UPDATE: Here's my wrap-up of the event, if that's what you're looking for.
America's image.
I got back from Rome late last night, and among the many emails awaiting my attention were reminders about the Michelle Obama visit to London on Monday.
What does that have to do with Rome, you ask? Well, if you've walked past an American Embassy in the last few years, you know that they are very well guarded. Maybe they always were, but these days the barricades take on a special meaning. There are a lot of people in the world who hate America, and they don't distinguish between our government and our people. Our embassies represent America, and have become, by necessity, very unwelcoming places.
The American embassy in Palazzo Margherita is beautiful, built in the nineteenth century and later housing Queen Margherita. It's located on a lovely avenue, Via Veneto, where everyone lives la dolce vita. It's surrounded not only by an iron fence but by metal barricades, the legs jutting into the sidewalk, a hazard for pedestrians. Italian police are poised at the entrances. Despite its tropical exterior, overlooked by tall palm trees, it's not a place anyone wants to linger.
In contrast, the French embassy, also housed in a former palace (the Palazzo Farnesse), is hardly distinguishable from the other buildings in Rome.
I want our next president to have as a priority the improvement of America's image worldwide. It's easy to say that, but much more difficult to achieve. America's security is inextricably tied up with America's image, and it turns out unprovoked invasions do not improve our image.
I want our next president to represent what's good about America—particularly the warm welcome we've always given to foreigners (unlike some European countries I could name, where anti-immigrant racist attitudes lurk just below the surface).
Traveling as an American overseas opens your eyes, to not only our image but also our strengths. We need a president who's done that, not in a protected bubble of security but as a private citizen. We need a president who represents what's great about America, not what's powerful about our defense contractors and their lobbyists.
If you live in London or thereabouts and would like to hear Michelle Obama talk about her husband's vision for America, go here to register for the event. She's speaking at 8 p.m. Monday night. The cost is only $100 ($50 for students)—dollars, not pounds, which counts as a contribution to the campaign. (Only American citizens can contribute to the campaign.)
I'll see you there. Ciao.
