Well, as Jean Laeremans already refered to, there is this stereotype about the Dutch: that 'you ought to' finger, that 'holier than thou' attitude. :)

Perhaps Walter's critizing of the U.S. is an indirect result of the rolemodel of U.S. characters. in our youth. The real world differs significantly from it.

It is true that a proportional part of the Dutch are anti-american these days. Some years ago I saw a diagram that proved that sympathy for the U.S. rises and decreases in 10-year periods. Personally I'm currently not negative of the U.S. although there has been a decade (I think the seventies) that I too was negative. Amongst friends I am the one who argues against those who talk negative about the U.S..

Amnesty was here too a topic with the last elections. The parties that won have indeed given amnesty (legalized) a substantial portion of the illegal immigrants. It was a principal issue for the political parties rather than for the voters.

>What I find interesting is that so much of his time is focused on complaining about the U.S. Is the U.S. such an overwhelming focus in Netherlands? We certainly don't spend our time focusing on Netherlands here and I don't recall such negativity directed towards Netherlands during their economic crisis which only started to recover around 2005. Good job, the Dutch, on that. The U.S. should be looking closer at the actions the Dutch took, as many economists are.
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>The possibility of an economic fall here is indeed in everyone's minds. We are well aware of it. China may be the one country with the power to cause it to happen. It is also well known that the primary goals of the EU is a comparative superpower: politically, economically, and militarily. That is why polls show most Americans consider the economy the number 1 issue in the election. More important than the war in Iraq. Interesting that the majority of Americans want the border closed and immigration dealth with without amnesty yet that is the opposite of what Obama and Clinton plan to do. Americans will be forced, again, to vote for whichever candidate they feel will best move the country forward and they will be forced to focus on the issues most important to them. They are prepared to sacrifice some issues for those most important today.
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>Often, the U.S. does the dirty work with the agreement of the European and Asian nations while they foot the bill (or a lot of it anyway). Iraq changed that. Everyone knows that the entire world despises America and Americans now. Walter's opinions of Americans are so wrong though. He considers all Americans to be completely ignorant of the current situation at home and abroad. I don't know where he gets his information but it certainly is not reliable.
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>He may get more response and actually a constructive discussion if he could stop presenting his views in such a degrading, superior manor. It comes across as holier than thou and smacks of jealousy and resentment all too often. I don't know him personally, so I don't know if that is his typical demeanor. It certainly is the common thread in his messages though from this point of view.