The article is a fascinating interview with a French Philosopher by the name of Bernard-Henri Lévy (BHL for short).  I had to do some research to find out if this guy was for real, or just a put up as he says somethings unheard of about America, from a Frenchman!

The author claims that BHL is one of only 7 Leading Frenchmen (there are no women) that do not hate America, and if this interview is any indication, it is apparent that he does not hate America, he just does not like all things American.  But what was most fascinating about the article was on his take of the roots of the French animosity towards America.  I have seen others sniping around the edges before, but he puts a whole new slant on it, and claims that not only did the animosity not start with the French Left, but with the right!  And why?  Jealousy!  Of what?

"In France, with the nation based on roots, on the idea of soil, on a common memory . . . the very existence of America is a mystery and a scandal." This is a particular source of pain, Mr. Lévy says, for "the right." Contrary to what is thought generally, he insists, anti-Americanism "migrated to the left, to the Communist Party, but its origins are on the extreme right." America gives the French right "nightmares," as the country is based on "a social contract. America proves that people can gather at a given moment and decide to form a nation, even if they come from different places." The "ghost that has haunted Europe for two centuries"--and which gives fuel, to this day, to anti-Americanism there--"is America's coming together as an act of will, of creed. It shows that there is an alternative to organic nations."

Yes, the French are Jealous of America for doing something heretofore never done before and only once since (he equates the creation of Israel to the same creed).  While France tries to lay claim to the first secular democratic state in modern times (we will forgo the argument of Ancient Greece), the simple fact that a nation was born not of a common heritage, but a common creed is unfathomable to the French, and something that most European nations tried to do by force for hundreds of years (only ending in the 90s with the fall of the USSR).

In other words, the very existence of the European Union is an attempt to duplicate what America did 230 years ago (and so far has been unsuccessful in accomplishing).

I found the whole article and his insights into America to be a fascinating read, and intend to check out some of his books to see what other insights he has.  But to discuss America in a calm and rational manner like that is truly what sets him apart from many of the detractors of this nation on the continent. 

He clearly states he is a leftist, and that he looked for the ultimate revolution to bring out the leftist utopia.  In another very revealing thought, he says the death of the left was not with the fall of the Soviet Union, but with the Cambodian Revolution.  For as he indicates, it was the first time that they revolution had "gone far enough", and the results are now readily apparent to all mankind.

That event seems to be a defining moment for him, when he turned from the far left of communism to a more moderating path of socialist.

All in all, it was a great read, and one I really enjoyed.