I too have often wondered where this “everyone used to love America” myth developed. I was an Army brat in Europe in the 60s and remember the abuse I took from French and German children very well — the book, “The Ugly American,” influenced everyone’s opinion of Americans regardless of who they were or how they behaved. The 70s brought the fear of going anywhere in Europe with so many “red armies” looking for Americans. The inability to leave my hotel room in Libya or Korea or China in the early 80s.

The one thing I am sure of is that since the election of Ronald Reagan (and the subsequent advent of 24-hour news and the Internet) America’s proclivity to air its dirty laundry and to allow anyone to say anything about anyone without regard to courtesy or manners or truth or responsibility has become a “mirror” for the rest of the world. America, as the only superpower is by default the world’s bad guy and bully (though also the world’s good guy, not nearly reported as much) — buoyed up by quoting American citizens without any regard to the veracity of those words or the paucity of those who may speak them.