The enemies of America

In the beginning of the 70's a cartoon hero started to be published in France under the name Superdupont. The character became rapidly known as the ultimate caricature of the stupid, reactionary Frenchman with his typical obsessions. One of them, and probably the most ludicrous of them all, was his gut-rooted conviction that the enemies of France were in the hiding, just ready to jump at her and destroy la belle France. But it was Superdupont's task to protect France and defeat the ferocious and treacherous enemy in endless confrontations.

Needless to say, Superdupont is also a rather convincing portrait of what a (French) paranoid is.

Now, to any Frenchman, reading so regularly in the American MSM that the enemies of America would be emboldened if America were to loosen its defence, the enemies of America bla bla bla, the enemies of America etc. can only raise a smile in memory of the funny French character of the 70's.

Not a single French newspaper, or even European for that matter (save for the Poles maybe...), would dare use the expression "the enemies of Germany", "the enemies of France (that would have everybody burst into laugh), "the enemies of Spain" etc. Not that these countries have only friends but they're mentally safe enough not to resort to any paranoid stance.

An American will ask me if I don't think that Al Qaida is an enemy of America. Well, Al Qaida is an enemy of the west in the first place.

But wait, this isn't really funny in the end because what any European will perceive as unmistakable evidence of paranoia is fraught with all the potential destructive energy paranoïa is all about. And when the only superpower America is becomes entangled (once again) in paranoid dynamic, the rest of the world is at risk and knows it.

But guess what? In the end I may well be perceived as another enemy of America...