I just heard that President Bush has invited the Chancellor to visit him on his ranch in Crawford, TX. If this honor (only Berlusconi, Blair and very few close allies have been invited there) is not a sign that the "renewed relations" between Germany and the US ARE NOT just "hot air", I really don´t know.
The President only invites those who he likes and respects. Nice to see Chancellor Merkel amongst that group. :0)
I am convinced that President Bush and our Chancellor have a good personal relationship. It is for sure not comparable to the Schroeder-mess and will help to restore the trans-atlantic relations.
Anyway - something fundamental happened through Schroeder between America and Germany. Before Schroeder we were a ally whose administration would have never ever critized the US in basic questions. That changed completely. Furthermore I doubt that the US will continue to count on Europe as a part of its millitary system in the same scale (as long as we speak about preemtive strikes - defense is something different) since the "coalition of the willing" was not as stable as they thought. Any US president will have to deal with democratic changes in European politics. Just think about Asnar and Berlusconi who were swept away by their voters. Even the UK is a unstable ally if we take the vast majority of Brits who dismiss the war.
All this is absolutely no reason for US isolationism since it has nothing to do with anti-americanism, but we all should think about some new definitions in our relationship.