Why Do Europeans Love Obama?
Let us count the ways:
1) Obama’s tax code, support of big government programs and redistribution of income, and subservience to UN directives delight the European masses—especially at a time when their own governments are trying to cut taxes, government, seek closer relations with the US, and ask a petulant, pampered public to grow up.
2) He offers Euros a sort of cheap assuagement of guilt—in classic liberal style. When Obama says falsely that he does not look like other Americans who have addressed Germans (cf. Colin Powell or Condoleeza Rice who have represented US foreign policy abroad the last 7 years), Europeans feel especially progressive—and therefore need not worry that no one of African ancestry would ever become a European Prime- or Foreign-Minister.
3) Europe is weak militarily and won’t invest in its own defense. But with Obama, they believe the US will subject its enormous military strength to international organizations—usually run by utopian Europeans. So they will play a thinking-man’s Athens to our muscular Rome. They especially lap up Obama’s historical revisionism in which he lectures about the world’s effort to feed Berlin or tear down the communist wall, never the solitary, lonely efforts of a Harry Truman or Ronald Reagan to confront the evils of communism when almost everyone else preferred not to.
4) Style, style, style. Remember socialist Europe is where we get our designer eyeglass frames, Gucci bags, and French fashions. Instead of a strutting, Bible-quoting Texan, replete with southern accent and ‘smoke-em’ out lingo, they get an athletic, young, JFK-ish metrosexual, whose rhetoric is as empty as it is soothing. The English-only Obama lectures America on its need to emulate polyglot Europe; while a Spanish-speaking George Bush is hopelessly cast as a Texas yokel.
5) Obama reassures Europeans that they, not American right-wingers, “won” the classical debates of the 1990s over economics, foreign policy, and government. He is a world citizen, who buys into human-created massive global warming, wind and solar over nuclear and clean coal, high taxes, and cradle-to-grave entitlements, and resentments of the rich. There is a certain European “We told you so” that comes with his election. In short, we elect a world citizen with a European view, and put behind us the embarrassments of a Texan or cowboy actor.
The final irony?
The hated George Bush is still around; Chirac, Schroeder, Villapin et al. are history. Iraq is secure. Iran is becoming isolated. North Korea supposedly is denuked. And America is reassuring a jittery Europe that we will stick by them in a world of bullying Russians and Chinese.
A Modest Prediction
In 5 years, Europeans will prefer George Bush to a “We are right behind you” Obama.
What a difference a year makes!
A little more than a year ago most Americans—and nearly all the Democratic opposition in Congress—opposed the surge of troops into Iraq and Gen. David Petraeus’s change of tactics.
The conventional wisdom after four long years of war was that we were stuck in the middle of a hopeless civil war. There was no American military solution to quell the violence. The Iraq government was not only incompetent, but proof that democratic government itself was incompatible with Middle Eastern culture and religion.
Pundits were advocating trisecting the country into separate Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish enclaves. Our presence in Iraq caused us to have taken our eye off the ball in Afghanistan, while empowering Iran, and helping al Qaedi to gain new recruits in a new theater of operations. Democratic presidential candidates were hammering each other over Iraq and demanding that those who had voted to authorize the invasion apologize for their vote. Barack Obama wanted all American troops out by March 2008.
A New Political Reality
And now? July is closing with the fewest number of American combat fatalities since the war started. There is no civil war. The Maliki government has put down Shiite militias and won back Sunnis into the elected administration, and, as an autonomous and confident government, is in tense negotiations with the US over future basing of American troops. Al Qaeda has been humiliated and routed from Iraq. American troops, versed in counterinsurgency, are being redeployed to Afghanistan to reapply what worked against jihadists in Iraq. Iranian-backed militias are being disbanded or have fled back into Iran. The additional surge troops are now out of Iraq. Democratic opponents suddenly concede that the withdrawal of American troops should be predicated on conditions on the ground. Anti-war activists critique Iraq more as a possibly successful war not worth the human and material costs rather than an effort long ago lost.
What Happened?
So what happened in the last twelve months to cause such a radical turn-about in Iraq and here at home? The surge added some needed troops, but more importantly sent the symbolic message that the United States was not leaving, but determined—militarily—to defeat terrorists and give the Iraqi government critical time to consolidate its authority.
The so-called Anbar awakening in which Sunni tribal leaders turned on al Qaeda and joined forces with us was not caused directly by the surge, but would have failed without the confidence more Americans were on the way to support their fight against al Qaeda. Americans began to turn from counter-terrorism to counterinsurgency tactics that meant dispersing combat troops out of compounds and into Iraqi neighborhoods where they could protect Iraqis who resisted terrorism.
Don’t Forget …
Two critical developments are relatively unappreciated, but likewise proved critical. The first was the continual growth and improvement in the Iraqi security forces that now include many veteran units that have learned to confront and defeat terrorists.
Second, between 2003-7 American forces took an enormous toll on jihadists. We have heard mostly how many Americans have been lost, rarely how many of the enemy they have killed or wounded—but the aggregate number is in the tens of thousands. Even in postmodern wars, there are finite numbers of skilled combatants—and many of them simply did not survive their encounter with American troops.
Nothing New
None of this volatility is new in American military history. The American Revolutionary War ebbed and flowed for nine years, variously pronounced won, lost, and won again. The Union thought it had won, then had lost, and finally won the Civil War during the last 16 months of the conflict. The Philippine insurrection, in various phases, lasted 14 years, often praised as won and condemned as lost. No war was more mercurial than the Korean between 1950-53, in which the American public was convinced the war was hopeless before it ended in1953 with the preservation of South Korea.
In most of these struggles, the efforts of just a few rare individuals—a Washington, Grant, Sherman, Ridgway—proved crucial. We remember their names, not the thousands of pundits who declared them incompetent and their wars lost. Long after a Seymour Hersh, Moveon.org, Code Pink, Cindy Sheehan, Harry Reid and others are forgotten, Americans will still remember what David Petraeus did for our country. Amen to that!
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136 Comments
David Thomson:“In 5 years, Europeans will prefer George Bush to a “We are right behind you” Obama.”
Huh? Is Victor Davis Hanson implying that the election of Barack “Barry” Obama is inevitable? If so, he needs to immediately cease with this perhaps unwitting indulgence in historical determinism. The odds still favor John McCain. If nothing else, the drilling for more oil issue severely damages Obama. The Anointed One is placed in a no-win situation. Furthermore, the issue of racial preferences is also starting to take hold. At this point in time, McCain should easily beat Obama on Election Day.
Jul 28, 2008 - 1:58 pm LSD:I tend to feel that style is the main draw. -Were Obama paired with Carla Bruni, they would own the place.
Jul 28, 2008 - 2:12 pm njcommuter:It would be a good thing if Harry Reid and Code Pink were remembered the way that the Copperheads are remembered: as the people who tried to sink the ship of victory in the shallow mouth of its harbor. Their antics deserve to be remembered as a guide to people in the next crisis, and remembering their antics means remembering their names.
Jul 28, 2008 - 2:12 pm Jack Marcotte:Essential vdh.
David: John McCain? Not capable of even showing why he should win. He is not a conservative but a wind vane. He can’t even tell a joke like it needs to be told–even if it is someone Else’s material.
Jul 28, 2008 - 2:13 pm Zhombre:Thank you, thank you, VDH. You have succinctly put the Euro-infatuation with Obama in sharp perspective. The thought had occurred to me that the adulation of Germans toward Obama should be considered with the thought that no Afro-German politician, or immigrant of Kurdish or Turkish origins however astute and indefatigable, would ever achieve in German politics what Obama, or Powell or Rice, have achieved in America. They go gaga over Obama but would never never produce an Obama in Bavaria or Brandenburg.
njcommuter: comparing Harry Reid and Code Pink to Copperheads, I suspect, slanders Copperheads.
David Thomson: woe is us, I suspect to see the inauguration of President Obama. McCain is finding out now what years of cultivating maverick status, centrism, bipartisanship and sponorship of legislation with Feingold and Kennedy, and cajoling with the press gets you as the Republican nominee: squat. The North Vietnamese as enemies and captors were fairer and more merciful than the media as allies and arbiters of the news.
Jul 28, 2008 - 2:40 pm Aiken Blue:No way, nothing could be worse than the Bush years. Obama is a breath of fresh air. He’s got it all, he brings hope. Please vote for Obama! VIsit WhyObama08.org!
Jul 28, 2008 - 2:54 pm vb:I suspect that another element of the Euro-infatuation is that certain people (Sarkosy; Steinmeier) see themselves as filling the role of mentor for Obama, a position recently made vacant by the bus accident of Rev Wright.
I definitely agree that many average folks also think it is time we stopped being such terrible racists.
Jul 28, 2008 - 3:14 pm srlucado:I think that another reason the Europeans “love” Obama is because they don’t have to live with him. Remember, this is the same Europe that loves Michael Jackson and Madonna. It’s one thing to have celebrities drop in for a quick photo-op and then leave, and quite another for them to stick around and make bloviating nuisances of themselves.
Berliners won’t have to live in decrepit apartments like those that Obama helped “renovate” in Chicago; they won’t be paying the taxes he’ll raise; they won’t be surrendering their guns.
It’s easy to love someone you only see once.
