A pirogi for me. A pirogi for you.

        From time to time or, occasionally, at random, someone, or some group of someones decides that it's time to find out if the Europeans really like us and so they do a survey. Maybe the new American president is a rocker, and the Europeans usually like that. Or maybe he's a 'blondes have more fun kind of a guy' and the Europeans, don't, well, seem to like that, not so much.

        Anyway, after the survey is finished, a lot of people get very happy or maybe very not so happy about the results, but why? Why should any American care whether Europeans like us or not?

                                                            ***

        "Vladimir, the Latvians are releasing the reindeer. We have to cancel the missiles we were going to drop on New York or we'll all be gored to death."

                                                              ***

        Makes sense, right? According to the NATO charter it's one for all and all for one. America gets attacked by the Russians and we'll be saved by the Latvians, the Lithuanians, the Slovenians, the...No, it doesn't make any sense, no sense at all. The only country that can provide an existential threat to America is Russia, although it makes no sense to think they would want to do such a thing, and all the rest of Europe combined can not counter a threat like that.

        Europe is of no real military value to the United States whether they like us or not. The only thing they can do if we're ever attacked is sew on one of those snappy NATO arm patches, slip into one of those super cool  NATO caps, grab a few escargots and ....run.

        The only country that can provide real military security to the United States is...the United States. No country in Europe, or anywhere else for that matter, can even come close to countering the Russian nuclear forces.

        And it's the same thing with 'economic security.'

        Any company in any country that can make a buck by selling or buying something here will keep doing it, whether they like us or our president or not. And if they can't, they won't. And if you don't believe that, well, you should.

        So, next time you read that only 28% of Germans or Frenchmen or women, or residents of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick or wherever still respect America or its president maybe keep in mind that it may not be 'fake news' but it's definitely inconsequential news. Doesn't affect us at all. Have another pirogi and Fuggedaboutit.