Can Obama make the rest of the world love America again? (Kenyan editorial)

[Wretched Excess]

I just sort of stumbled across this, and for some reason got morbidly fascinated with the kenyan
perspective of the european perspective of american politics.

I picked a few choice paragraphs.

Can Obama make the rest of the world love America again?

Watching TV, I was amazed by the rock star reception Barack Obama received on Wednesday in Germany. All over Europe, it seems, Obama is the craze. The mood is no different on other continents.

Obama is becoming more of an idea, a concept, beyond the man himself.
.
.
.
After the Dark Age of Bush, the world craves for the idealised America it thought it knew before. It is plain that the rapturous embrace of Obama outside America signifies this craving.

A craving for an America that, as  in a marriage, was sensitive (or pretended to be, which is just as well) to the weaker partner rather than always being a bully.

An American ambassador will start talking down to his hosts very fast the moment he lands at the airport even before he has learned to say jambo.
.
.
.
What bothers me is whether in embarking on myth-making we are resorting to dreams rather than facing up to a flesh-and-blood politician who only happens to have an incidental connection with our own motherland. (Should it be of comfort that Obama’s own book about this Kenyan connection is titled Dreams from My Father?)

His disappointing take on Israel’s role in the Middle East should be a reality check of what to expect since it sounds so obviously contrary to his better instincts. Not even he, it seems, can escape the grip of the mighty US Jewish lobby.

More

[Rebel]

My answer? No. This is a liberals pipe dream they're promoting. I could care less about Europe's "love" for us. When Bill Clinton was in office, you know, that sumbitch they say was "oh so diplomatic", one of the towers was attacked in '93, Khobar towers was attacked in '95, two embassies were destroyed in '98, and a US warship had a hole blown in it in '00.

I could care less about what the world thinks about us unless it is hostile. They'll all be calling us when they need something. ****'em.

[Rebel]

Besides, if the world hates us so much, why did Germany, Italy, and France just elect conservative leaders? It's the squeaky wheel syndrome. The press listens to the squeaky wheel, not the other 3 that are silent. ....and liberals like to bitch....loudly.

[Wretched Excess]

My answer? No. This is a liberals pipe dream they're promoting. I could care less about Europe's "love" for us. When Bill Clinton was in office, you know, that sumbitch they say was "oh so diplomatic", one of the towers was attacked in '93, Khobar towers was attacked in '95, two embassies were destroyed in '98, and a US warship had a hole blown in it in '00.

I could care less about what the world thinks about us unless it is hostile. They'll all be calling us when they need something. ****'em.

bingo.  I would much rather the U.S. be respected, or perhaps even feared, than loved.

[Wretched Excess]

Besides, if the world hates us so much, why did Germany, Italy, and France just elect conservative leaders? It's the squeaky wheel syndrome. The press listens to the squeaky wheel, not the other 3 who are silent. ....and liberals like to bitch....loudly.

that fact gets lost in the static a LOT, rebel.  anti-american leaders just got voted out of office all over europe . .
the FRENCH just elected a pro-american president, for heaven's sake.

[Rebel]

Besides, if the world hates us so much, why did Germany, Italy, and France just elect conservative leaders? It's the squeaky wheel syndrome. The press listens to the squeaky wheel, not the other 3 who are silent. ....and liberals like to bitch....loudly.

that fact gets lost in the static a LOT, rebel.  anti-american leaders just got voted out of office all over europe . .
the FRENCH just elected a pro-american president, for heaven's sake.

That same scenario, IMO, is the reason why Obama will never step foot behind the desk of the Oval Office. "I'VE" never been polled. Have you? How bout any of your other guys?

Which is REALLY messed up. McCain should NOT be the Republican candidate. The press MADE him the frontrunner. They were fawning all over him in the primaries, now they're talking shit about him. Wait 'til Kevin gets to have a hand in authoring the new Constitution for the new CSA. 

[Willow]

I've wondered and wondered and wondered  how it is that Germany has such a "respected" opinion in the world. Aren't they the nation responsible for 2 world wars and the death of millions and millions and millions of people?  It  amazes me that obamaladingdong chose war memorial in Germany as a backdrop for his "world citizen" speech.  How about Russia? Japan? Italy?

