Bush rates poorly in survey while Putin gains status PARIS: President George W. Bush is widely unpopular, President Vladimir Putin is gaining admirers, and Iran should be penalized if it does not cease its uranium enrichment programs, according to an international survey conducted by Harris Interactive in the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy. (...) According to the 2007 survey, whose results are being released on Friday, Bush's best score internationally was in the United States but still only 36 percent. His worst rating was in France - with 89 percent giving a negative response. Eighty percent disapprove of him in Spain and 71 percent in Britain.
PARIS: President George W. Bush is widely unpopular, President Vladimir Putin is gaining admirers, and Iran should be penalized if it does not cease its uranium enrichment programs, according to an international survey conducted by Harris Interactive in the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Spain and Italy.
(...)
According to the 2007 survey, whose results are being released on Friday, Bush's best score internationally was in the United States but still only 36 percent. His worst rating was in France - with 89 percent giving a negative response. Eighty percent disapprove of him in Spain and 71 percent in Britain.
Second data point:
The US Senate has confirmed Michael Mukasey as the new attorney general The vote came despite misgivings from some senators who were unhappy at his answers over what constituted torture in the questioning of terror suspects. Mr Mukasey refused to be drawn into a condemnation of so-called waterboarding, a controversial interrogation technique. The vote was carried by 53 to 40 in the Democrat-controlled Senate, and Mr Mukasey will replace Alberto Gonzalez.
The vote came despite misgivings from some senators who were unhappy at his answers over what constituted torture in the questioning of terror suspects.
Mr Mukasey refused to be drawn into a condemnation of so-called waterboarding, a controversial interrogation technique.
The vote was carried by 53 to 40 in the Democrat-controlled Senate, and Mr Mukasey will replace Alberto Gonzalez.
Third data point
France divided as Sarkozy woos US That Nicolas Sarkozy is France's most pro-American president in generations - in fact, come to think of it, ever - there is no reason to argue over. It is the one point on which both he and his enemies would agree. A man who declared his intention on going to Washington of "reconquering the heart of America" - and who in his speech to Congress cited Elvis Presley, Charlton Heston and Neil Armstrong as his heroes - is clearly not lukewarm about "les Etats-Unis". The question is what it all signifies. For supporters, Mr Sarkozy is quite properly correcting a historic imbalance in French-US relations - bringing to an end the knee-jerk hostility of his predecessors, both Gaullist and Socialist. But for his critics, the president's admiration for America is a dangerous obsession. They see France abandoning its duty to provide the world with an alternative conception of power, as their besotted leader realigns foreign policy behind the dreaded George W.
That Nicolas Sarkozy is France's most pro-American president in generations - in fact, come to think of it, ever - there is no reason to argue over.
It is the one point on which both he and his enemies would agree.
A man who declared his intention on going to Washington of "reconquering the heart of America" - and who in his speech to Congress cited Elvis Presley, Charlton Heston and Neil Armstrong as his heroes - is clearly not lukewarm about "les Etats-Unis".
The question is what it all signifies.
For supporters, Mr Sarkozy is quite properly correcting a historic imbalance in French-US relations - bringing to an end the knee-jerk hostility of his predecessors, both Gaullist and Socialist.
But for his critics, the president's admiration for America is a dangerous obsession.
They see France abandoning its duty to provide the world with an alternative conception of power, as their besotted leader realigns foreign policy behind the dreaded George W.
So, if I get this right:
But no, any opposition to US policy could be nothing but hostile, knee-jerk anti-Americanism!
this brings up the same question i had when i read this article in the Salon:
Can Merkel Stop Bush? Iran Crisis To Top Agenda of US Trip - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News
During a visit to Washington in October, [Karl-Theodor Freiherr zu Guttenberg, a young parliamentarian and member of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU)] noticed a troubling change in the mood among his counterparts in the US Congress whenever the subject of Iran was brought up. "The language has become sharper in the United States," he said, "and not just among the so-called neocons. Even Democrats are beginning to talk about a military strike."
Is anyone able to explain the inexorable slide by Democrats -- and European politicians -- into Bush's black hole?
I think you put your finger on it with the word wimpy: Everyone is afraid of looking like a wimp (everyone except Dean, Kucinich, Paul, Obama, Edwards). And even when the great brute loses, even if they are disgraced, they yet retain some visceral appeal, our primal attraction to the hero, the protagonist, to the sheer demonstration of power.
At the same time, overt, non-compromising confrontation is so much more appealing and intuitive than the hard to follow, drawn-out process of trying to understand an adversary's position and coming to some mutual understanding and peaceful compromise. Even liberals are not immune to its seductiveness. Truth unfolds in time through a communal process.
At the same time, overt, non-compromising confrontation is so much more appealing and intuitive than the hard to follow, drawn-out process of trying to understand an adversary's position and coming to some mutual understanding and peaceful compromise. Even liberals are not immune to its seductiveness.