Scott
Jul 28, 2008 - 3:43 pm Dave II:Hmmm…so basically Euros love Obama for all the same reasons your run of-the-mill leftist, socialist, military-hating, UN-loving, government-dependent, green-mandating, short-sighted, post-modern, guilt-ridden, trendy, myopic, vapid, and defeatist Democrat would…
Makes sense to me!!
Your last line was telling though. While most Americans DO remember the great leaders and individuals that made a HUGE difference…like Washington, Grant, Sherman, Ridgway, and Truman (a fellow Democrat not even mentioned by Obama!) and of course, Reagan in the fall of communism…
As is common with most leftist revisionists, Obama COMPLETELY and CONVIENTLY decided NOT to mention ANY of their names, with regard to the Berlin Airlift OR the Berlin Wall coming down…but, would rather give credit to “the world coming together”!!
What crapola!!!
Gee…think there’s any correlation with his COMPLETELY and CONVIENTLY deciding NOT to visit the wounded soldiers, (when he HAD the time!) and giving some credit and recognition of THEIR HEROIC EFFORT in turning the tide in Iraq???
I do…
…the revisionist mind-set in action!
Jul 28, 2008 - 3:52 pm sturgis biker:What the Germans saw was a repeat of the BS that HITLER handed the poor buggers and led them down the primrose path. OBAMA is doing the ame thing to the Anerican people who will need a tie to get their head out of where the sun never shines, He is a total empty suit that has not offered anything but higher taxes and BIG-BIG-BIG GOVT. that those of us who have worked all our lives to put something away just to see the DEM’S STEAL TO GIVE AWAY TO THOSE WHO DON’T DESERVE IT. If we thought the SHAMNESTY BS was bad wait till he hands over 800 BILLION to the UN to rid the world of poverty.
Jul 28, 2008 - 4:16 pm Lowcountry:Heh, heh, heh. LOL. Hitler. I like that biker. Yep, these are the people that bought off on Hitler. Let’s go with the candidate of the people who loved Adolph Hitler. LOL.
Jul 28, 2008 - 5:05 pm Ron Kean:A bigger question is the one about Maliki seeming to favor Obama or a question about the Iraqi population liking or not liking America’s presence. They want Islamic law and they don’t seem to appreciate Christians or Jews.
Maybe the ingratitude or resentment bubbles just beneath the surface or maybe only a few feel it.
When I look at Obama, I think of someone walking on a ledge. One (more) slip and he’s finished. Maybe the main stream media will finally fall. Maybe somebody will buy the New York Times and change its name.
If Stephen Spielberg has to go to Bollywood for money, maybe the film industry is having problems. There’s a problem if they have to count on hot weather to get a big turnout. I wish more TV was as family friendly as the top grossing movies are.
Because Obama switches positions so often it’s becoming hard to believe anything he says. I believe Wright and Farrakhan are patiently waiting for the ultimate triumph.
The debates should be crucial. McCain has so much more experience and skill, hopefully many will watch.
McCain is just being himself and I believe I’m starting to see some teeth.
I think Obama’s been lobbing balls to him for a long time and only lately is he swinging at them. Maybe his new crew is getting it together. Maybe he’ll hit one out of the park. I hope so.
And where are the Clintons. I’ve learned not to underestimate them.
I almost want to see Oliver Stone’s movie, ‘W.’ Clinton was the ultimate ‘bad boy.’ Was George too? I wouldn’t mind it if he was. At least he came out of it standing on the moral high ground although many will argue about that.
Jul 28, 2008 - 5:13 pm Right Brain:Am I the only one to notice that Obama behaves like the generic only child? Prances about the room demanding to be admired by everyone for….for what? When it comes to actual work he is nowhere to be found, certainly not on any real or actual committees doing actual work, not in the Illinois legislature and not in the US Senate.
The Dems are going down hard in November, this only-child drama can’t possibly last through the Fall.
Jul 28, 2008 - 5:30 pm jp:Dave II ‘think there’s any correlation with his COMPLETELY and CONVENIENTLY deciding NOT to visit the wounded soldiers (when he had the time) and giving some credit and
recognition of THEIR HEROIC EFFORT in turning the tide in Iraq???
A few journalists have let it out that when Obama and his people found out that according to military rules, if BHO visited the wounded troops, the media and photographers would not be allowed to go with him. Only military photographers would be allowed to record his visit, as political candidates are prohibited from using military installations as campaign backdrops.
A military official said “we didn’t know why” the request to visit the wounded was withdrawn.
So instead, it was reported, he did a photo-op, and then went to s gym to work out.
A couple of odd things (to me) about the speech in Berlin. Originally, BHO had talked about speaking at the Brandenburg Gate, but the Germans diplomatically suggested it be changed to the Victory Column. Apparently BHO was not aware that the Victory Column had been placed there by Hitler’s architect Albert Speer as the focal point of Imperial Berlin, to be renamed ‘Germania’.
Also, we were told that 200,000 were to witness the speech. It was not mentioned that two (2) rock bands and food were provided to bring in the crowds. However, now some reporters are saying that only about 20,000 people showed up for the speech and the entertainment.
A couple of good posts today on the American Thinker site:
The Operative Term Is ‘Hubris’ by J R Dunn
Deconstructing Obama by Kyle-Anne Shive
Jul 28, 2008 - 5:36 pm Mike:One can only hope that in four years, we won’t have to remember what Barack Obama did to our country.
Jul 28, 2008 - 6:32 pm George Clarke:After BHO snubbed our wounded Soldiers in Germany, after he made sure to downplay their role in helping the Iraqi tribes wake up to their interests, can we think any American soldier or Vet will vote him in as Commander in Chief? What I want to know is What are the Black troops going to do? Vote for the son of a Muslim dead beat dad from Africa, whose entire Heritage as an American, both as he was born and as he was bred, comes entirely from and through his white relatives? I am neither a Veteran nor am I an African American (though I do have a good bit of Spanish) but honestly, I don’t know how a Black Vet who lost his friends in Iraq, might look at this. Any one out there who can speak from experience?
Jul 28, 2008 - 7:27 pm Dave II:jp- Yes, the “WHY” he didn’t visit the hospital, because he “couldn’t bring his photographers along”, is bad enough…the simple truth is that he STILL COULD HAVE WENT if he had sincerely WANTED to thank them for their service…but when you don’t have any REAL CONVICTION that what they did was worth their sacrifice, when you don’t want to admit it was because of THEM that Iraq is turned the corner (like he did in downplaying the surge’s role), when you don’t want it to appear to your “base” that you are supporting the military in any way (so you vote to stop funding their efforts!) well, then…
You go shoot some hoops and call it a day!
He’s just a pathetic excuse for a wanna-be Commander-In-Chief!
Jul 28, 2008 - 7:44 pm newscaper:Worse, about Obama skipping the troop visit –DoD *would* have released some tasteful photos (of their own) of the visit.
Another point - visiting US military stationed in Germany would undercut the whole stupidity of his goal of bringing *all* the troops home from Iraq no matter what.
Why draw any more attention to the fact we didn’t pull completely out of Germany after W2 — and we’re all self-evidently better off for it.
Jul 28, 2008 - 9:50 pm Michael Lonie:Apparently the Victory Column is a popular site for Techno-Rave concerts, a popular form of noise-mak…er music in Europe. Obama appeals, quite deliberately, to the young, hip crowd, and these people would be attuned to the site’s Techno reouatation rather than any earlier associations. Euros are actually not better educated in history than our own public school (and, alas, Ivy League) graduates are.
Jul 28, 2008 - 9:56 pm fred:In four years those who laugh at we who try to tell everyone that Obama is a closet Marxist will come to see we were telling the truth.
I’m convinced that the itinerary, the headlines, and the photo ops during his overseas trip were meant to snooker some in the Middle Muddle. However, the substance of his major speeches contained the core loyalty to his Left base. John Bolton elaborates on this the other day in a column he wrote, dissecting some of the “logic” of parts of Obama’s speech in Berlin.
Obama was trying to shore up his base and see if he could draw in some independents who are unsure of his foreign policy stature. The only thing he had success with during this trip was assuring his Left base.
So, the really decisive issue in this election is that it is an important referendum about the Left in American politics. Is the Left large enough and significant enough that it can score a major victory in November? It just might. And if it does that victory will be short-lived and in four years the Left will be reeling from foreign policy disaster and economic mismanagement. Everyone keep in mind the fact that only in the United States of America has Marxism not yet been discredited. Here (because I used to be an academic Leftist)Marxism was packaged as “progressivism” and “liberalism.” They laid out a menu of things that government should do and should pay for, so that dozens of constituencies could make their way into the same cafeteria line heading straight for the voting booth. Very few of the people in that queue know who directs the kitchen.
Jul 28, 2008 - 10:08 pm Steve-o:Obama’s “change you can believe in” has become “more changes than you can believe.” The media is having a hard time trying to drag him across the finish line of not the election, but the nomination.
Is that Hillary I hear coming?
Jul 28, 2008 - 10:12 pm DoctorOfLove:VDH, who says Europeans love Obama? The Irish that just voted down the EU? The Eastern European voters who would likewise vote it down if given a chance? Or the elites who report the news, in much the same way they report it here?
You mean the media is different there than here - that they accurately reflect public sentiment (a sentiment which, for example, favors the death penalty)? You really think that? You think you weren’t watching propaganda?
Jul 28, 2008 - 10:20 pm a:Reagan was not alone: there was Margaret Thatcher.
