we were all sitting around in a big circle in a living room, and a nice young lady loudly asked: "Bob, would you be put in jail if you burned the American flag?"
She was serious, so I tried to be serious in response. I gave quite an impassioned reply, in English of course, the only language I know.
I spoke about it being rare that anyone with any good sense in America will burn our flag. I talked about how people love America, and that it is not our country that people are angry at, it is our political system run by greed, big money and special interest groups. And that people are upset with our government for not responding to the will of the people and doing the work that needs to be done. They all listened very politely, with some nodding and blank stares.
My son, David, was probably the only one who understood a word I was saying. And he knows better than to translate much of what I say.
Hasta la vista.
Bob McClellan
Polson
