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According to Gallup, Americans' confidence in all three branches of the U.S. government has fallen, reaching record lows for the Supreme Court (30%) and Congress (7%), and a six-year low for the presidency (29%). Obama scores lower than Bush at this same point in his presidency.
I guess Americans feel the same way much of Europe does; no one has much confidence in our so called leaders.
"The Obama administration has achieved a landmark heretofore considered impossible: they are making America's allies homesick for the administration of George W. Bush. This week, news broke that Poland's foreign minister was caught on tape earlier this year disparaging the United States. Radek Sikorski bitterly said Warsaw's ties to Washington were "worthless," then followed it up with some even saltier language."
At least Mexico and Honduras like us.
Obama, in his defense, inherited a country facing far larger problems than the "Bush economy." Where we have failed is the media, in an effort to protect his reputation, has failed to allow real, objective criticism where due. As a result, the administration operates under the assumption that any critique is based on racial hatred or blind partisan ideology.
I am American. I do not give a rats ass what anyone in Europe thinks of us. I just want them to leave us the hell alone.
Sikorski is one Polish official - he doesn't speak for "Europe". Of course he's unhappy - he was one of the few who had the nerve to say out loud that it was in Poland's interest to back whatever scheme the previous administration dreamt up, as long as there was something in it for Poland. When the missile shield was set to be installed, he openly declared it was completely useless for Poland's defense purposes, but the gift bag of conventional weaponry that Poland extracted from the US in return for hosting the system - that would be very welcome. So when the deal fell though, Poland didn't get an armored brigade in return for a few square miles of land. Disappointment. (They ended up buying German which is probably the better deal anyway. Germans know their tanks.)
As for the rest of Europe, it's not that long ago a sizable part of the European countries voluntarily joined up for the Libya air campaign. Syria's chemical weapons are being removed by European ships under European navy protection.
As far as I can tell, since 2009, Europe has been quite happy to see themselves extricated from Iraq and Afghanistan, and to see an America with a slightly less invasion-based foreign policy.
The comment section is interesting. We have lost the respect of our allies in less than six years.
?? We lost the confidence of our allies long before that- many of our allies absolutely hated the way the US treated them under his leadership- and of course problems continue into this administration as well, continuing to erode those partnerships.
The comment section is interesting. We have lost the respect of our allies in less than six years.
Funny comments from the side of the aisle who came up with "Freedom Fries" and "Old Europe" when France and Germany didn't meekly ask "How high?" back when GWB wanted them to jump. Obama may be a disappointment, but GWB was loathed.
Um, Obama & Billary illegally overthrew the Honduran government in July 2009, installing a puppet.
Of course the puppet likes Obama....the puppet will even dance and moon walk for Obama....
Mircea
Its what Obama tried to do in Syria, Libya, and Egypt... fail... we should stop trying to take over countries by manipulating its citizens and then trying arming them through the black market by giving them "humanitarian aid"... Obama has already said he wanted to arm a rebel force in Syria... what business does the US have arming people in foreign countries to fight their own government... I guess they want to create another Honduras... Mexico loves us because we allow illegal immigrants who send back millions of dollars to Mexico... who wouldn't love that...
At the start of the Obama administration the NY Times ran a piece on how Bush had shredded relations with Europe. Obama made restoring relations part of his campaign. I think many of you remember the infamous trip to Berlin, which caused liberal euphoria across the US. Six years later he's alienated them further.
How short is your memory?
Poland is not Europe and Europe is not Poland. In fact, each country in Europe is . . . unique! The Polish government was, with Britain, the closest ally of the Bush administration (in no small part due to the missile defense plan that would have greatly benefited Poland). Many other countries in Europe, like France, Ukraine, and Germany, have significantly closer ties to the US under the Obama administration. Russia is another country that is chillier with the US under Obama than under Bush.
The world is a complicated place, and you can't please everyone.
So they are upset because we are scaling down our world policing and now they have to learn to be less reliant on American taxpayers........?
Za Zing!
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