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President Clinton in Ljubljana, June 1999. (Photo: Ralph Alswang)
Six
years ago, Clinton became the first American president to visit
Slovenia. I happened to be here at the time but decided not to stand in
the pouring rain on Congress Square to see him. I did, however, appear in a VeÄ?er
story about his visit, where I was quoted as saying something I can no
longer remember. Probably something stupid like: "Did you ever notice
that Bill Clinton is an anagram for Cob Nill Lint! Think about it!!!!"
There’s
been a tectonic shift in Slovenian public opinion to America since
then, with the Iraq War being the obvious turning point. Opposition to the war
is/was overwhelming here. It was 90% in one poll I saw, which is an
amazing number when you stop and consider how hard it is to get people
to agree on anything. Of course, none of that stopped Slovenia from
being mistakenly added to the "coalition of the willing." (When it was discovered that it was Slovakia
that was sending 105 crack troops to the country, the U.S. erased
Slovenia from the list and rescinded its 4.5-million-dollar consolation
prize. In some places, though, Slovenia is still listed as a supporter.)
From
personal exerience, I can say that things do feel different. Before the
war, people would ask me a lot more about the United States; general
stuff about how things worked, what it was like, how they’d like to
visit California one day. Now they never do. Either they’ve been
disillusioned, or they’re worried about what my reaction might be once
the subject of the war and Bush was raised. Many Slovenes assume that
Americans are 1) dumb and 2) quick-to-violence. In my case, of course,
they’re right on both counts.
But
I don’t want to delve into the war. There are plenty of bloggers out
there that argue incessantly with each other about Bush and the War,
and will do so forever without ever changing anyone’s mind. It’s almost
like Star Wars and Star Trek nerds battling it out
online, fighting over minutiae that even the people in charge couldn’t
care less about. I’m sure Shatner cares as little about photon
torpedoes as Bush does about his hardcore fans or enemies online.
Moving right along: Bill Clinton’s Toast to the People of Slovenia (thanks, crni!) was given exactly six years ago today. It’s a nice speech, and contains a reference to the fascinating tradition of the ducal coronation, an old process in the ur-Slovenian state of Karantania that stands as one of the earliest examples of the social contract. That ceremony would make its way (via Jean Bodin’s Les six livres de la Republique) around the world, including to the brain of Thomas Jefferson.
For more about how the ceremony may have affected the U.S.
(including a detailed description of the actual process) you can read this speech by U.S. Senator Frank Lausche from 1967.
The ceremony was conducted for the last time in 1414, when Ernest the Iron took a seat on the vojvodski stol. (duke’s chair)
Comments
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Great post, Michael!Carniola is the best blog on Slovenia, and you’re linked high up there in my blogroll. Good work :)
It is a real pity that most Slovenians don’t realize that almost 50% of
Americans did not vote for the current president and his policies. I
too have noticed a very strange aversion to USA. I am a Slovenian in
grad school in the US and when I visit home, some people actually talk
to me like even I have something to do with the war in Iraq. It’s
getting pretty ridiculous at times.
The only thing the "almost 50%" of us here can say is, "This, too,
shall pass." Although 2 scary things are happening here.1)
There’s <b>still</b> a (relatively small) movement here to
change the constitution so that Bush can run for a thrid consecutive
term.2) Friends of Arnold are pushing that the constitution be
changed to allow naturalized Americans to run for president.
While I can thnik of quite a few folks who I’d gladly vote for if they
ran, naturlaized or not, you know the proposed change is for Mr.
Schwartzenegger’s run for office. What’s upsetting
about all this, is that there is no push to change the law that would
allow a past president who had served two terms to run for office for a
non-consecutive third term. I am, of course, referring to the
candidacy of one William Clinton. Great post, Michael. You’re doing a fine ambassadorial job.
Michael - Thanks as usual for the great post! This one hits on
something that I’ve been fretting about, as a US citizen about to
embark on a 2 month visit to Slovenia - how much anti-American
sentiment is there, or how does one go about trying to not be perceived
and denounced as the dumb, quick-to-violence American? Hvala!
ZelenKel: I’ve never had any hostile encounters or felt that I was in danger. Which is nice. If you get into a conversation that veers towards politics, you can safely expect to hear criticism of U.S. foreign policy. Or questions like: "How can Americans be so stupid?" But you don’t have to worry about, say, speaking English in public. No one will bother you or accost you or anything. It certainly hasn’t happened to me in four years and counting.Knowing and using a few Slovene words (which I can see you do) will also go a long way. People here, I’ve found, really appreciate any efforts foreigners make, even if it’s only a modest "Govorite angleÅ¡ko?"I hope you have a great time. Drop me a line and let me know how it’s going!Darko: I get nervous whenever there’s talk of changing the constitution, but I have to admit I would really, really love to see Clinton vs. Bush in 2008. It would a thriller from Manilla. Well, maybe not Manilla, but still a thriller.Thanks to everyone for the kind words!
Zelenkel: A friend suggested a travel pack for all/any of us
travelling to Europe this summer. Along with laminated cards with
key phrases, best currency conversion on-line sites, and suggestions as
to where to get the best shoes and shirts, he re-hashed an old but
steady joke to imprint on t-shirts.Aside from setting a friendly
mood and providing a conversation starter, he felt the joke t-shirt
would serve to prevent verbal hostility before that engine gets out of
first gear. You’ve probably heard/seen this elsewhere; if
so, my apologies for a sorry repetition.So, here it is?Front : Howdy! Got a village idiot to spare? Ours left Texas a few years back.Back : Wanted: Village Idiot. Good Benefits.
President Bush is in charge of the executive branch of state authority. There are 2 other branches (jurisdiction and administrative branch) and also the whole civil society. People who don’t distinguish that, unfortunately chriticize everything American and every American.To be the president of the most powerful country in the world is no easy task either. Every decision influences some groups of people all over the world, so there are always supporters and opponents. And the previous presidents were not Nietzche’s "supermen" either, their eccentricities have only been forgotten, like president Bush’ will be in a hundred years time. Some of them owned slaves, liked to swim nude, killed Charles Dickinson, had 15 children, were killed by others, weighed over 300 pounds, had guinea pigs and snakes, hosted weekly poker games at the White house and lost all of the White house china gambling, wore corrective shoes, had childhood nicknames like Bubba and inappropriate relationships with their secretaries and so on and on.Get it?
Very nicely said, Nemo.
Well people look at the results and don’t care about what other
branches/citizens think about it. I’m not saying it’s wise, it’s just
the way it is.Anyway, comparing to opinion in Serbia, it seems as if Slovenia was bombed by NATO.
"… the example provided by the Corinthians to Thomas Jefferson. You see, Thomas Jefferson loved the fact that before assuming their titles, the old dukes of Corinthia …"W.J. Clinton, Brdo, June 21, 1999Corinthians? Corinthia? Congratulations to the presidential speech-writer ; )
well, it’s not only the president, also the senate is quite strongly republican and more and more from what i can see.i
think most europeans (it’s not only slovenians) make the distinction
between american-of-big-cities and
americans-of-deep-down-the-red-states. but it’s still hard to swallow
"guantanamo is necessary" from top state officials etc.nemo, i
think it’s quite amazing saying you can’t make yourself an idea of a
country based on declarations of its elected president, vice president
and secretary of defense (who is donald rumsfeld).
fartor
I don’t think it’s amazing. They all have representative mandates, not imperative ones.