I couldn't tell you how many mountains, munros, bens, locks and glens I've seen in the last three days. If I were counting, I'm sure I'd be in the hundreds for each of them. If I sound a little tired out, I'm not. Scotland is as beautiful as they say. It's not the stunning statuesque aesthetic of the Swiss Alps or the majestic unbounded boldness of the rockies or North Cascades. It's more of a voluptuous solilique of mourning with dark, low hanging clouds that blanket the mountains like grey cashmere.
The people are stout and friendly, if a little loud at times. I've never had a tastier hallock (fish) then in Mallaig. Apparently that old saying about don't eat the fish unless you can see the water is increasingly effective, the closer the water. This time I looked out the restaurant window over the road into the dock where the fishing fleet was stocking up with ice for the next run.
These last few days have been quite solemn. I've seen a lot of castles, read a lot of history about invading hoardes, massacres, wars and injustices. The British aren't the only ones to have invaded, tortured, and otherwise abused this land and it's people. And the people did a pretty good job of it themselves. The clans are not all that unlike the American Indians or for that matter the modern day cripts and bloods (gangs) with their identifying clothing (colors/tartans). One can easily feel the imposing and constant reality that people are always looking for some thing, some excuse to fight and take and others to point their fingers and say, "See there, the invaders and criminals". Europeans like to point to the U.S. as the defining evil of our age invading Iraq like that, "How dare they?" Yet, look around for help from the U.S. when in their own backyard, Russia invades a U.S. ally without provocation other than to protect their own borders and attempt to reign in a stray rebellion province. Chechnya ring any bells? It's fine to protest war, talk down the U.S. and go on blithely bad mouthing the country that seems to be the well of constant security. But when it comes to meeting the great Russia, Europe looks west for an answer, their own union powerless and impotent to do anything to avert the trouble. Of course, it's America's fault for letting itself get distracted with Iraq, oh, and why not focus more on Afghanistan and all is lost there. Isn't it?
The anti-american bias is at high mark here. We're the butt of their jokes and America's efforts to stem the suffering in far flung places is always played down as though it's just expected. And when we don't do all that for a given country, we're excoriated as isolationists who rarely travel outside the boundaries of our own country. Small wonder. Europe likes to do the talking, but when it comes to facing down real evil or power politics, likes to step back and let the blood of our young men flow whilst they sit on the sidelines and do commentary.
I was alarmed to walk into a local restaurant to happen by a gameshow machine where two men were given the question "Hitler was known as 'Der Fuhrer', what was the name Mussolini went by?" Four mulitple choice answers were given: Dada, Duce, Duon, Dodo. One of the men said, I think it's Dada. I said, "It's Duce." They chose Duce and were happy to see it was right. They had no idea. And I'm the dumb, loud American that doesn't travel around much and is unaware of other countries and societies? There seems to be a cone of ignorance surrounding WW II in Europe. My sense is that it's self inflicted and repressed to keep people from going insane. People here still talk about the war as though it was last year. But, they're much more interested in the sexual exploits of the spys or the daring escapades of their dashing young men and women than the actual underlying causes which are much harder to bear or the sacrifices of a country thousands of miles away. People have short memories.
Maybe I am a bit tired after all. Tired of the smug European political dialog that posits that America is a war monger state, its citizens ignorant and uncaring towards the rest of the world and that Obama will save us all and change the world. The most encouraging piece I read this week was in a Scottish paper. The writer questioned the Obama mantra "Yes, we can!" by simply asking "How?" and pointing out the emptiness of the dreaming strategies and empty policies that have become the standard and only deliverable Obama can seem to muster.
What is meant by "change"? One thing is clear to me as I look back over the compressed history of the last 10 centuries of Scotland. Change is the only constant. Well, that and war. Maybe Europe should understand that before they happily cheer the ever pending doom of an Obama presidency, because he might really mean it when he says that he'd create change in the world. With the European countries on the edge of an increasingly rogue and militant Russia, and for that matter all the other hotspots in that corner of the world, who would come to their aid if not America? Maybe he would actually change the way America works and try to talk those rogue countries out of their predetermined course. Sort of a "walk softly and hope" strategy.
Problem is, will they listen? I "hope", for Europe's sake, they will.
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