Thomas Friedman criticized reflexive opposition to war from Europeans in his column this weekend, and it’s pretty clear that he has a point. I don’t dispute that the American government has done many bad things in our name over the past century or so, but a big reason why so many people around the world are dead set against us is that we’re on top right now. It’s not unlike the Yankees being the most popular and most hated team in baseball at the same time. They have the most championships, they make the most money, and they’re the most famous. For many people, that’s reason enough to hope they lose every game. Full disclosure: I always pull against the Yankees. There’s plenty of room in this world for principled opposition to war in Iraq, America’s hypocritical foreign policy, and globalization, but the problem is the people who protest those things out of habit are easily dismissed, and often drag down the people with better arguments with them.