With the usual liberal blind spot to their own preconceptions, I doubt the author of this article even realizes the point he is actually making.

There was a time when it was easy to dismiss the rest of the world as a bunch of spineless and spoiled children, hiding under America’s security umbrella while throwing hissy fits at the adults in Washington.

I see nothing in this article that would change that impression, although "the rest of the world" covers more nations than I would put on that list. That's what they're doing even as I type this.

The idea that the United States can be placed into the same category as North Korea and Iran shows a deep mental disconnect with reality that would make me wonder about Europeans being allowed to drive a car, much less swing any weight in international relations.

While the Left--across the planet--thinks our foreign policy should consist almost exclusively of kissing the asses of totalitarian monsters who would obliterate America in an instant if they thought they could do it, I would prefer an alternate course.

This is not an argument for pandering to the Europeans.

Of course it is. What other course of action is there in the mind of the author? If Europe can't conceive that dealing with issues like Iraq, Iran, North Korea and other nations is also in Europe's interest, whose fault is that?

By the way, is anyone else bothered by the fact that "Europe" has now been redefined as France and Germany?