Globe Columnist a VIctim of German Anti-Americanism

The US mainstream press has discovered European anti-Americanism.  In today’s Boston Globe, columnist Cathy Young writes about  being viciously assaulted in "a small German city" while riding an elevator with a German gentleman in his 60’s.  The man is polite until he finds out she is from the US:

The man’s demeanor changed visibly. After a glum silence, he remarked
sourly as we were leaving the elevator, "America is always starting
wars everywhere in the world. It’s not good for people."

I was so shocked that the most obvious comeback did not occur to me
until a couple of minutes later, when he was out of sight: "You mean,
like World War II?"

I’d heard the stories before — tourists in Europe being subjected to
anti-American verbal outbursts. But there’s nothing like running into
it personally.

This episode perplexes her, since she sees the US and Europe united in a common ‘War on Terror’:

The divide is a tragic one. For all our differences, there is much of a
common Western culture that Europe and America share. Many secular
Europeans today see the United States as a country on a crusade to
impose its simplistic religious values around the world. But we aren’t
at war against Holland or Belgium to stamp out same-sex marriage. Just
as during the Cold War, we are fighting a totalitarian force that would
crush freedom — and in this fight, Europe and America have, or should
have, a common cause.

But help is on the way.  Via Tobias at Fistful of Euros we learn that Deutsche Welle is offering Americans an Instant Germanizer.  Just in time for Christmas!