Jul 28, 2008 - 10:51 pm David:I was amused to read Nick Cohen in the Observer who stated that the so called liberal left will be upset to lose Bush. As for me a European, I do not like Obama one bit, neither does my father or my brothers, we would not vote for him if we could and having a complete idiot like him in charge of the most improtant country in terms of democratic principals scares me almost as much as being a citizen of a tolitarian EU.
Its the elite anti-democratic scum bags in Europe who like Obama, they see one of their own, a man who will lie to get into power and then look down his nose at the people to be changed or else…, that is the reality of the European love for Obama and their love of their own elite status. I can not imagine the leading nation of the free world being lead by a man to the left of many European leaders, that is truly scary.
Jul 28, 2008 - 11:59 pm DoctorOfLove:And the Pope.
Jul 29, 2008 - 12:02 am The False God:Margaret Thatcher was Ronald Reagan’s alter ego.
Jul 29, 2008 - 12:21 am ic:…still remember what David Petraeus did for our country.
How about the President who bucked the pundits and popular polls to appreciate him, to support him? Lesser beings would have folded and blamed the generals.
In fact, it was the generals’ recommendations that Bush followed all along. Casey still said Petraeus was wrong to over emphasize counter insurgency tactics, Abbizaid(?) had said on briefings numerous times that America’s role was to train Iraqis to fight their own war. He didn’t want the Iraqis to grow dependent on the Americans. Obama is the one who will not listen to the generals. He said his first priority after moving into the White House was to tell the Joint Chiefs to draw up a plan to withdraw in 16 months.
Jul 29, 2008 - 12:31 am steve:As always, a well writen and insightful post. I would only add that essentially Obama was speaking in Europe to a “home town” crowd, as his value system, world view and theirs are essentially the same.
Jul 29, 2008 - 1:26 am rt:1. Both insist on a paternalistic, all pervasive big government to control, support and protect.
2. Both are protectionist in their view of trade.
3. Both are essentially secular. Neither places any real importance on the teachings of the churches they occasionally attend.
4. Both are anti gun.
5. Both view big business and its executives with deep seated distrust.
6. Both view the terrorism issue as essentially a law and order affair.
7. Both view subsidies and govt. largess as a right. neither is big on individual rights or individual reponsabilities.
My (perhaps misguided) hope is that the American public will look at the arrogance, hubris, inappropriate speeches, ponitifactions, wafflings and casual rejection of wounded troops with the same repugnacne as I do - and that this marks the beginning of the end for the Obama campaign.
> Reagan was not alone: there was Margaret Thatcher.
don’t forget pope john paul II.
Jul 29, 2008 - 1:52 am Enos Sporf:Europe’s boyfriend.
Jul 29, 2008 - 2:08 am Ted:So what happened in the last twelve months to cause such a radical turn-about in Iraq and here at home? The surge added some needed troops, but more importantly sent the symbolic message that the United States was not leaving, but determined—militarily—to defeat terrorists and give the Iraqi government critical time to consolidate its authority.
Well, no. By the beginning of the turnaround, Bush had finally fired everyone who screwed Iraq up in the first place and allowed Petreus to go forward with a grassroots strategy that set conditions such that it became possible for the Iraqi government to do its job (and it was about freakin’ time on both counts). Simultaneously, al Qaeda proved to the arab world that they’re a bunch of unreasonable, non-viable, hypocritical nutcases.
Jul 29, 2008 - 2:44 am RuleTopia:There is a wonderful opportunity for McCain to use this European worship of Obama against him. Europe has long had a much worse economy than we do now. It’s inability and unwillingness to assimilate immigrants has been an unmitigated disaster. It’s military forces scare no one (the Iranians humiliate the once vaunted British navy; the Germans refuse to fight in Afghanistan; etc.). It’s decadent lifestyle is leading to its own extinction due to extremely low birthrates.
Is this the change America wants?
Jul 29, 2008 - 3:20 am TomJW:The elitist euros love Obama because he does nothing, just as they do nothing.
Jul 29, 2008 - 4:36 am Janus:Frankly the Europeans are increasingly worthless as allies. The best we can hope for is for them to not actively obstruct us.
America should be doing everything it can to cultivate India as its most important ally of the 21st century.
Jul 29, 2008 - 4:38 am usmcret:The Europeans(particularly the French and the Germans) have never forgiven the US and the Brits for saving them, twice within thirty years, from themselves. Since Obama fancies himself a “citizen of the world” perhaps he should run for Sec. Gen of the UN. Now that would that be a really effective and important position for him to assume! Just keep him OUT of the Oval Office.
Jul 29, 2008 - 5:18 am TH:Semper Fi
What do you think the odds are russia aligns with the muslims and overruns europe and europe welcomes it as a liberation?
Jul 29, 2008 - 5:48 am Steve:Rep. (D-CA) Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House, has told Politico that she’s standing in the way on a drilling vote because she’s determined to use the speaker’s gavel to “save the planet.” Reid said Monday that he would allow votes on amendments to a long-stalled energy package, including one on drilling, and Republican leaders were skeptically considering the offer Monday evening.
What gives her the right to ignore the will of the people to further her own personal agenda. The House of Representatives is the peoples house, as designed by the founders and specified in the Constitution.
She does not have this right while the average American suffers under higher energy prices, and rising prices in general caused by higher energy prices. Because of her actions, hundreds of thousands of Americans have lost their jobs, and other low-income families can barely make it.
She promised a new kind of leadership in the House. But we never knew this would lead to her coronation as Queen of the House, instead of Speaker. This is the worst Congress the U.S. has ever seen.
She needs to step down immediately. Sen. (D-NV) Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader, should be next.
Jul 29, 2008 - 6:05 am Aaron:Are you sure Obama is “english only.” I thought he spoke Indonesian and Spanish as well…
Jul 29, 2008 - 6:15 am submandave:In the summary of relatively unappreciated yet critical developments I think VDH forgot the single most significant: staying committed in theater long enough to overcome both the earned expectation of abandoning the Iraqis and the popular misrepresentation of US troops as oil-grabbing, anti-Muslim, Jew-loving, insensitive oppressive brutes. Given the pressures from the Democrats and left to once again validate the former and the constant Western (and Islamic) media focus on exceptions to prove the latter the fortitude exhibited by Pres. Bush is even more remarkable.
The bottom line is that the Iraqis became our allies only after they’d had enough contact with US forces to convince themselves that we wouldn’t leave them high and dry and that we weren’t nearly as evil as they had been told year after year.
Jul 29, 2008 - 6:29 am Doug Santo:Nice piece.
The Europeans want our protection. They have grown accustom to it during the later half of the 20th century. The EU formed and prospered under an American military shield. The shield was a guarantee of stability and security.
At the same time, the Europeans despise the US for the same reasons they have prospered in peace. They despise us because we make them feel weak. The feeling of weakness and lack of control is exacerbated when a president like George Bush is in power.
The Europeans want us deployed around the globe. They also want to exercise veto power over the use of our outstanding military. Obama offers the Europeans an excellent opportunity.
McCain is the only choice in the next election.
Doug Santo
Jul 29, 2008 - 6:35 am Anthony Calabrese:Pasadena, CA
Can someone please tell me why we are still in NATO? And what exactly is NATO’s function these days, defending Paris from Serbia?
Jul 29, 2008 - 6:46 am rvastar:Long after a Seymour Hersh, Moveon.org, Code Pink, Cindy Sheehan, Harry Reid and others are forgotten, Americans will still remember what David Petraeus did for our country. Amen to that!
Cindy who?
Seriously though: it will be a LOOOONG time, unfortunately, before any such honoring of Gen. Petraeus occurs amongst the general populace.
The Marxists in control of the country’s media, educational, and entertainment institutions will see to it that a dumbed-n-numbed public remain ignorant of both history and reality. Only when control is finally wrested away from them will the American public be exposed to anything approaching truth.
Jul 29, 2008 - 6:53 am Sissy Willis:That sea of mostly pink forearms raised in support of Barack Obama’s dreamy “yes we can” chimera echoed ironically the ocean of empty shoes pictured poignantly at the Holocaust Museum in DC:
The timeless hysteria of the history-challenged multitudes
Jul 29, 2008 - 6:54 am Tony:Speaking as a European myself I can tell you that the majority of Europeans don’t give a hoot about Obama.
Oh yes, the media love him….the liberals like him because he’s not George Bush (yawn!)….. basically all the same groups over here as their counterparts in the US “love” him…… but please stop lumping us all in together as if we are some big gelatenous mass writhing around in our blind love for some bloke from the other side of the pond.
I don’t know a single soul who cares a jot about the fella. I know plenty who appreciate the US and the umbrella of safety it has wrapped us in these past few decades.
I can’t believe the likes of VDH swallows what the media feeds him.
Jul 29, 2008 - 7:13 am SFC Cheryl McElroy US ARMY (RET):Tony:
It’s difficult NOT to lump you all together in the same ‘gelatenous mass’, when the liberal mindset among Euros is so predominant. As a former Soldier, I spent close to 10 years in Europe. I know how alot of them think. As for ’swallowing what the media feeds’: The MSM in the United States is adept at shoveling their nihilist, anti-America agenda down the maws of many people who are just too ‘busy’ to do independent research, or too gullible to beliee anything else.
