Canadians are such reasonable, polite, and very insightful people!
(Disclaimer: Those compliments in no way suggest how I feel about The Habs!)
From our Canadian neighbors in Victoria, British Columbia:
"In one of Dick Cheney’s monthly 'criticize the president' national tours, he remarked that he thought America’s image around the world was 'increasingly negative.' The Atlantic decided to fact check that idea and found… well… you’ll see: For more than a decade, the Pew Research Center has been asking people around the world about their opinion of the United States. The upshot: In every region of the globe except the Middle East (where the United States was wildly unpopular under George W. Bush and remains so), America’s favorability is way up since Obama took offic:
In Spain, approval of the United States is 29 percentage points higher than when Bush left office.
In Italy, it’s up 23 points.
In Germany and France, it’s 22.
With the exception of China, where the numbers have remained flat, the trend is the same in Asia.
The U.S. is 19 points more popular in Japan,
24 points more popular in Indonesia, and
28 points more popular in Malaysia."--Jameson Parker, Addicting Info
13 comments:
Perhaps we should respect the advice from Canada. In a world wide reputation survey, the are
first in the world judged on trust, admiration, respect and affinity.
IMO, the current standing of the US at 23rd (between Thailand and Peru) can be laid at the feet of
the administration that featured
Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rove. Thanks GOP big boys.
You must remember...BC,espcially the west around Vancouver and Victoria, is not typical of a Large amount of Canada. They have there own 'Tea Bag' type conservatives, too.
BUT...it is beautiful country there....the beer is good, and damn, I sure is thinking of moving.
Obama got us out.
He just authorized 1500 to return and hasn't ruled out more. Hmm, call me a skeptic and a cynic.
Always wonder just why it is we depend on world popularity polls for affirmation of our decisions and actions.
Are we not smart enough to figure out how to do the right thing and the rest of the world is?
Will we resort to decision making by world opinion polls? I note we presently are fairing very well in socialists countries opinion surveys, Hear the crickets?
Gotta run, gym time and then checking out the Stinky Feet sites for a laugh or a few. of course with a clothespin on my nose.
Glad god allowed for beer and single malts. Oh, can't forget wine. You know it is the nectar of the Gods, right?
'Always wonder just why it is we depend on world popularity polls for affirmation of our decisions and actions' ...perhaps some are
seeking verification of 'exceptionalism'?
RN: "Obama got us out.
He just authorized 1500 to return and hasn't ruled out more. Hmm, call me a skeptic and a cynic."
I don't like it one bit either. I wish he weren't getting more involved over there.
RN> "Always wonder just why it is we depend on world popularity polls for affirmation of our decisions and actions."
I'm not sure this is a matter of depending on polls for affirmation of decisions and actions. The polls BB-Idaho linked to contradict what I've read on conservative blogs and other media outlets--that our country is not respected because of Mr. Obama. That is simply not true.
RN: "Will we resort to decision making by world opinion polls? I note we presently are fairing very well in socialists countries opinion surveys, Hear the crickets?"
Most countries around the planet have socialist programs, including the USA. And their populations are very happy. Those countries that don't are usually third world, very poor, and politically and financially unstable.
RN: "Glad god allowed for beer and single malts. Oh, can't forget wine. You know it is the nectar of the Gods, right?"
Yes, yes, and yes!
Why is it that those who don't live here think everything is great.
The rich and and poor probably agree. The declining middle class has other opinions.
Slimy is now going to put the Keystone pipeline up for a vote, the great one puts boots on the ground and he who is wonderful is still intent on eliminating jobs for the unskilled. Could he be concerned the republicans are going to beat him to immigration reform.
BB, I assume you realize Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld have not held office in a few years, oh well go ahead and blame them anyway because it just can't be the liberals fault.
skud: “Why is it that those who don't live here think everything is great.”
Because compared with a lot of other countries, everything is. People like you are just pissed because the rest of the world doesn’t hold the same opinion you do: that Mr. Obama has made everything horrible. That Canadian guy and many more around the world know better. They and we know what drives your hatreds.
Skud: “The rich and and poor probably agree. The declining middle class has other opinions.”
