I believe foreign administrations like Obama because they'll be able to push him around and tell him what to do (or think they can).
And this is based on what? Nobody pushes around the President of the United States. The question is about respect. Not many international countries respect Bush, but they don't "push him around." They don't respect Bush, and as he is the elected head representative of our country, it reflects on us. That is the point. It is about respect. Is it not possible that international populations like Obama because he is inspiring and he is an intelligent person? Is it not possible that they like him because they feel he has the potential to be a great international leader?
It may not be the only reason we are hated by some, but it is one of the reasons and I personally know someone who has experienced that first hand from their own family after moving to the US. So I don't think it should be dismissed as incorrect.
I also know a couple people that think the moon landing was a hoax, but that doesn't mean that is the predominate train of thought.
I honestly believe that Obama's win was directly linked to Bush. If the news media keeps painting a picture of this country and its President in a bad light, it will eventually have an effect on the psyche of its viewers. I believe that the MSM proved yesterday that it can influence Americans. Yesterday was also the day that American voters could wash away their sins of electing Bush. I forget the percentage, I believe it was 60-75% of voters who were exit polled that said they voted for Obama because of Bush (according to CNN).
I agree that Bush was a big factor in the election, but I don't think that is unique to Obama. It wasn't a republican year. However, the statistic I think you were referring to was (I just happened to catch this a couple minutes ago on TV again) that 67% of voters who disapprove of Bush voted for Obama, which makes a world of difference. It wasn't that they voted for Obama because they didn't like Bush. They voted for Obama
and didn't support Bush. But, your point still stands that it was a definite advantage. And, I completely agree about your point about washing sins of Bush, which is exactly what happened.
I think it's great that Obama broke the "racial barrier", but I don't believe he was the guy Dr. King had in mind. It was Dr. King who said a person should be judged by their character not by their color. How many people, especially the African-American voting block, voted for Obama on basis of his skin color? Something to think about.
I have to disagree and think that Obama is exactly the kind of person that MLK had in mind. Obama has inspired a generation of people and empowered them to make choices that they believe will provide a better life not just for themselves as individuals, but as a people.
Lastly to those who are excited about the international community's round of applause for Obama: Do you live in those countries? What bearing do they have on our American soil? Why is it a good thing that countries are celebrating Obama's Presidency? They don't share our common interests.
Many of those countries do share our common interests, and furthermore, we live in a global society and it does matter what level of respect we have for other countries and the level of respect other countries have for the USA.
I do not think one man can ruin a country by himself-he needs help...
That's what we have congress for! lol.
one point though......been saying all along neither McCain nor Obama was going to be able to do jack for the economy.....its part of a natural cycle.......you can make it worse, you can minimize a few of the damages but its going to go through a valley no matter what.......if you have peaks, you have valleys.......have also said i dont care one bit what the world thinks of us just like i dont expect them to care about what i think of them.........
This is absolutely true, and to share some of the conversation rattler and I had via pm, I think the best thing Obama can do is let Pelosi build up some crazy spending bill and slap the veto on it. There is some legitimate concern about the democrats having power in both the executive branch and the legislative branch; but, I believe the Obama is in a place where he will not let that happen. He is fully aware of the responsibility he has been handed, and he must do whatever he can to make sure that the economy doesn't get worse. As economics go, it may be four years before we have recovered. As rattler said, these things happen and there will never be a time when our economy is always growing.
xvart.