Jul 29, 2008 - 7:27 am ronbo:If Obama is elected I doubt that he will suddenly whip off a mask and reveal himself to be the second coming of Fidel, let alone Hitler. While his enablers in the media desperately hope they are backing the next JFK, the likelihood is that he will be the next Jimmy Carter. And that’s bad enough.
Jul 29, 2008 - 7:31 am Farmer Frank:My question remains, “Where is Obama’s experience? And at WHAT?” He has no discernable track record. I don’t like McCain, but at least he has experience…in both the Senate and getting the Hell beat out of him in a Hanoi prison while serving the United States military.
Jul 29, 2008 - 7:42 am exhelodrvr:Tony,
“I can’t believe the likes of VDH swallows what the media feeds him.”
Of course, the lack of support from many of the governments in Europe just MIGHT have something to do with it.
Jul 29, 2008 - 7:47 am Sissy Willis:Tony. We love you too.
Jul 29, 2008 - 7:49 am bandit:Aiken your spiel is the pitch perfect empty rhetoric of the Obamabots. ‘He’s got it all!’ - straight from TigerBeat. ‘He brings hope’ - whatever. He brings hope to me too but it’s hope that Obamabots forget their meds on election day and forget to vote.
Jul 29, 2008 - 7:57 am Dodo:Who says the Europeans love Obama? I don’t and I’m European. The Europeans who adore Obama are the same silly people who like him in the US. Curious that he had to go to Berlin of all places for a mass rally.
Jul 29, 2008 - 8:09 am Doug:Thank god Obama has already started to act as President. God knows nobody else is doing the job. To quote the Marine Warfighting Manual,”In audacity you will find safetey”.
Jul 29, 2008 - 8:44 am Alistair O'Finn:Europeans are mostly “single children” themselves, so they admire a world politician who acts like a pampered only child.
Some Europeans have learned that Democratic Party controlled precincts in large US cities, and in Wisconsin, can be easily penetrated by non-registered voters. Expect to see many of them casting illegal votes for Obama in November.
Jul 29, 2008 - 8:53 am David:As another European I agree with Tony, pity my comment I sent last night got censored. From another European who appreciates the US keeping me safe…
Jul 29, 2008 - 9:00 am Olivia:I agree with Tony. As many of my European friends can attest it is a largely media created circus. I like how there was no mention from the MSM on the concerts that proceeded Obama’s speech in Berlin. With Regards to Obama he is summed up with “Pride comes before the Fall”. It’s going to get ugly in November.
Jul 29, 2008 - 9:10 am Bod:Doug,
I think you should contact the USMC immediately and get them to correct that typo. It’s ’s-a-f-e-t-y’.
I blame W. A typo like that would never have got into a military manual if Obama had been running the show.
Jul 29, 2008 - 9:58 am megapotamus:Doug, we actually have a President, he has been elected and then re-elected at a time of great national peril under our Constitutional system that some folks think might be superior to appointment by acclamation. That man has been doing what needs doing for seven years now in spite of Democrats and far too many Republicans using all means, fair and foul, to hobble him in his lawful office. Don’t like it? Rock the Vote! “In audacity you will find safety”? Sounds like a good title for W’s memoirs.
For those objecting to the unelected President becoming one in fact, I have three words for you; McGovern, Mondale, Dukakis.
Jul 29, 2008 - 10:20 am Sandra M:Style, Style, Style indeed. One journalist effused about Obama’s “louche” way of holding his jacket over his shoulder and I remembered Tom Wolfe’s RADICAL CHIC which hilariously reported on a party Leonard Bernstein gave for the Black Panthers. The Panthers were up front about what they planned to do to Whitey, “Burn, Baby, Burn” while Baba Walters, Otto Preminger, and other elite liberals cooed and aahed about the great style of the Black Panther ladies.
The essay was published in NY (Herald Tribune?) and no one paid attention. Then, it was published by the Brits who howled at which point NY intellectuals paid attention. It may be that liberals perceive differently than others and that those who spend a fortune on clothes and objets d’art never get beyond what others wear and “appear” to be.
And isn’t that what Obama was counting on with his trip? It’s certainly what the liberal press meant when they described the trip as “flawless”. Alas, back here many Americans got mad at what didn’t happen: a trip to visit wounded troops. And that became the story for us.
Worse still, Gerard Baker so brilliantly satirized the Obamessiah with his column in the London Times that future displays of grandiosity from the Obamessiah will evoke snickers as well as awe.
Jul 29, 2008 - 10:35 am tanstaafl:There is a certain European “We told you so” that comes with his election. In short, we elect a world citizen with a European view, and put behind us the embarrassments of a Texan or cowboy actor./i>
Europeans (esp. “the French”) love to look down their aquiline noses at we cowboys.
Contrary to what “Tony” writes above as to European disinterest in Obama, my French friend has written me “Thank God for Obama”.
…Chirac, Schroeder, Villepin et al. are history.
Europe has taken a decidedly right turn in the election of Sarkozy, Merkel and the re-emergence of Berlusconi.
Maybe European leftists and the self-designated “intelligentsia” (”Sarkozy is just like Boosch…”) are hoping to get a compadre elected in America, something they haven’t managed too well of late on their own continent.
Jul 29, 2008 - 11:09 am Shane:There is nothing the down troden people of Europe hate worse then false bravado, except maybe real bravado. But don’t get confused, when it hits the fan they are going to be looking for one of those darn “redneck” types like Bush.
Jul 29, 2008 - 12:21 pm John Bailey:There is an often used film clip of a young woman in a coat, who I believe is holding a flower and her eyes are in almost in a trance as she watches a Hitler procession passing by on a street before the war. The accompanying commentary of some documentaries using the news reel, if I recall the gist, ascribes the cult of Hitler as causing the people of Germany to mindlessly follow and not protest the direction, words, ideas or actions of their new leader.
I have an uneasy feeling every time I hear an Obama supporter indicate that ‘change’ is necessary, but they seldom talk about solid future plans or past record of accomplishment of their candidate. Obama speaking in Berlin to citizens of the world, when the media reports of members of his audience fainting or as he quips with a reporter about dealing with world leaders for the ‘next eight to 10 years’, all feed concern. Is the background music we are hearing for a second time “Deutschland, Deutschland über alles, Über alles in der Welt” using the Horst-Wessel-Lied stanzas?
Jul 29, 2008 - 12:36 pm Aylios:Every single word hits the bullseye square in the middle, well said Pajama and I want to second your “Amen to that!”.
Were I a religious person, I would say “God bless America!”, somehow there’s no better phrase. I’m still proud to be European, because I feel that one should always be proud of one’s ancestry, but I’m also embarrassed as hell to be one.
Keep saying what needs to be said. From a grateful European, who’ll never forget.
Jul 29, 2008 - 12:41 pm srlucado:“TH: What do you think the odds are russia aligns with the muslims and overruns europe and europe welcomes it as a liberation?”
Given Russia’s reputation with Muslims in Chechnya (which is a problem Tolstoy wrote about, and it was old news then), I wouldn’t bet my mortgage on it.
Scott
Jul 29, 2008 - 12:47 pm SteveL:Regarding Bush, I happen to agree with the late William F. Buckley. Buckley was never a political fan of the liberal Democrats, not to his dying day. But he also believed that Bush’s political legacy will be zero.
Because Bush’s fecklessness is what has paved the way for a Barack Obama. It would take far too long to catalogue all the mistakes that Bush made. But the biggest one of them all is worth mentioning: Bush didn’t care what the American people thought of him and his policies. He confused insularity with statesmanship. And that is something Ronald Reagan never did.
It’s one thing to proceed on a highway bill or subsidy to earthquake victims without taking a public opinion poll every time. But in a democracy like America, you don’t take the country into war, ask her citizens to go off to war and risk their lives–and then not spend every waking moment to explain and rally the people behind you. Bush got his war in Iraq–but at a terrible political price in terms of cynicism, division, anger–and a resurgent far-left movement which has crystallized into the Obama candidacy. And perhaps, unfortunately, into the Obama presidency.
Bush’s Administration operated on the principle of “apres moi le deluge.” And now, “le deluge” has arrived.
Jul 29, 2008 - 12:51 pm Jabli Izvesti:Europeans can’t stand a black leader in their own countries despite minority black populations in their societies.That is why,they admire a black presidential candidate in America.Europeans have always been progressive in this kind of vicarious fashion.
Jul 29, 2008 - 1:08 pm bbscan:VDH with another great write up. The real question isn’t why europe loves BHO but why BHO loves Europe more than America.
Jul 29, 2008 - 1:40 pm Jan Bennink:A little reply by a European.
Europeans are relieved too be rid of the man who lied us and our loyal willing weak governments into a war.
Europeans are relieved too be rid of a man who franticly listens to the voice of his “god” instead of the voice of reason.
Europeans are glad that the man who sold his soul and the rest of his credibility to companies like raytheon, halliburton and blackwater is on his way out.
Europeans find it refreshing that there is a candidate with an open eye for the rest of the world. Not solely as places where one can harvest oil or gold or minerals, try out new weapon systems or dump waste.
Euopeans are glad that the man who ravaged the american economy and put the world economy at grave risk is going to leave.
Obama is breath of fresh air. A man who is his own man who does not only impress by his looks and his ways, but also by his ideals and his sincere energy.
This is a vibe felt from the political right, to the polical left. Mister Bush has few friends left here.
