Gratitude

Poor Bill English - no matter what he says, he appears to stick his foot in his mouth. Yesterday it was preempting his party's review of the anti-nuclear policy by inviting US ships to visit, today it's (according to the Dominion-Post) accusing the US of ingratitude:

"When you look at all the things the Government has done on our behalf in recent years there's not much to show for it," Mr English said yesterday. "We've made no progress on a free trade agreement, the prime minister might get a headline and a photo out of it but there's been nothing for New Zealand's national interest that's been achieved."

Some people think the "ingratitude" headline is being a bit hard on English, but what else do you call it when you do stuff for people and get squat in return?

Meanwhile, Richard Prebble is outraged that English would expect anything from the US:

[English] is also wrong in suggesting that the United States should be grateful for New Zealand's participation in campaigns like Afghanistan and Iraq... It is New Zealand that should be grateful the US is the world's only super power and that it has been prepared to take on the disproportionate burden of keeping the world safe.

Yes, we shouldn't expect any gratitude or quid pro quo for cooperating with the hegemon. In fact, we should be grateful for the opportunity to serve them!

It looks like we have some craven toadies of our own...