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In political science classes, we learned that historically the republicans were always poorer at foreign policy, and the democrats were historically more successful at it.
Not that it's any scientific research, but I noted that a fair amount of Europeans are able to disconnect our politics from our culture. (Maybe less now that we re-elected Dubya...) But the only other point I'd like to make is that I'll bet more Germans know who George W. Bush is than Americans know who Angela Merkl is...
well, only about 30% of the population voted for Bush, with the 50% voters ( btw why is it so low? electing the U.S president is not just for the country, it affects the entire world: I don't understand why a large percentage does not seem to have a conscious).
I can tell you an outside view as I am French, the "normal" people judge America on Bush, sadly.
The intelligent people know how to distinguish one from another.
However, as you may know intelligent people do not represent the entire country. (Unfortunately)
PS: I did not find the exact translation (does not exist) for the word I wanted to use , so I used < Intelligent people >.
Nota Bene : Don't know much about American politics, but I listened to the sort of debate, between the republicans and I was shocked to hear most of the candidates being against abortion (We are in 2007 !) and still saying Iraq was a good choice. I am a right man (laugh?) but I don't understand these views: are they trying to get the religious crazy people to vote for them?.
Otherwise, just keep writing on this lovely forum! Reading what you all write, the REAL american people, tells more about how you are as a people than your president or your hollywood divas...You have surely changed my opinion!
Thanks guys!
That is good to know. I hope more find this site to better understand our views.
I have wondered if people judge our country based on our leader or our people, as well. Bush and his entire adminsitration has been an embarassment and shame to many Americans.
His administration, while at first polarizing to our nation, is now bringing the left and the right together on some litmus test issues. Maybe he will be known for being a "uniter" after all, though not in the way he had in mind.
I have often heard negative comments about Americans long before Bush became President. While most people who have direct experience with Americans know each individual is different and doesn't represent the entire nation, there will always be stereotypical views about Americans just like there are stereotypical views about the French, the British, Asians, Latin Americans etc. The problem I see is that when Americans travel around the world outside of the US, some have a tendency to display arrogant behavior, like when asked to join the line where there is an English translator, comments arise like: "Does no one speak American?" And in restaurants, conversations and laughter are so loud that patrons could not hear themselves but they could hear every word to know that the speakers were American. I think people form opinions based on their own personal encounters, so one should not blame Bush for every thing negative about Americans. (I'm not American, hence no affiliation with the Republicans or the Democrats.)
They do, and considering the fact that he was re-elected, I can't say that I blame them and even as an American myself, I actually probably have to unfortunately agree with a lot of their opinions; recognizing of course that people are to be judged on an individual basis and that one must separate the politics and government from the people both in this country and others, but still not being able to pretend that his re-election does not say something about the general worldview of a large portion of the American population.
I am from England, married to an American, and have lived in the US. I by no means think that W reflects the majority of American people. He didn't win the popular vote in 2000, 2004 was plagued with controversy also. Most of the Americans I know are embarassed by W, and at the end of the day he is a failed President on any empirical measure.
He is also dangerous for the rest of the world in terms of his rediculous "war on terorrism"TM, that has actually done nothing to make the world a safer place.
Unfortunately, the US is a very complex country to understand in terms of its politics and people, but the rest of the world can only go by what they see on TV.. this is unfortunately the idiot George W Bush.
Its a definite yes. To argue otherwise would be to put oneself in a mental illusion to hope that the world doesn't hate us. I talk to some of my relatives overseas and they never shut up about how stupid we Americans are
Its a definite yes. To argue otherwise would be to put oneself in a mental illusion to hope that the world doesn't hate us. I talk to some of my relatives overseas and they never shut up about how stupid we Americans are
Well my wife is American and she is far from stupid. Most of the people here (England) that comment on America have no idea what they are talking about. Every country has stupid people. The US has 76 of the top 100 universities in the world, and the most successful corporations, as well as being the richest and most powerful country in the world's history. Calling 300 million people stupid is, well, stupid in itself!
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