Greetings from Amsterdam. Netherlands. Europe.
Jan Bennink
Jul 29, 2008 - 2:07 pm chriscross:No no no we do not love, adore etc. Obama. Take it from a real European.
Jul 29, 2008 - 3:06 pm Roderick Reilly:“”"”When it comes to actual work he is nowhere to be found, certainly not on any real or actual committees doing actual work, not in the Illinois legislature and not in the US Senate.”"”"
You forgot the Harvard Law Review.
And, thanks to all you Europeans who offered feedback. You don’t fit a stereotype, do you? Well now, isn’t that funny, because neither do we Americans!
Jul 29, 2008 - 3:32 pm Don Miguel:Jan, it’s nice to see how your opinions don’t get in the way of the facts. Obviously your press is even worse now than when I lived in you neck of the woods if you really believe even half of the crap you stated.
Jul 29, 2008 - 4:38 pm J-Rog:“None of this volatility is new in American military history…”
Tocqueville predicted in “Democracy in America,” that wars in democratic countries would start poorly, and end well. Democracies are usually unprepared for large wars since peacetime liberties offer fruitful avenues for prosperity and career advancement, and a militant foreign policy is unnecessary between liberal (classical sense here) countries who see economic relationships as mutually beneficial. When wars do start, democracies generally take a while to relearn the martial arts. But the learning curve improves eventually, as the same liberal society allows effective leaders to rise quickly. In Petraeus, Bush found his (insert any famous American general here), but I expect also that rest of the military’s officer corps has undergone a mini internal revolution. A new generation has been trained on the job in counterinsurgency.
Jul 29, 2008 - 5:42 pm Artruen:Jan, or is it ‘yawn’?, from one Dutchman to another, you know better than that crap. My Uncles who live over there, remember WW2, know the truth. Quit reading the Socialist pap spoon fed to Europe, clear your mind, and THINK.
Jul 29, 2008 - 6:03 pm Red Ruffansore:Aiken Blue, step away from the crack pipe. Your euphoria and illusions of the Dali Bama are the smoke emanating from your pipe that eases the pain of 8 years of suffering BDS syndrome (Bush Derangement Syndrome). While there is a high nitwit factor that makes liberals vote much in the same way a child picks ice cream (Chocolate…vanilla..hmmmm), the odds on favorite is that the adults will pull this one out of the fire with McCain who being far from perfect is still light years ahead of the disaster an Obama administration would be. The only person that would win here if Obama hit the lottery would be Jimmy Carter, he would finally have someone that tried everything he did and actually screwed it up worse.
Jul 29, 2008 - 7:41 pm Red Ruffansore:As a side note to Jan and his little European….comment, with your industrious red light, pot, hash and heroin output, we can certainly depend upon your support anywhere in the world if trouble breaks out. Give your number to the ObaMessiah, he can put it on speed dial if we needya. Keep your mouth on the teat and quit your squealing.
Jul 29, 2008 - 7:46 pm Alice AN:Europeans love what Barack stands for, what America stands for - liberty and opportunity.
America is despite the ignorant chunk of masses - the ultimate utopia. The only country where you can rise to attain your potential irrelevant of what you were born into. A country where hard work is rewarded, and opportunity is anyone’s to seize.
Obama’s candidacy…only in America.
And after eight years of silliness - the ship will course correct.
It’s not a conservative vs liberal issue, it’s a competent vs not issue. I know of no intellectual liberal, ideologically different from Powell, Rice, Ford, Bush (the former) who would not recognize their competence.
There are several conservatives I admire (minus hacks), Buckley was one of them. It’s not conservatism I have an issue with, however much I disagree. It’s mostly Bush style governance that repulses me - and most other people minus the famed 28%.
Jul 29, 2008 - 7:48 pm Apothek:Obama is full of crap. Here in Europe the leftwingers are loosing ground fast, and the totalitarianism of the EU is becoming more apparent everyday too. Angered by endless hand-outs to the marginal, in fear of the loose immigration policy and it’s wrecking effects, and increasingly unwilling to believe a word their politicians say. Europeans are now looking for a change. This will be a change towards the right of course and away from socialist politics.
The Europeans powers that be are naturally very pro Obama, exactly for the reasons mentioned in the above article. He’s their idol, their “comrade” and the guy that will polish their tattered standing with the people. But don’t be fooled by the official proponents of European mainstream media/politics and their adoration of the Anointed One. Their days will soon be over. It would be utter irony if at the same time the States would place an Obama in charge of their affairs.
Jul 29, 2008 - 7:57 pm European:I’m European…
And after reading this above there was only one thing on my mind; “what a load of bull-excrement. None of you seem to realize what a desaster George W. Bush was. (I already tend to speak in past tense.) After the reign if his kingdom has ended you Amercans are stuck with a massive deficit in your financial balance. From a big plus to a big minus in 8 years. (Applause!!)
And do I feel safer in amidst this so called “war on terror”? Looking back I tend to think the Clinton years were the gonden years. (Not that he was perfect, oh no!) Sure, there was that massive drawback from September 11 2001, which resulted in a massive defense spending. Trillions of Dollars.
I lost perspective with nine zeros. Trillion seems to be twelve. I lost count.
Back on topic, why do Europeans love Obama.
To me it’s quite simple. Because the alternative to him is another period of Neocon influenced gouverment. Warmongering. John “I know how to win wars” McCain is sure not going to venture off the path Bush paved for him. Fair to him, as he served in Vietnam, he also knows how to lose a war….
And what’s wrong with being a polyglot? I’m fluent in English, German, a little French, Dutch and Frisian.
And on point five. I do think a majority of Americans are already embracing some of those ideas. Coal firing is clean?? Have you seen the latest graph of the sky over Beijing?? I do admit nuclear energy will be inevitable in the future though. Solar and wind energy will not be sufficient for the world economy.
And you declare the surge a success. Open your eyes and try to keep up with the news. As an American you think the Iraq war is the main topic around the diner table. Wrong. The main topics are; Will I still have a job in the near future and will I still have a roof over my head.
And, Americans will still remember what David Petraeus did for our country. Right…
You all sure will remember what George Bush did for your country. And come to think of it, what he did to my country.
Jul 29, 2008 - 8:10 pm habeebj:Fantastic writing, thank you.
Jul 29, 2008 - 8:39 pm TLM:Obama’s European tour may have been designed to shore up support with his Leftist base (here) after his many flip-flops on issues that concern them. The MoveOn.org crowd will vote for him regardless of how much he panders to Middle America, but they may stop funding his campaign at the level he’s accustomed to. And someone has to pay for the traveling circus that accompanies Obama on his perambulations. Gee, ya’ think he’s for big Government too?
Canceling his trip to visit wounded troops at Landstuhl becomes a little more understandable with that in mind. The Left could care less about our troops. They are the ones who turned the tide in Iraq, leaving the naysayers to eat crow and General Obama to dissemble about his previous statements regarding the surge.
Americans may be tiring of the Obama craze. His empty rhetoric to a crowd of 200K in Berlin, exquisitely dissected by VDH, translated into a drop in the polls upon his return home. Some Americans (wrongly) assume Europeans are more addicted to fads than they are. Perhaps they were seeing a reflection of themselves in those rock concert like crowds. Can’t wait to see what happens with the Berlin reprise at Denver Stadium in August.
Underdog status suites McCain. Reminds people he is a survivor, politically and otherwise. Fads come and go, but America always roots for the underdog at heart. So, don’t disabuse the Obamaniacs of their fantasy. They are McCain’s best bet.
Jul 29, 2008 - 8:44 pm misanthropicus:RE: Jan Bennink/A little reply by a European.
Jan, Jan! My good man, relax! Then go to a library and review a few 1970 Pravda, L’Humanite Dimanche, Morning Star issues or other European communist papers of those times and compare their descriptions of the US with your items - my friend, you have a knowledge problem.
Jan - Euros are not all ignorant, gullible, filthy, promiscuous, lazy, petty, coward, un-ingenious, opportunistic, treacherous, envious and utterly unable to govern themselves, this uniform gracelessness and ugliness compounded by stolidness (which, at its turn, is occassionally disrupted by bouts of unexplainable hysteria), as you are probably aware of this view shared by many observers from civilized countries who surveyed that realm, Europe.
Jul 29, 2008 - 8:50 pm Jan Bennink:By Golly, no! Yet, my good man, Europe is sooooooooo provincial, soooooo parochial! And from that noble fountain come your views of America - yes, my friend, from the times of Karl May very few things have changed in the Europeans’ knowledge of America. Everything you know about the US is what your cousin heard forty years ago from a stranger at the railway station when travelling to buy an electric saw imported from Japan - adventure which he/she is still telling to wide-eyed town-folks Sundays when you’re all in the inn’s yard, playing accordeons, dancing polka, pinching asses and eating frogs stuffed with snails (See? This is what happens when one sees too many Czechoslovakian movies - easy to detect here a McCain supporter, too).
You are a good man, Jan - don’t let yourself tricked by the meadia.
Hey Guys,
Thanks for all the replies.
I am not a lefty,or commie, nor ignorant. I’am a great fan of LGF (although i’m not a lizzard yet) and i love the states .
Thanks for all the replies. Although i miss substance in them. Please unmask my words with facts. Cant find any. Your president Bush is doing you guys not much good. I cant help that.
