I.e., to hell with everybody else. Consensus is for the weak. Negotiation as well.

And: We have enough to deal with trying to dope out our own internal differences without having to tax ourselves with the differences of outsiders.

Anyone who disagrees is just envious. tbbbbbthhhhh....

The trouble with thinking that one's nation has reinvented history is that one then thinks it's useful to ignore the lessons history has to teach us. Whether we look at ourselves as an empire or not, when we act imperial, we can expect a reaction to that in line with historical lessons.

And incidentally: American didn't "earn" good will on 9/11 any more than we "earned" the attacks that inspired it. What we received was sympathy. It was a gift of civilized people everywhere. That a columnist of Krauthammer's stature can even think that sympathy in the face of tragedy and horror is somehow "earned" by the recipient points out a deeply flawed understanding of human relationships. Wages are earned; gifts are given. Recipients, if they have any sensitivity to the dynamics of emotional sharing, accept gifts with grace and say thank you. They don't say, "Where's the rest of it?" or "That's not enough."

Regards--
Mary Anne