My American exceptionalism fantasy is over: How these midterms sealed the deal / Andrew Cotto / Sal

[Mira]

Elections often hurt. Especially when they make you feel like a fool. I was one of the few who had held out hope that the electorate in key states would favor Democrats in respective races for Senate seats and governorships. As the map turned red over the course of Tuesday evening, the unraveling of my faith in the American political system — begun just about a decade ago during a lengthy trip abroad — completed its spiral.

Over 2003 to 2004, I lived in Italy for a year. It was a politically tumultuous time in America, and I spent much of my time in Italy fielding questions from concerned Italians about what was going on in the States. There was concern about the flawed election results of 2000, America’s withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol, and, of course, America’s response to the attacks of 9/11.While the Italians were heartbroken by the attacks and deeply sympathetic to their beloved ally from across the Atlantic, they were also deeply concerned about our government’s response. Italians, having so much bloodshed on their soil over the course of a few millennia, hate war. And while they may have been skeptical about the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan, they were outraged by the invasion of Iraq. Of the 600 cities around the world that hosted simultaneous protests against the Iraq War on a February day of 2003, the largest — by far — took place on the streets of Rome where an estimated 3 million people gathered. I arrived in Italy the following month to inspect our potential rental property and sign a lease, and rainbow Pace (peace) signs draped across facades were still so ubiquitous that the architectural aesthetic of the country had been altered.

Almost all of Italy’s animosity was directed toward the Bush administration. The Italians couldn’t — in their hearts — blame America yet as a country, so they blamed our leaders at the time. It was an easy thing to do, considering how Bush and Cheney and company exposed themselves, especially from abroad, to such profound ridicule. But there was also a larger concern about America in general, how we as a country were heading down the slippery slope toward the sinkhole of corruption and impotence, something the Italians have known so well for so long that they entertain no aspirations of ever escaping.


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