Greets
JB
Jul 30, 2008 - 1:18 am MrTender:Europeans prefer Obama because they can see that for the past 8 years the USA has been hijacked by vested interests and politicial lobbyists that have put an oilman into the oval office through the use of negitive political campaigns and the politics of fear.
- Obama is not taking money from lobbyists
- he is speaking out about the tyrany of oil
- he is calling the Iraq war what it is… an war that should never have been authorised or waged that has faned the flames of extreemism
- he is putting forward a clear plan to combat climate change
- he is articulate and intelligent
The people of the world are having their faith restored in Americans. Many thought that the US was a lost cause… the fact that this man is likly going to be the next POTUS is restoring their faith in the US.
Jul 30, 2008 - 2:45 am European:@ Habeebj:
My pleasure. Hahaha!!!
Jul 30, 2008 - 3:30 am TLM:Re: MrTender
>Europeans prefer Obama because they can see that for the past 8 years the USA has been hijacked by vested interests and politicial lobbyists…
Some Europeans and some Americans prefer Obama, not all. Many Americans believe our government has been hijacked by vested interests and political lobbyists for the past 15 years. In this regard, Obama is no different — c.f. his list of donors. Private citizens make up a small proportion of his campaign donations (by amount of money). The rest is from corporations and “bundlers”.
>he is speaking out about the tyrany of oil
At $140/barrell, everyone is speaking out about the tyranny of oil. With this in mind, it is not intrinsically a bad idea to have an oilman in the Oval Office. Unless you disagree with his policies, of course.
>he is calling the Iraq war what it is… an war that should never have been authorised or waged that has faned the flames of extreemism…
Obama used this tact to secure the Democratic nomination. He is now in the process of “refining” his message on Iraq for the general election. Stay tuned for updates. The “flames of extremism” are being extinguished in Iraq, in no small measure by the Muslim world’s negative reaction to AQI’s excessive brutality. Iraq has shown Muslims the moral consequences of their extremist views, as if the Taliban and al Qaida had not already done so during the 90’s and on 9/11.
>he is articulate and intelligent
Read “The Best and the Brightest” by David Halberstam. “Intelligent” leaders make mistakes, and usually have the same difficulty recognizing them. Be advised, it is not politically correct to call an African-American “articulate”. This connotes a subtle form of racism according to acknowledged expert Eugene Robinson (see his Washington Post article from circa May 2007).
Jul 30, 2008 - 5:32 am JFM:You are wrong Europens don’t love Obama. I have read the comments (that is not what journalists thoink what ordinary readers think) in “Die Welt” the conservative german newspeper and I was shocked at the degree of hate towrds America witrh sentnces like “McCain and Obama is like choosing between pest and cholera”).
The rift between America and Europe is not due to George W Bush and will not be healed by his leaving or by the arrival of Obama; Bush was ver a pretext to european hate.
The deep motives are: sysndrom of Stockholm towards jihadism, leftism, the will to forget about own infamies and crimes (accuse America of all evils in world so you don’t have to think about Auschwitz), the will to forget the humiliation of having neeeded America during WWII and Cold War. Fianlly what is perhaps the most dangerous: the rebirth through the EU of the dream of european would domination.
Europens don’t love Obama. What they love is the hope of someone who will weken and eunuchize America.
Jul 30, 2008 - 5:59 am bob lane:Why do Europeans like Obama? Europeans instinctively recognize an anti-”Zionist” when they see one, even if American Jews do not.
Jul 30, 2008 - 6:22 am Kurt:There is nothing worse than being on the wrong side of history. Benedict Arnold is one of the more famous examples. Those who stood against victory in Iraq will not be looked upon kindly in the history books - while General Petraeus and President Bush will be placed in the pantheon of American heroes alongside the long line of leaders - from George Washington to General Norman Schwarzkopf.
Jul 30, 2008 - 6:31 am billgray:In the mid-70s we had an election with a pair of similar candidates. On the one hand, there was a dry, not-articulate moderate man who, while a good manager, not a charismatic leader…more of a middle-of-the-road politician who did a good job of helping the country heal from the ass-kicking we took in Vietnam due to the politicians who, like Europeans became Clinton-esque in responding to polls instead of doing the right things during war. On the other hand we had a Washington “outsider” (turned out Billy really WAS the smarter son) who promised virtual utopia if we elected him…with no regard whatsoever to the “how” in his rhetoric. We elected him and everyone cheered our new “savior” because he was going to “make us better” and “lead us to new heights”. His complete and utter naivete on virtually every aspect of governing, personnel decisions (especially in key cabinet positions), foreign policy, and oh, did I forget? THE ECONOMY was the worst set of disasters in the last three-quarters of a decade. Does ANYONE BESIDES ME, remember the housing debacle he left us with when he was done (early and mid 80s)? What about one failed lender after another across the country? Anyone remember all the failed savings and loans we so “academically” refer to now? People ACTUALLY LOST THEIR LIFE SAVINGS IN THOSE INSTITUTIONS!!! Some of them were my relatives, friends, friends grandparents and so forth. Who remembers them and the life they led AFTER his administration had done its work? As far as I can tell, no one except those closest to them are even aware of what happened to those people and their families. Just among the hundreds I know, there are almost none who EVER RECOVERED. Imagine what would happend if your parents, a year or two away from retirement LOST their entire savings or LOST their business because of 18-21% interest payments they couldn’t make to the bank on their business loans OR because the S&L closed with ALL their life savings, never to repay OR repayed years later AFTER your parents had passed away after living in poverty for years?
This election is obviously an important one. While I do not agree with many of the positions of the old guy candidate, if we elect the “other guy”, in my view, the most accurate summary that will be said of him later, at least by intelligent people, will be “he made Carter look SMART by comparison”. For those among you who can’t wait to have this person at the head of the country, ask yourself this: “If you were interviewing for a CEO position at (name the place…private or public) would YOU be considered with a resume that had as little real experience in leading change and as few ACTUAL ACHIEVEMENTS as his?” Of course not! So why is he being considered at all? Simple. So of us think he’ll “give us stuff” OR “he makes us ‘feel’ good” for whatever set of silly reasons. Anyone with any sense whatsoever should go back and look at what Jimmy did for the country, and then take and honest look at what this guy is proposing, and at his actual credentials, and ask themselves if they’re willing to go through what Jimmy put us through.
Jul 30, 2008 - 6:34 am George:Note to Europe: We Americans owe you nothing but contempt. We Americans are descendants of Europeans who were persecuted and hounded out of Europe because of terrible religious and economic persecution perpetuated by your ancestors. Than we came back to save your asses in two hot wars and one cold war. We are not like you, we don’t want to be anything like you - except for some sycophantic politicians. So any candidate you support will NEVER be elected president. The more support you give to Obama, the fewer votes he will get. Remember Kerry in 2004?
So - here is a sincere and heartfelt message from a Connecticut Yank to all you Euro-wennies - KISS MY ASS!!!
Jul 30, 2008 - 6:45 am Florecilla Silvestre:I read the typical comments I always read from american conservatives, and I have to ask when are you people going to shut up and do what you have to? Do you want to put an end to european socialism? All you have to do is open the borders to europeans who can demonstrate:
- holding for more than 5 years the citizenship of some 1st world country
- clean medical and police record + high studies or work or own business
- high english fluency, basic historic and constitutional knowledge exam and an oath to defend America’s interest and respect its laws and culture
- a bail
You do this and tomorrow you have an army of the best europeans (the ones who actually contribute to their economies) knocking at your doors. All the programmers, engineers, doctors and architects you might need and then, more. You let the social workers, liberal arts graduates, humanities morons and other “intelectuals” lift these nations with their own work. And praise Obama in their spare time.
I live in a country where minors can even commit gang rapes and murders with impunity because punishing crime is proper of savage right wing americans. Where education and healthcare are mostly socialized and consecuently, destroyed. Where everyone wants to work for daddy state. Where people consider Iraki terrorists to be “freedom fighters”. And the economy, going to the hell on a hand basket. Much to my dismay, I live in Europe (Spain). I know what I am talking about.
Jul 30, 2008 - 8:03 am Rachel Peepers:Unlike Europeans, Republicans may think they don’t like B.O. now, but just wait till he starts carrying out his campaign promises. We’re talking promises made. Promises kept.
1. Massive tax hikes for the rich. Only moderate cost of government ones for the middle class.
2. Regardless of any alleged improvements in Iraq due to the surge, a massive pullout of American troops within 16 months of taking office.
3. No drilling for supposed huge oceans of offshore American oil. No nuclear energy. No clean coal initiatives.
4. Huge amounts of tax money spent on more research on global warming.
5. Appointing the visionary Al Gore to a cabinet position.
6. A new TV channel televising black church worship across America.
7. The destruction of America’s nuclear arsenal as a “good will” gesture that leads to the eventual destruction of all nuclear weapons.
8. Sit down meetings with every stripe of terrorist who through force of sheer will President Obama will convince the U.S. means them no harm.
9. Free satellite radio for poor people of color.
10. The opening of talks leading to the long overdue payments of reparations to direct descendants of slaves.
Change is what the good Senator Obama’s campaign is about. Fairness is a touchstone. And honesty the foundation.
While Republicans harp about a decision not to visit wounded American troops in Germany, Obama was at work making plans to bring peace and unity; a new kind of world order to a greener healthier, planet whose occupants live not in fear and distrust, but happiness, helpfulness and harmony.
