No Respect

The recent visit to the Netherlands by our beloved President Bush was, for the most part, rather uneventful. Bush's visit to an American WWII cemetary in southern Holland on Sunday was highly publicized and talked-about for the weeks leading up to it, and for good reason. Bush is not exactly well-liked among Dutchmen, so it was a perfect opportunity for them to practice one of their favorite hobbies: a protest.

Yesterday's headline in the local newspaper (a Reformed one to be exact) read this way: "Publiek komt voor de doden, niet voor Bush." In case you are not as awesome at Dutch as I am, that means "Public comes for the dead, not for Bush." The corresponding photos pictured Dutchmen, young and old, holding up various signs of protest. One elderly man held a sign reading "Not in my name."

The article read on to describe the various subjects of the protests, ranging from the Iraq war to North Korea. My personal favorite: a group of young people protesting about the level of noise that Air Force One emitted upon landing in the Eindhoven airport. Apparently they weren't around for the near-riots just days earlier in celebration of PSV's victorious season.

The fact that Holland doesn't like Bush is nothing new. They don't agree with his foreign policy, his plans for Iraq, and most importantly, "that his hand is in the pockets of big oil corporations." That's fine. They're entitled to their opinions. But a friendly visit to commemorate fallen freedom fighters is different. Have the liberated forgotten their liberators?

Not likely. Just a few weeks ago, I attended a Liberation Day ceremony here in Zwolle. Schoolchildren, city workers, and other citizens gathered to remember the 60th anniversary of Zwolle's liberation by Canadian troops. An immense wave of gratitude overcame the crowd - it was evident that the work of the liberators would not be forgotten any time soon.

So this leaves us with one conclusion: the deep anti-Bush sentiment in Europe has grown so strong that is has overshadowed America's role in the single-most important event in Dutch history.

I think what gets me the most is how readily the European youth have embraced this attitude. I have held many conversations with young Dutchmen throughout the past four months, and the mention of Bush comes up almost every time - their doing, not mine. As far as I can remember, all of them have expressed dislike for our president. When inquired as to the reasons why, a variety of intellectual responses came forth.

"He thinks everyone should have guns."

"He thinks he can invade any country that he doesn't agree with."

"He wants to take over the world." (I cut this guy a little slack - he wasn't exactly sober.)

With youth like this, our future relations with Europe don't look promising. Hopes for mending our differences might prove to be difficult.

So what do we do? Holland is a beautiful country, and I have grown to love it. But what if the dreaded German occupation were to return?

Would they still want us to stay out?