[Wretched Excess]

Besides, if the world hates us so much, why did Germany, Italy, and France just elect conservative leaders? It's the squeaky wheel syndrome. The press listens to the squeaky wheel, not the other 3 who are silent. ....and liberals like to bitch....loudly.

that fact gets lost in the static a LOT, rebel.  anti-american leaders just got voted out of office all over europe . .
the FRENCH just elected a pro-american president, for heaven's sake.

That same scenario, IMO, is the reason why Obama will never step foot behind the desk of the Oval Office. "I'VE" never been polled. Have you? How bout any of your other guys?

Which is REALLY messed up. McCain should NOT be the Republican candidate. The press MADE him the frontrunner. They were fawning all over him in the primaries, now they're talking shit about him. Wait 'til Kevin gets to have a hand in authoring the new Constitution for the new CSA. 

surveyUSA got me in 2004, and I put up with it just to see what it was like.  it was agonizing.  they didn't ask a single direct question, and
they asked everything three times.  it took 30 minutes.

I came away thinking that people that were willing to be polled shouldn't be listened to in the first place.

[Wretched Excess]

I've wondered and wondered and wondered  how it is that Germany has such a "respected" opinion in the world. Aren't they the nation responsible for 2 world wars and the death of millions and millions and millions of people?  It  amazes me that obamaladingdong chose war memorial in Germany as a backdrop for his "world citizen" speech.  How about Russia? Japan? Italy?

I don't think he chose it so much as he was told that is where he would be allowed to do it.

it was a memorial to the defeat of, among other countries, france . . . which I sort of got a chuckle out of.

[Uhhuh35]

I've wondered and wondered and wondered  how it is that Germany has such a "respected" opinion in the world. Aren't they the nation responsible for 2 world wars and the death of millions and millions and millions of people? 

Hey, the know and love a dictator when they see him!

[Chris_]

Translation: Can America ever putt her butt in the air and let us have our way again -- you know, like the good old days before Bush?

[BlueStateSaint]

My answer? No. This is a liberals pipe dream they're promoting. I could care less about Europe's "love" for us. When Bill Clinton was in office, you know, that sumbitch they say was "oh so diplomatic", one of the towers was attacked in '93, Khobar towers was attacked in '95, two embassies were destroyed in '98, and a US warship had a hole blown in it in '00.

I could care less about what the world thinks about us unless it is hostile. They'll all be calling us when they need something. ****'em.

bingo.  I would much rather the U.S. be respected, or perhaps even feared, than loved.

Exactly.  Obama, and the M$M, is from the "Willy Loman School of Foreign Policy."  Wasn't his main ambition in Death of a Salesman to "be well-liked?"  And how is Obama's message any different?

[RightCoast]

Besides, if the world hates us so much, why did Germany, Italy, and France just elect conservative leaders? It's the squeaky wheel syndrome. The press listens to the squeaky wheel, not the other 3 who are silent. ....and liberals like to bitch....loudly.

that fact gets lost in the static a LOT, rebel.  anti-american leaders just got voted out of office all over europe . .
the FRENCH just elected a pro-american president, for heaven's sake.

That same scenario, IMO, is the reason why Obama will never step foot behind the desk of the Oval Office. "I'VE" never been polled. Have you? How bout any of your other guys?

Which is REALLY messed up. McCain should NOT be the Republican candidate. The press MADE him the frontrunner. They were fawning all over him in the primaries, now they're talking shit about him. Wait 'til Kevin gets to have a hand in authoring the new Constitution for the new CSA. 

surveyUSA got me in 2004, and I put up with it just to see what it was like.  it was agonizing.  they didn't ask a single direct question, and
they asked everything three times.  it took 30 minutes.

I came away thinking that people that were willing to be polled shouldn't be listened to in the first place.

I got hit with a Quinnipiac University poll before the '06 midterm election and it was horrifying. 

[DixieBelle]

Let's face it. America is the parent and the rest of the world are the siblings, cousins and children. I know that sounds simplistic and broad, but it's really how I see it.

I would never discount the contributions of foreign nations nor their relative importance. But from my perspective, the world tends to treat America like the parental figure who holds the keys to the car and the purse strings. There is often rebellion and strife but notice how fast they cuddle up to us when it's in their best interest?