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We Americans often hear that our standing with the rest of the world is not so great, particularly in Arab countries, Latin American countries, certain Asian and former Soviet Bloc countries and a few indigenous cultures (which shall remain homeless).

This was obvious when after 9/11 we were treated to Al Jazeera footage of Arab mothers dancing in the streets and celebrating the attack. Justified or not, some of those Arab countries can really rally around the flag, especially when it comes to railing against the great Satan.

In October 2001, I journeyed to Bolivia and Peru. My other companions, who were well traveled in South America, would always claim that they were from Canada. This would help avoid the almost certain negativity that comes from admitting you are from the United States. I could never bring myself to claim to be a Canuck but I understood my friends doing so.

In my other travels to places like Japan, Morocco, France and even England it became obvious that, despite having saved the world at least a couple of times, America is now the bad guy.

Randy Newman sings about how “everyone hates us” in his song “Political Science.” On his new album, in a song called, “A Few Words in Defense of Our Country,” he confirms that we are bad but not nearly as bad as the real bad guys out there like Il, Stalin, Amin, Mugabwe, Hitler and the Chinese.

Our melting pot country has melted to the point where nationalism on a manic level is nearly impossible. There’s too much diversity to all get behind a war, an enemy, an environmental cause or a presidential candidate. The most nationalistic folks in our culture may be those clinging to guns and religion and they are probably not looking to get together with me and read the pledge of allegiance or celebrate the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution. More likely they are wanting to be left alone, or else.

My daughter is spending a semester at an all-girls school in Ireland. I was surprised to hear of how Americans are at the bottom of the heap in Ireland.

In one of her recent missives she writes, “The way I’m treated because of my nationality impacts me every minute of every day here. The first thing everyone notices about you is your foreign status, and being an AMERICAN (gasp!) is like a double blow. You start off on the bottom rung, the scum of the earth in the minds of nearly everyone you meet, and have to work your way up from there.

“My new friends justify their stereotype of ‘all Americans are fat and stupid’ with YouTube videos of … you guessed it … fat, stupid Americans. Ordinarily when at home in the States I find that I tend to agree with that view of many of my fellow countrymen. However, I’ve noticed that here I am much more defensive of my country. I don’t consider myself a particularly patriotic person but I also don’t believe that America is made up of 100 percent Hummer driving, McDonald’s eating and obese idiots either.

“Apparently (according to nearly every person I’ve met here), Ireland has better coffee, fast food chains, school systems, etc. And let’s not even get in to the whole government thing. A word of advice — never talk politics abroad unless you are forced to. You’re American, so obviously you must love Bush, secretly. They inform you that EVERYTHING is better here. Ireland is CLEARLY the superior country. And then they always ask me to confirm that for them. Ireland is best right? Maybe all of those things are true, but nothing in my experience so far has led me to believe that Ireland is superior to America or any other country — simply different.

“So the bottom line is this: the Irish are VERY nationalistic and enjoy distinguishing themselves from all other countries — England in particular but everywhere else as well. One of their favorite pastimes is pointing out ways in which they are better than everyone else. The same syndrome can be found in extreme patriots everywhere in the world. No one holds anything against me for being American (after all, I’m not old enough to have voted for Bush) but they are curious to know whether I can point out Africa on a map or not. They also all ask who I like better — McCain or Obama. Once I’ve proved myself to be unlike their American stereotype, they enjoy questioning me about MY view of Americans as a whole and offer up their opinions on why we’re such an ‘awful lot.’

“I don’t take it personally anymore, but I try to get the message through that not everyone in America is a stupid dolt who likes war and hamburgers. Every country has its idiots. Every country has made mistakes. America stands out as a “force of evil” in the world right now, but I’m trying to convince at least a few that we’re not all bad. All in a day’s work for an exchange student!”

So, even the Irish are against us. Some would say that our standing in the world doesn’t matter, but those people probably think a dream vacation would be a week at the Mall of America.

Steve Skinner hopes God blesses America. Reach him at nigel@sopris.net.