(Untitled)

[thineownself]

The US elections have attracted much more, and much more polarized, media attention here than the previous ones that I can remember. While Bush has not done a single thing that even remotely impressed me, and while I believe that such power should not be in the hands of somebody who strikes me as intellectually so very plain, I must say that most

Comments

[rachelks]

Well said, Anke. Thank you.

[thineownself]

Danke, Rachel.

[lather2002]

Que Sera, Sera

[thineownself]

Yeah, that is very true.

[davidfrazer]

Salon.com has an interesting article about German attitudes to the US:Kerry is viewed here with tremendous suspicion, largely because of his promise to inject still more troops into the Iraq sinkhole. Differences between the two candidates seem less stark to Europeans, who are understandably not so concerned with U.S. domestic issues (although many have heard about the PATRIOT Act, which to some Germans seems uncomfortably like a law from their grandparents' generation). Furthermore, Kerry's election would pose peculiar problems for both the German activist left and the center-left government of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder.

[shakenbysound]

Thank you for writing a little bit about how this election has effected you/made you feel. I'm very interested in how the US is being viewed by the world today (and how we will be views after the election results are decided). Personally, it is even hard for me to believe how polarized the U.S. is right now (this whole blue state, versus red state), and how emotional people have become about politics.

[thineownself]

And I really enjoy reading what you, and the other Americans on my friends list, have to say about the election, in addition to the news coverage and the pictures of the impressive lines in front of the voting booths I can currently see on tv.

[discountsatori]

It was a lot like that in Japan, too: a lot of my students had very strong opinions on what the U.S. should do (and was apparently too stupid to figure out on its own), but when I'd ask them about politics in Japan, they would be much less opinionated and outspoken

[thineownself]

I think many people feel like they know everything about the US because American culture is all around them - they see their movies, listen to their music, eat their fast food and recently even import their holidays.

Only that imported Halloween decorations don't really provide any real cultural insight.