Foxy Knoxy???

Couldn't resist that title. In all seriousness, after a year-long trial, American student Amanda Knox was found guilty of murdering her British roommate in Perugia, Italy on Friday.

I am very proud to be an American and extremely proud of my country. However, when we will learn that once we step onto foreign soil we are subject to that country's laws and legal practices? The Knox family is now slamming the entire Italian legal system. Do you remember a situation several years ago with a young American teen in Singapore (I think??) who vandalized some cars or something like that and was subjected to caning? What an uproar that was! What about the two American journalists accused of being spies when they stepped onto resstricted land and were sentenced to hard time in a labor camp? My point is, when you travel out of the country, you are subject to that country's laws (i.e., when you go to the UK you travel on the left side of the road, when you're in America you speak English, etc.).

Chris & I love to travel and we both have an incredible sense of history. Whenever we travel, with or without our children, we make it a point to learn and respect the people and their culture. I am often embarrassed by the "Ugly American" stereotype...the American who refuses to learn a few polite phrases in a foreign language, the American who mocks another country's traditions or living standards. We have witnessed it time and time again...the American bigshot at the hotel bar in Cabo bragging about "how little he tipped the bartender" because "he's grateful for anything I toss his way; I mean really, how much is a peso worth these days?" The American student screaming the words to the Spongebob Squarepants theme song as we walked the streets of Rome two summers ago. The American women in Cancun saying "God! I can't believe these people live this way!" The rude American in the Bahamas asking "What do I have to do to get a decent cheeseburger in this place?"

I have no idea if Amanda Knox is guilty or not. All I know is that her parents, and now it seems Hilary Clinton (WTF??), are demanding an appeal on the premise that her character was defamed in the press (which, in my opinion, is no different that what has been done here in the US in the Casey Anthony situation). In a case like this, her character should be brought into play. Whether or not she did drugs or was sexually promiscuous should be questioned. It says a lot about a person. Amanda Knox has admitted to being in the home at the time of the murders and says she can't remember anything because she was smoking some weed. That story has since changed several times.

Personally, I don't think slamming the Italian judicial system makes much sense and I really don't think Hilary Clinton is gonna help their little girl.