Posted on 06/07/2008 6:19:23 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
MONEY can't buy you love.
This week George W Bush flies into Europe to mark the 60th anniversary of the Marshall Plan - the massive reconstruction effort that enabled western Europe to rise to prosperity from the ashes of the second world war.
The president's European tour, which will include a visit to Belfast, comes on the back of a YouGov poll published last week that reveals the extent of European hostility towards the US.
Asked "Do you think the United States is overall a force for good or evil in today's world?", an astonishing 43% of respondents said "force for evil."
Just 27% thought the US a 'force for good'.
The poll surveyed four western European nations - Britain, France, Italy and Germany - along with Russia.
Unsurprisingly, given the talk of a new 'cold war', hostility was greatest in Russia, where only 16% thought the US was a force for good.
At the other end of the spectrum, Italians were most positive about the role of America in the world, with 49%/27% split in favour of the US. Italy still prides itself on its 'special' transatlantic relationship. Almost 16 million Italian emigrants live in the US. Back home, the older generation still tend to be grateful for the role the US played in liberating Italy during the war and for the rebuilding that came afterwards.
In Britain, which has its own 'special relationship' with the US, the figures were a statistical dead heat at 33% and 35%.
Perhaps the most striking statistics of all are those for France and Germany. Despite the efforts of chancellor Angela Merkel and president Nicolas Sarkozy to rebuild their association with the United States in the wake of the war in Iraq, both countries remain deeply suspicious of what the French disparagingly call 'L'Hypuissance'. Of French respondents, only 28% thought America a force for good, In Germany the figure was lower still at 25%.
The unpopularity of the war in Iraq notwithstanding, it is difficult to take the 'forcefor-evil' sentiment in this data seriously. For the simple truth is that Europeans everywhere, including in Ireland, remain as in love with the American way of life as ever.
For months, the media and public alike have soaked up every last detail of the enthralling US primary season. (I bet more people can instantly recall the first name of Barack Obama's wife than that of Mrs Cowen. ) Check out the European music chart this week and you'll find US stars Madonna and Justin Timberlake at No 1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Sex and the City are the headline films in European cinemas.
Indiana Jones took a whopping $24.1m in UK box office receipts in its opening four days alone.
Lest we dismiss this as 'mere' popular culture, that dominance also comes in the traffic of serious ideas. As commentators such as Timothy Garton Ash frequently point out, Washington has at its fingertips a range and depth of policy analysis, in government, think tanks, universities and the media, which London has not matched for 50 years and no other European capital, least of all the EU 'capital' of Brussels, can begin to approach.
The energy and enthusiasm of that response to American politics, culture and ideas stands in stark contrast to the apathy with which we greet European affairs.
The referendum on the Lisbon Treaty has put Ireland at the heart of a crucial European debate this month, but you would be hard-pressed to know it.
For all the posters and occasional shouting matches on TV and radio, the public reaction has been one of boredom, bemusement and disinterest. Even Matt Cooper, who has been hosting a series of debates on the treaty, says he may not bother to vote.
Eurocrats such as EU president Jose Manuel Barroso would like to blame us for any lack of interest, but the reality is that Brussels consistently fails to engage the public imagination.
America on the other hand always does. And even those who seem to view the current administration as a 'force for evil' can take comfort from the words of that great 19th-century Americaphile, Alexis de Tocqueville.
"The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, " he wrote, "but rather in her ability to repair her faults."
Never again shlould we sacrifice the blood of our sons to save them.
shlould should be should
Gosh, I thought that village of gassed Kurds was evidence enough. As for the eyes of the world, I care no more what they think than I care if the squirrels in my backyard approve of my interior decorating skills.
Hyper Power, I think.
This is true. Regretabley, that is where they get their news. But, why give the liberal media ammunition?
As a side note... When I was in Europe, there was CCN station that drew on the very worse of America. As I watched it, I thought my country had gone insane in my absence. It was like a they searched out Jerry Springer Show guests to represent the American image over seas.
Thanks a lot Ted Turncoat.
Sure he had WMDs then. But, we've yet to produce the evidence that Saddam had them at the time that Blix and Ritter said he didn't have them.
Until they can produce EVIDENCE that he did. We're out on a limb.
Nonsense. He had them in the 1980s. He didn't account for them. Good enough for me. Don't care if the world likes it or not.
Besides, any evidence would be dismissed as fabrication, and you know it. Nope. I say we do as we see fit and ignore the complaints.
Merci
Let's see the evidence first, then we can see who dismisses it. As for now, it is a major screw up on the part of our govenrmnent.
I thought Bush knew what he was dong when we went into Iraq. But, of course, I also thought he'd protect our borders too. But, instead he allowed us to be invaded and then tried to bestow citizenship upon the invaders. Maybe you missed that bit of recent history. The man is not trustworthy.
I'll be glad to see Bush go. Too bad there isn't anyone worth a damn about to replace him.
If it weren’t for W’s aggressive actions in the war on terror more than one European city would be smoldering in ruin today.
&&
Quote of the week — perhaps the month!
I agree with your statement about the borders, but I was never arguing that Bush was perfect, only that there was evidence enough of WMD to justify what we did to anyone who is reasonable. As for the unreasonable, to the devil with them.
They shop the same way in their own country.
473,000 italian-born americans as of the 2000 Census.
http://www.census.gov/population/cen2000/stp-159/STP-159-Italy.pdf
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