So I've been watching the Olympics lately. Based on the TV ratings the Games have received thus far, it's conceivable that some people reading this column weren't even aware that the 20th Winter Olympic Games were well underway. Wednesday night, 11 million more people tuned in to watch American Idol than the Olympics.
In other words, we'd rather have an "idol" fabricated for us by Fox than watch an Olympic skier overcome a crash that required her to be airlifted to a local hospital where she spent Monday night but returned to race in her scheduled event a day later. We'd rather watch a mean English judge make fun of competitors than the new ice skating judging system that posts judges scores anonymously.
But this column is on the Opinion page and not the Sports page, which means that I have to write about something other than just sports. In that vein, these Olympic Games have provided interesting insight into the rest of the world.
For one, who knew that Cameroon had a world-class cross-country skier? More importantly, who expected the United States team to get the second-loudest applause - host Italy had the loudest - when they entered the stadium during the Opening Ceremony last Friday night? I know I didn't and based on the reaction of Bob Costas and Brian Williams, who were covering the event for NBC, neither did anyone else.
So how does this happen? How are we told time and again that there is rampant anti-Americanism abroad? Why is it that we hear that our policies alienate more and more of the globe each and every day but we seem to be the darling of the Olympic crowds? The simple explanation is that there were just more American fans there than anyone else - but that's not the correct explanation.
The fact is, when the United States entered that stadium, the entire crowd was cheering, not just a vocal minority. And it has apparently continued throughout the first week of the games, in spite of the rather disappointing showing by some of the American "stars" thus far. The only explanation that fully answers our questions is that Europeans don't hate our guts quite as much as we think. Italian troops represent the third highest total number of troops in Iraq, behind the United States and Great Britain. Germany just elected its first conservative chancellor in years - but I would have thought until recently that the Germans never would have elected a conservative government, given the apparent widespread protests of American actions.
What can be learned from all of this is that Americans and American media have allowed an extremely vocal, modestly-sized minority fool us. Europeans don't hate America. There is certainly a fraction of the continent that is a strong opponent of things that the United States does. There are those in this country who feel the same way.
In spite of the perceived hatred, Europeans want to wear our clothes and listen to our music. People from all over the world want to come to the United States to get an education or to get a taste of what life is like living in the freest society in the world. Even if some people in Europe profess their distaste for the United States, others are cheering vociferously for our athletes ahead of their European neighbors - that ought to tell us something.