President Obama. First lady the beautiful Michelle. Now doesn’t that have a nice ring to it.
Jul 30, 2008 - 9:20 am boqueronman:The news is out. BHO accepts money from lobbyists! Roll Call has discovered over 50 have contributed to his campaign in 2008. His staff says they’ll return the money; no such refunds have so far been discovered. BHO is, first and always, a typical corrupt Chicago pol. Worse than most; better than some. Furthermore, what about his, and the Dems, support of their Party’s “unindicted” Board of Directors, i.e. trial lawyers, trade and public sector unions, radical leftist NGOs, racialist front groups, and charitable foundations, and, of course, George “Moneybags” Soros? They are not “vested interests and political lobbyists?” Get real.
Jul 30, 2008 - 10:13 am A different European:Most Europeans like Obama the same way they like the Dalai Lama and they care just as much about America as about Tibet: only as long as it costs them nothing and doesn´t disturb their sleep.
But if Obama becomes president, Europeans will find a way to keep disparaging America. It has already started.
Right after his Berlin visit Obama said this in a CNN interview: “If we have more NATO troops in Afghanistan, then that’s potentially fewer American troops over the long term, which means we’re spending fewer billions of dollars, which means we can invest those billions of dollars in making sure we’re providing tax cuts to middle-class families who are struggling with higher gas prices.”
German politicians immediately pounced: They will NOT send trops so that Americans can enjoy lower taxes - which proves that their commitment in Afghanistan is only symbolic anyway (and that high taxes and envy evidently go hand in hand).
Yes, it is another inartful and factually untrue statement by Obama. Then again, America has for decades paid far more than it´s share for global security.
The point is, Europeans will find a way to let others do the dirty work while they feel superior and enlightened.
Newspaper editorials have already begun to stress that a President Obama will be obliged to take American interests into account (shocking, I know. If only I could believe it), that he has many big business donors, that he is more protectionist (that one´s a fair concern), that he wants to share the burden in Afghanistan (which is somehow seen as a “rightwing” position) and so on. In other words the “he´s just another American” meme has started, true or false.
If you are one of those Americans craving respect from Europe: it is not reciprocated. You might as well vote for McCain. I would.
Jul 30, 2008 - 10:23 am A different European:Jan Bennink - if you throw around generalities of the “Bush lied” category, there is not much to discuss. I have gone over all the supposed scandals and found them manufactured - he plainy did not “lie us into the war”. But that was over the last six years.
It´s like the “Who killed Kennedy” conspiracy - every asshole can make up a theory, but it takes real work to disprove them. That´s in the nature of the thing.
I am German and I know the European media and politics. It´s an anti-American hothouse. If you are not able to think critically, if you do not realize that YOU are being lied to by people who make such claims, then I cannot help you.
Basically, Bush was right about a lot of things and I don´t give a fart about what “most people” say.
Jul 30, 2008 - 10:39 am Javelin:Sounds like VDH has turned into another right wing windbag with his trite generalizations and insults about Europe and his love of Bush and his mangled Spanglish, who encourages more illegals which VDH opposes,
Jul 30, 2008 - 11:03 am Javelin:Zhombre
Jul 30, 2008 - 11:09 am Another European:I guess with a name like that, you can’t expect anything intelligent. But are you saying the people who opposed the unnecessary and optional Iraq war are worse than Confederate sympathizers then you are truly another brainless right wing moron, but then again, this whole site is designed for pinheads like you to pretend to be profound. Go download your Rush podcast and don’t go to the library!
Jan Bennink, if you are just throwing around generalities of the “Bush lied” category, there is not much to say. I have again and again checked into these accusations and they are all manufactured scandals - Bush did in fact not “lie us into the war”. But I formed that opinion over a period of six years.
It is like the “Who killed Kennedy” conspiracies. Any fool can make up a theory, but it takes real work to disprove them. A lie is around the world before the truth gets its boots on.
I am German and I know the European media all too well. It is an anti-American hothouse. If you do not realize that you are being manipulated by the hacks who put these stories out (some of them Americans, for personal gain) then I cannot help you. I am sure you consider yourself a critical thinker.
Bush was right about a lot of things and I don´t care what “most people” say.
Jul 30, 2008 - 12:49 pm LeftisRight:I am a white person who hates the fact that he is white. How can any of you even bare to think of anything other than Baraq getting voted into offise?
Jul 30, 2008 - 1:14 pm misanthropicus:I think all you and that writer too should realize that anyone who opposes Baraq Obamah for presidient is a rassist.
Uropaeans are superior people, though they should have Muslim kings or something because the allow those despicable films to be made.
Go Baraq! Make abortion legal!
Javelin -
Blunt, damp & inert Javelin, you’re truly pathetic. Since your reasoning abilities are so limited, all you do on PJM is insult people whose reasoning you can’t comprehend.
Jul 30, 2008 - 2:37 pm C Williams:Insult! Heavens! Even this is beyond your reach - blunt stump of inert wood, no sharpener can give some edge.
But then, rotten, inert stumps of wood like you can have a positive function - all kind of awful critters live nicely throughout your decayed tissue.
For Aiken Blue:
Jul 30, 2008 - 4:18 pm D. Taylor:How trite… “A breath 0f fresh air” and “He offers hope”? Is that all you have?
Well. I “HOPE” that the US Population wakes up and sees this clown for what he really is A SOCIALIST!!…. nuf said
Aiken Blue,
Could you please give me one reason to vote for Obama? Tell me something, anything, that he has accomplished. He brings hope!! He’s for change we can believe in!! Hope for what exactly? Change from what to what? Why would we want to change from what we have to 1850’s socialism. That’s the change the Messiah wants. What a crock. I guess I’m a racist simply because I see the chosen one for what he is.
Jul 30, 2008 - 7:02 pm beenthere:Aiken Blue. Obviously you are a SC Yellow Dawg Demo who will follow anthing that offers free crap. Must be why SC is the worst of the worst public school systems. Yeah, vote for Nobama, and help the nation follow SC’s example of leadership and originallity.
Jul 30, 2008 - 9:14 pm Jan Bennink:@another european
But the fact is… he lied us into a war, just like your chancelor did in 1939 with the polish attack on the “zollambt.”
Fact is fact and fact is that this war still rages on.
Jul 31, 2008 - 1:00 am Another European:Jan - now with the Nazi comparisons? There goes your credibility.
Jul 31, 2008 - 2:35 am Spanky:Jan, Amaerica has saved your ass twice in last 100 years. Protected you for for over 50 years. When ever the bombs start falling and the europeans feel threaten are there is a terrible distaster who you gonna call The most powerful greatest Nation ever in the history of mankind…. maybe thats why you hate us
Spanky
Jul 31, 2008 - 5:45 am Dave:Jan - If President Bush lied us into the Iraq war, so did our Congress including almost all of the Democrats. Why aren’t the Democrats “liars” also ?
Jul 31, 2008 - 7:28 am LeftisRight:why do white europagans hate themselves?
Jul 31, 2008 - 8:19 am Jan Bennink:@spanky> c’mon. I dont hate you. Nobody hates “you” over here. And believe me. People here in Holland know darn well that you guys saved our asses.
But does that mean we can’t reason with you?
@another european> sorry shouldnt have done that.
Jul 31, 2008 - 9:41 am Amphipolis:Jan -
It seems to me that you prefer a stereotype of good to a stereotype of evil.
The problem is that both are still just stereotypes.
Jul 31, 2008 - 10:34 am rae:Remember the Titanic? The banker and boiler room stoker faced the same fate.
Europeans and Americans face similar woes and foes.
Every nation is jealous or proud or shortsighted or foolish or aggressive or passive about something sometime.
We are in the same boat. Bail boys…bail like mad.
Jul 31, 2008 - 8:38 pm firefighterUSA:Great read! America will always be viewed as the heavily muscled, independent, wayward son to many Europeans. It pisses Euros off when their offspring beats some terrorist ass without Grandma Europe`s approval. Obama is a breath of fresh air for those who wish Jimmy Carter was proclaimed permanent king of the USA.
Jul 31, 2008 - 10:02 pm Spanky:Jan you are right. You don’t hate us. But Bush did not lie to go to war Thats the big media lie. We are like cowboys over here that is our attitude. I guess its a good thing. Somebody has to protect the world from the wolves The muslims have one goal world domination.Bush seems to be the only world leader that sees this threat. They have attack almost every free country in the world over the last 20 years killed thousands of innocent men, women, and children when is the rest of the world going to wake up. How many thousands of dead children how many bombs the world is being held hostage by the muslims. Is it going to take a nuke to see the light wake up people. the war in Iraq is the front line we have killed 20,000 of the rag heads thats 20,000 that want come to Holland to kill your mother or your kids or come to Spain or to the America or to England etc….
Aug 1, 2008 - 1:15 am MrTender:Spanky
Re: TLM
Many Americans believe our government has been hijacked by vested interests and political lobbyists for the past 15 years.
At $140/barrell, everyone is speaking out about the tyranny of oil. With this in mind, it is not intrinsically a bad idea to have an oilman in the Oval Office. Unless you disagree with his policies, of course.
