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I think it has to do with most of our news concerning america is either about something violent or something ridiculous.
I'm speaking of Swedish median now, not german, but I get the sense that sentiments about americans are similar between many european countries. Let's say every time they interview a trump voter, they seem to have found the hick in town with the worst answer
-"Why are you voting for Trump?"
-"I Think... the UFOs u know, it's ahhh... Biden is a lizard and Trump is a god fearing businessman"
Or it's all the shootings, etc.
Basically if I would go by the picture in the media, I would think the average American could count his IQ on his fingers, his salary on his toes, and lives in a gun-shot-hole ridden tent on the streets of Baltimore, with an opiate addiction, excessive religiousness and a heap of fully automatic machine guns...
I'm exaggerating a bit here, but you get the point.
Here are some sources with negligible bias, Gallup[1], The Hill[2], and Axios[3]
[1]Overall, we rate Gallup Least Biased based on a consistent track record as a pollster and reporting news with minimal bias. We also rate them Very-High for factual reporting due to using only statistics driven information without opinions.
[2]"The Hill has a print circulation of above 24,000 and is read by opinion leaders, including 100% of Congressional offices, the White House, political pundits, association executives, lobbyists and corporate leaders." The Hill says it provides non-partisan coverage of all factors in legislative decisions.
[3]Axios is a news website launched in 2017 by three journalists who believed a transformation was needed in online media. The motto of Axios is “Axios gets you smarter, faster on what matters.” Information is presented in very brief news articles on subjects such as technology, science, health, environment, politics and sports. Its website logs approximately 11 million visits per month. Ad Fontes Media rates Axios as neutral in terms of bias and as most reliable in terms of reliability.
Of course, I expect most of the above will be dismissed according to the 'Anything that contradicts my indoctrination is liberal lies' principle.
If you are brave enough to keep reading:
40% of Republicans say Russia is an ally or friendly, up from 22% in 2014
25% of Democrats say the same, little changed from 28% in 2014
Among all Americans, 31% say Russia is an ally or friendly to the U.S.
In 2014, 22 percent of Republicans said that Russia was an ally, this was from a Gallup poll. That number's now 40 percent," Cannon told Hill.TV's Joe Concha on "What America's Thinking," referring to two Gallup polls on American attitudes toward Moscow.
"The only thing I can think of there is President Trump's constant refrain about the witch hunt and Russia, and conflating these issues has made respondents to this poll, not a trick question exactly, but there's a little bit of 'I have to stick up for my team there. The president is saying we can get along with Russia, OK maybe we can get along with Russia,' " Cannon said.
Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are 21 points more likely than Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (31% vs. 10%) to express confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin and his actions in world affairs, according to a global Pew survey.
That’s because certain Republicans and representatives of alt-right parties in Europe approve of Putin’s leadership style. They view the type of conservatism coming out of Russia as a positive, especially since it rejects concepts like modern feminism and LGBT rights. They see Russia as a nation that embraces traditional family values, while at the same time supporting religion.
It’s an interesting turnaround, as during the Cold War, Republicans were a lot more hostile towards the Soviet Union and Russia later on.
That’s because certain Republicans and representatives of alt-right parties in Europe approve of Putin’s leadership style. They view the type of conservatism coming out of Russia as a positive, especially since it rejects concepts like modern feminism and LGBT rights. They see Russia as a nation that embraces traditional family values, while at the same time supporting religion. It’s an interesting turnaround, as during the Cold War, Republicans were a lot more hostile towards the Soviet Union and Russia later on.
Because they are discovering by now I suppose, that Russian culture is socially very conservative, "communism" or not.
There's a perception that the 'left-liberal' Western community, which includes most of the mainstream parties in Western Europe, the Democratic Party and even the neoconservative wing of the Republican Party, considers Russia and other Central/Eastern European nations the real 'enemy' due to their relatively old-fashioned cultural values and opposition to certain key items on the left-liberal social policy 'wish list' i.e. gay marriage, transgender rights, open borders etc.
I think there's a big difference between U.S. conservatives and Eastern Europeans but they seem to be struggling vs the same opponent. The enemy of your enemy is your friend and all that.
Irman, you are well informed about the vast difference between autobahn design and construction, vs. a typical freeway in the US. I don't own a car in Germany, but occasionally drive an econo car (typically a Renault Clio or VW Polo) that I can rent with a "car sharing" subscription service. If I drive on the Autobahn, I stay towards the right, because I never drive above 130 kph/80 mph. In the open speed limit areas, it is not uncommon to be passed by a performance oriented car going 200+ kph / 120+ mph in the left lane. The silky smooth road surface allows this to happen, because if this were done on a typical section of freeway in the US, it would be extremely dangerous, far more hazardous than on the autobahn. They would risk tire / wheel failures or suspension damage.
I never driver slower than 80mph on freeways in the US.
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