Right in the ass.
As most of you know, the Mrs. and I go to Europe every year and, having just gotten back, this post from Digby is timely. Most of the passengers aboard Queen Mary 2 are European. Naturally, in the evenings after dinner, many folks get together in one of the bars on the ship and talk inevitably goes to politics and international relations. I was sitting with a Brit, an Aussie, a Welshman, and a German one night last week while the Mrs. was at the Blackjack tables and they all told me the same thing over pints of Spitfire.
Paraphrasing: "We love going to America (and Americans) but it's just too big a pain in the ass anymore."
They cite the visa rules and security protocols enacted after September 11th and would rather go to South America or Southeast Asia to spend their money than deal with U.S. Immigration and Customs. If anyone wonders about the "stunning defeat" we suffered yesterday regarding Chicago's Olympic bid, you can bet those rules have a lot to do with it.
There are a lot of American communities who survive on the tourist dollars Europeans and others bring into this country and as long as we make it so difficult to visit, those bucks will go somewhere else on an increasingly more frequent basis. It's time we realize that treating others like pariahs will not make us safer, just poorer.
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