—————————–
The vested interests in the current white house administration have caused the $140 / barrell price of oil. And in the process have delivererd Exxon Mobil Corp a second-quarter earnings of $11.68 billion!!!!!!!!! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/31/oil-profits-shatter-recor_n_116022.html
McCain will be an extion of these policies. How is that good for the USA???
Look at a map. Iraq >>> (guess which country?) >>> Afganistan
Yep… you guessed it… Iran. All 3 countries in a straight line… where 2 continents collide and where all of the oil happens to be.
DUH!!!!!
I dont beleive that Obama has been bought by vested interests. He is not taking money from lobbyists …. that is there in the written record.
Anything has to be better than the current situation.
4000 Americans dead. Because that evil man in the white house wants to deliver his oil friends massive profits.
4000!
Aug 1, 2008 - 4:18 am TLM:The PC mindset that has infected this country for the past 15 plus years is the real “chickens coming home to roost” dilemma in this country. We have a black presidential candidate, who promised to be post-racial, blatantly playing the race card (”did I mention he’s black”) and now denying the obvious while contextualizing it as necessary to thwart the vaunted Republican attack machine, which thus far has failed to materialize in this election. Obama, by his own life story, has never been subjected to significant racial prejudice. That, of course, doesn’t prevent him from using his skin color, and the history of grievance it implies, to both garner support for himself, as well as deflect concerns about his politics or level of experience. And the brain dead media and the Obamaniacs, both succored on the PC teat, ignore this obvious political ruse. As VDH continues to point out, successful black leaders like Rice and Powell are never acknowledged for their accomplishments. They never used the race card to get ahead, and therefore their race doesn’t count.
Aug 1, 2008 - 5:35 am British European:“The Europeans(particularly the French and the Germans) have never forgiven the US and the Brits for saving them, twice within thirty years, from themselves.”
I have a few points here:
1. We British were allies of France against the Germans, in BOTH world wars, we didn’t “save” them! My grandfather volunteered in 1938 and was amongst the first to ship out to France once war was declared, he wasn’t there to “save” France but to fight along side our allies. And Britain was as much to blame for the mess that was WWI as any other European country and for the over zealous reparations (retribution) at the end of WWI which lead to the rise of National Socialism and WWII!
2. The USA were late to both conflicts and most ‘Americans’ forget that Germany actually declared war on the USA in WWII, not the other way around! The USA committed troops to Europe in both wars out of self interest and for no other reason. Most ‘Americans’ didn’t want to get involved and many actually thought Hitler was right!
3. We British ARE European, something ‘Americans’ never seem to understand!
4. Most Europeans (rather than “Euros”… you spend Euros!) don’t hate the USA, we were fully behind you after 11th September, but the USA threw it back in our face. We are simply rather disappointed!
5. I don’t know enough about Obama to know if he’ll be any good for the USA, but he certainly couldn’t do a worse job than Bush. I don’t understand why ‘Americans’ still defend the guy, he’s ruined your economy and doesn’t give a s**t so long as he and his oil buddies get even richer.
6. Why all the name calling in this thread? Can’t you discuss and disagree with the arguments of others without resorting to childish strategies?
Finally, in case anyone wonders why I’ve placed Americans in inverted commas, it’s because the USA is just one of many countries on the American continent and I think it is somewhat arrogant for them to refer to themselves as Americans, as though the millions of other Americans don’t exist. I guess it is the same kind of blindness as makes ‘Americans’ forget that the British Isles are part of Europe and that we are Europeans too!
Aug 1, 2008 - 7:36 am srlucado:“…I think it is somewhat arrogant for them to refer to themselves as Americans, as though the millions of other Americans don’t exist.”
Well, you’re entitled to your opinion, of course, but you have to realize that these other “Americans” don’t consider themselves as such. The next time you see a Canadian over there (so easy to spot; they all have a big maple leaf on them someplace) call him or her an American and see the response you get. Same for a Brazilian or Argentine or Chilean.
Mexicans only call themselves “American” when they’ve snuck across their northern border.
Scott
P.S. There are *two* American continents - they’re separate. You know, like Europe and Asia.
Aug 2, 2008 - 6:54 am Zhombre:Thank you, Javelin. Your kind admonition has inspired me to join Pinhead Anonymous, renounce my brainless right wing moron ways, and revert back to my former name, Rumplestiltskin.
Aug 3, 2008 - 4:59 pm Rui Duarte:I agree with european british in almost everything. would a US citizen answer to anyone who calls him dollar? oops don´t shoot, please! from Portugal i say that bush isn´t the problem…anymore. but to “love” obama he must sign kyoto. and send to middle east who created the mess
Aug 4, 2008 - 12:07 am Rui Duarte:rumsfeld would say: stop thinking. our ego and budget are enough… and mine is huge…where am I?
Aug 4, 2008 - 12:25 am Spanky:All you folks keep talking about WW2. America was late, Germany declared war on the USA, We only went to war for our on interest. Well all I got to say is Every single allied power used American equpment tanks, airplanes, trucks,ships,typewriters,even pots and pans you could not even produce enough pots to cook for your own troops at the end of the war. So you can crow all you want you can say anything you want on these blogs but facts are facts America’s industrial might won WW2
Aug 4, 2008 - 9:12 am Sarah:Spanky
English-only? Obama speaks Bahasa Indonesia.
Aug 6, 2008 - 4:43 am deguello:British european: Your reasoning is exactly why I usually place the word”united” as in United Kingdom in inverted commas,given that the so-called union was accomplished through murder rape and pillage.I also place the word “men” in inverted commas when preceded by the word: european,given the moral cowardice, intellectual corruption,and cultural rot, that characterizes that exhausted,pathetically irrelevant part of the world.
Aug 6, 2008 - 6:52 am gene taylor:I get tired of political ethics and slander of each side of politics.
Aug 15, 2008 - 8:15 amI’ve heard so many persons unsatisfied with the now congress and undecided as how to vote this election is why I wrote this article…
What is a terrorist? There are different levels of rebels world wide that fight for liberation.
The ones they consider most desperate are the ones disgusted with their financial downfall and blame their congress and have nothing to live for and become suicidal bombers. If you have become jobless or was born a ghetto, lost your income or forced into slum areas or just can’t pay rent and or can’t pay the utilities or can’t find work like several people here in USA and like others world wide you will see things about congress that the one’s that are well financial established never comprehend. Yes congressmen claim to be Christians. But a real Christian has to be born in a stable like Jesus. Amen!
IT SOMEWHAT SEEMS USA CAN’T FIND OR PRODUCE political sides of SUITABLE CONGRESSMEN
to satisfy low income working class profiles and control financial depressions.
The political personal live in a whole different level from the ones depending on their support.
The dictionary describes that the word “syndicate” as an association of people or firms combining to carry out a business or commercial undertaking.
If you have ever read the local court law and rules you will logical understand that the rules are to collect revenue for the ones in law enforcement position and offer no complete reimbursement for any victims. The laws and also the congress are somewhat one of the paid for syndicate originations.
USA past morals have ALWAYS STRIVED as to be great and has developed many morals but keep only the necessary good traits and ethics to keep the public as captive victims.
I think a independent political poor man having logic should be allowed to run for congress offices.
But the liberal entrapped public has only a choice to vote for only the political USA typhoon men into congress and have to let them decide that USA should dominate the world.
People actually allow and help fabricate and train willing typhoons as the “politicians” to dominate them. A captive society only hears the medias congress fabricated side of economy.
A dominance ludicrous determined challenge is for someone to fabricate as to have a saucy God like chemistry urgently demanding anticipation with adrenalin-charged stamina and the utterly passion as to facilitate insinuating demands upon a victim of someone captive as to have them overwhelmed as to become a helplessly piteously whimpered withering slave in submission and have them surrendering to and be willing to endure any shocking elated suggestion with passion as to become a willing victim removed of all barrier restraints allowing everything suggested or demanded of them.
Most fabricated politicians in power or seeking office have this dominance ability .
Like example men already in congress encouraging society backing against a war on another country without taking a winning control position and playing a game of ethics and making it appear logical. The ones with logic and the liberal one’s world wide that rebel are considered slandering terrorists by the ones in any congress control position because the typhoons that infiltrate congress have so many established business and trade contracts in other countries for revenue.
A large volume of society world wide are slave victims that have already endured humiliation (including any enlisted military) “example during Viet Nam war” have realized whatever resistance they have is useless and enjoys the elusive hideous rush of remorse fascinations as how they can and want to endure anything for receiving sensations that they can get an eruption of intoxicating emotion and find exhilarating spasms for being involved in a winning climax for the fabricators in any of the congresses world wide.
Like the esterase being taught to make USA citizens feel like they live in a completely free society world and endure the things allowed by congress “as example” the environmental and safety “syndicate” type business corporation’s that has been set free to fine any and all major manufactory job businesses into closing and fines upon them including oil companies upping prices for utilities renters and home owners and new home building cost and all products into unaffordable rates and allowing free enterprise markets created by the stock market that are creating this depression.
A discreet prayer is a confession that you are human and one aloud is to fabricate a speech as to who you are and not what you are.
But I think that you and I somewhat believe that God changes people and God changes things because a God created this world. But mankind actually controls the world ethics for revenue with the stock market. Variety may be the spice of life so chose liberty and justice for all and share all the concepts of devotional companionship and don’t get entrapped into only one concept of self satisfaction or on only one avenue of political program that is created for only educated personal positions allowing only the typhoons revenue ethics…