(Untitled)

[itsmagnetic]

From The New Yorker's Talk of the Town section ...
"According to Andrew Kohut and Bruce Stokes's "America Against the World" (2006), based on the Pew Global Attitudes Project, there was a time, not so long ago, when foreigners 'found it easy to say their problem with American was really just President Bush, not a considered judgment of the American

Comments

[my_funny_cousin]

Speaking of NPR, I heard a really good dialogue about the future of intelligence in America, the current role of the CIA, and the need for hiring more minorities (they called them culturally-minded but what they really meant was people of colour) to do more effective intelligence.

This administration acts as if completely oblivious (almost deliberately) to how we are seen by other nations, yet other nations are very clear on how they see us.

[jimmyjoke]

The 2 young Austrians and 1 Pole I met in September seemed to recognize that U.S. government policy is not necessarily a suitable (or sympathetic) way to gauge the character of "the American people" (such a catch phrase). I mean, they were in L.A. to check out Universal Studios and Disneyland, after all. But when I told them that Jorg Haider was the only Austrian politician I knew by name, they were quick to point out that he is not in the mainstream, even though the U.S. media once made it seem that he spoke for a large group of Austrians.

I think that the 2004 re-election was a reflection of something vestigial in the U.S. political process... not only because of the electoral college thingy, but also because there didn't seem to be any candidates who were as strong or iconic as the presidents who served before 2000. So, I guess that enough voters valued "tradition" and "familiarity" to turn us into a backward-thinking country. Make us socially retarded, is what I'm saying.