Strangers on a Train

I spend a good part of the year in Germany. Before each trip, I check the State Department's advisories for Americans travelling abroad. In the last year, the State Department has elevated the danger-level for Americans travelling in Europe, because of America's incursions into Iran and Venezuela--in addition to the usual constants: the Third World and Muslim resentment of America's wealth, power, and support for Israel.

My latest visit to Germany has just ended, and I came closer to that danger-level than I ever have. As I travelled on a train from Germany to Amsterdam, I stopped at the tiny "An Bord Restaurant" that serves drinks and sandwiches, and saw two waiters mistreating an American woman who had ordered something. Their anger and mockery had a sort of passive-aggressive lure, like "Come on, and I'll show you how angry I really am!"

In another instance, a man in a car came up behind me and sat on his horn. It scared the daylights out of me; and when he passed me, he tapped lightly on his horn several times, as if mocking me. I screamed curses at him as he sped away. The two hostile confrontations with immigrant Muslims in Germany scared me pretty good.

For one thing, what if the driver of the car had stopped, and come back to confront me in person? Perhaps he had a friend or two who could lend him a hand at dishing out payback to me. What if I had confronted the waiters in the An Bord Restaurant? What if I had complained to their superior--who might also be an angry Muslim? Both of those situations could easily have turned into something much worse.

Back home in America, you wouldn't think that America has a problem with Europe, from the way our political parties are battling each other to a standstill, with calumnies and aspersions galore! Far from worrying about what goes on in Europe and the future of our embattled nation, the politicians mostly concern themselves with opinion polls and getting re-elected. Americans get mostly third-hand leadership, behind the polls and the media.

What do their handlers say about the problem? "America is a great and growing country. Don't rock the boat." In their protected enclaves, they don't have much to fear from immigrants. Ask the Germans about the Muslims, and most will say they fear repercussions from their own legal system and the threat of being blackballed professionally.

So this article is mostly about America's political divisions, a recognized frequent-gripe for anyone who has read my other posts on this web-site. America's political leaders are elected officials. Their handlers work mostly to get them re-elected. They advise a client on how best to exploit an ongoing issue to his advantage. For a take on political handlers, consider watching The Candidate, filmed in 1974 and starring the late Robert Reford.

Intimidated Americans, used to the negative perceptions of us in other nations react like steers to the commotion, and hope that getting gored a few times will satisfy Third-World bulls for the time being, at least until they are gathered--leaving behind no hostages to fortune. They react more negatively to President Trump's efforts to neutralize the threat, than they do to the threats themselves.

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