Contrast craven America with even-keel Europe and the difference is pretty stark.

U.S. chest thumping and saber rattling begin minutes/hours after some outrage in the States or at U.S. interests overseas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Europe






European leaders calmly comfort the victims, reinforce security perimeters, and openly encourage citizens to go about their business, thus denying the terrorists their desired outcome.

I'm astonished at some of the responses to threads I've posted about the present wave of atrocities in Europe.

Case in point, this remark in a thread about Brussels being on lockdown:

Talk about PROJECTION!!!

What SO many Americans fail to understand is that Europeans have been living under the specter of nuclear war and terrorism for the last 40+ years. (Russian incursions into the Baltic and North Seas, IRA attacks, ETA bombings, Bader Meinhof killings, East German STASI covert activities, Italian and Greek extreme-left terror threats, etc. etc.).

Not only have Europeans lived to tell the tale, but they have managed to double the size of the original EU, create a single currency to compete on money markets, and bring several countries into the democratic fold.

Their ancient and venerable cultures have stood the test of time and will continue to do so. They've learned many lessons through their self-inflicted suffering and have truly struggled to achieve a modicum of unity.

Paris' ancient motto and symbol stand for all of the EU:

FLUCTUAT NEC MERGITUR

(Tempest Tossed, But Still Afloat)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027352851