Really? The poor agree with the rich that everything’s great? Have you spent any time with truly poor people? What could possibly be “great” about grinding poverty? The so-called “declining middle class?” First that decline didn’t just happen. The party of “hate the government” and the wealthy, the GOP, had a lot to do with it. You can look at any graphic to see how the middle class started its decline under Reagan. Second, the middle class disagrees with your assessment of Mr. Obama since many voted for a second term for him. That seems to escape a lot of conservatives: It was the people’s will that Mr. Obama have a second term to carry out his policies, one of which was the A.C.A., which they obviously approved of more than disapproved, since he didn’t lose the election because of its passage. This country decided that it was time to do something about health care costs, and by re-electing Mr. Obama by a very comfortable margin and an electoral landslide, they were saying they are okay with what he’d done.
Now if you and your friends want to congratulate yourselves about the win on last Tuesday, when the lowest number of voters since 1942 voted, go ahead and enjoy that victory. But let me remind you and your friends that when Mr. Obama won NATIONWIDE twice, and the second time by an electoral landslide, you and the Republicans in Congress didn’t give a crap about the people’s will or what Mr. Obama wanted to accomplish in his second term. He was stonewalled again to the point of a government shut-down.
So the obstructionists in the House and now the Senate expect the president to kiss their obstructionist asses and do what they tell him because “THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE?”
Skud: “Could he be concerned the republicans are going to beat him to immigration reform.”
LOL! The Congressional Republicans don’t know how to govern. They only know how to oppose Mr. Obama. Their troglodyte base won’t let them get near immigration reform. Boner, a/k/a Agent Orange, has been too busy drinking, bawling, and being “skeerd” of the TPers over the last six years.
Skud: “BB, I assume you realize Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld have not held office in a few years, oh well go ahead and blame them anyway because it just can't be the liberals fault.”
For anyone who’s been awake and sentient since 2001, it is obvious which administration and which party brought us the worse attack on American soil and the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression, plus two unpaid disastrous wars, and unpaid for Medicare Part D. No, President Cheney and Lil Bush haven’t been in office for a few years, but their disasters still haunt this country, and despite the gains we’ve made with Mr. Obama, the results of Cheney’s and Lil Bush’s failed presidencies will haunt us for a very long time.
Once again, Shaw debunks skud's rightwing talking points. Isn't it time to give up,skud?
Boner...you're much too kind to that souse shaw
I'm not sure teabaggerdom would regard those figures as a good thing. When they talk about America's "image around the world", they probably want other countries to be afraid of us, not to like us.
Obama got us out. He just authorized 1500 to return and hasn't ruled out more.
To help the Kurds and Shiites defend themselves against ISIS/Islamic State which has already shown its genocidal intentions toward those groups. Obama's intervention at Sinjar alone saved tens of thousands of lives.
I wrote a post about this a while back. People look back at things like the Armenian genocide or the Holocaust and wonder why nobody did anything in time. Well, now we know. Too many people who know nothing about the region or the situation on the ground react with mindless knee-jerk anti-interventionism. Their illusion of moral purity is more important to them than the entire communities of men, women, and children who would be condemned to ghastly death or enslavement by American inaction.
Have no fear of American troops being sent into combat. It's the Kurds who have the courage to play that role. What they need from us is air support, weapons, and training. If we won't provide it, Iran will -- and will reap the benefits.
Being unencumbered by slavery to whatever the RNC daily talking points are because as an independent republican I make my own shit up, I must say that being wildly unpopular in foreign lands is good for republican business. If they hate us we must be doing a good job for America because they're jealous of our exceptionalism. They like Obama because our poor are becoming as poor as theirs. Misery loves company. The important thing to remember though is once trickle down economics begins to work all the deadbeats will be lifted up. Just give us another 40 years or so and you'll see.
Glad I could help here Skudzie old boy.
You get a President with the vision to see what needs to be done and the willingness to take on the tough issues like Healthcare reform and climate change at great political and personal sacrifice, and true to form, the Haters offer nothing but criticism. Did any of his predecessors, Bush for example, have the guts to take on the tough issues? No, but he did take the time to start 2 wars and tank the economy.
ACK Infidel. Guess you might call it cleaning up the mess we created eh?
Nonetheless being the global police force IMO will have it's unintended and unfortunate consequence.
Of course none here today will likely live to witness them. All great powers have their day. All have receded into the background of history as another ascends. There are reasons and parallels to learn from. I'll leave it at that.
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