Cynthia Dillon
Jewelry Designer, volunteer for Republicans Abroad, 49
Arrived in Madrid in 1990 from New York City

     No one thinks I’m on the left, I don’t think I exude that, but people might be surprised that I’m so pro Bush. I have a right to my opinion, but I’m never insulting or obnoxious about it. I’ve been told a few things, especially last fall. I went to The Universidad Autonóma de Madrid, with a democratic counterpart to give a talk, and he ended up defending me because we were fighting against the whole University. The sentiment was against the US in general.
     They enjoy seeing American beaten. Why? Envy! They envy that freedom we’re endowed with, directly from God, freedom of the spirit. And the power that comes from the freedom. You have to understand that in Europe, there was a feudal background. The sense of freedom you are born with here in Europe is recent, where as in the States, it’s been around for 200 years.
     I was at a party and a Dutch man said, “What is considered a terrorist to one, could be a freedom fighter to another.” I think people who think that way today are totally irresponsible, misinformed and cruel. I can’t call the IRA, ETA, Al-Qaeda freedom fighters.