Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Anti-Americanism is at record levels thanks to US policies such as the war in Iraq, and Washington's perceived hypocrisy in abiding by its own democratic values, US lawmakers said Wednesday. A House of Representatives committee report based on expert testimony and polling data reveals US approval ratings have fallen to record lows across the world since 2002, particularly in Muslim countries and Latin America. It says the problem arises not from a rejection of US culture, values and power but primarily from its policies, such as backing authoritarian regimes while promoting democracy, human rights and the rule...

<p>Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, 60, came into office in 1999 as the "best-trained governor-in-waiting California ever had," as his campaign said. His election ended 16 years of Republican rule in the governor's office.</p> <p>But eight months after he was narrowly elected to a second term, Davis faces the likelihood of the state's first gubernatorial recall election, with the taxpayers facing a $35 million tab to print ballots and send pamphlets to 11 million households.</p>