Bush is an Embarrassment

Published on November 30, 2004 By COL Gene In Politics

The reception President Bush received today in Canada is a true embarrassment to the United States of America. We have a president who was despised by our closest neighbor and by the people of most of the European nations.

I cannot remember a time when the world had so little regard for our nation. The story is the same no matter were you turn with very few exceptions -- the United States is not trusted and our president is looked upon as an arrogant go it alone leader. It is hard to see how the next four years will benefit the people of our country or mend the huge rifts that exist between the United States and much of the rest of the world.

Comments (Page 2)

latour999

on Nov 30, 2004

I don't remember when the world loved America.

What about after 9/11 and before Iraq?

terpfan1980

on Nov 30, 2004

Reply #16 By: latour999 - 11/30/2004 5:32:16 PM
I don't remember when the world loved America.

What about after 9/11 and before Iraq?

Nope, the Taliban still hated us then. As did Iran, and plenty of other nations.

COL Gene

on Nov 30, 2004

We are not talking about countries that never liked us. We are talking about countries that have been by our side for many years. We have very few friends. If you say look at England, Italy, Spain and Poland, look at what the people think not their leaders that have supported Bush even though their people do not. We live in a world that is interrelated and we go it alone.

Evorg

on Nov 30, 2004

And thus we retreat to the attitude which served us so well in the containment philosophy of the post war era.

I don't subscribe to the containment philosophy

eieio

on Nov 30, 2004

An embarrassment. I really have to ask, so what? That's a serious question. I ask it because I've seen this claim at various times and have wondered what the motivations were.

Here's my point. For some people, to be embarrassed is the most horrendous thing that could befall them. How they feel they are pictured in other people's minds is vastly more important than how they feel about themselves and their own actions. These people even tend to project their own embarrassment onto others that they feel are being looked upon with disdain by the public. Let's call them type A.

Other people however, have little concern for what others think of them or their actions prefering to satisfy their own sense of morality or judgement. These people tend to leave others to operate by their own moral compass as well. Let's call them Type B.

Naturally, there are a lot of people in between these two extremes, but back to my question: so what?

Let's assume a Type A person and a Type B person are both doing what they feel is right according to their own sense of values. Human nature being what it is, the populace will judge both for their actions. Some will find both person's actions to be an embarrassment, some neither, and various combinations of the above. Regardless, the Type A will always be embarrassed upon having any question of his actions. Type B will not. The main difference is in how secure each person, Type A or Type B, is in his decisions to do what he feels is right.

Now, why are some people so concerned about Bush being an embarrassment? Are they projecting their own embarrassment onto Bush? Is it that they feel embarrassed by his actions because of a difference in political beliefs? Do they feel embarrassed because the see Bush as a buffoon and feel their own intelligence is at question?

My sense of Bush is that he tends toward a Type B person. I don't think it embarrasses him in the least to do what he feels is the right thing for him and the country.

I think it is the Type A's that are embarrassed.

jeblackstar

on Nov 30, 2004

And I think you're wrong.

Cheers

DNCdude

on Nov 30, 2004

I couldn't agree with you more!

latour999

on Nov 30, 2004

Well, as a real live canuck, I would say that we aren't jealous of America. Most Canadians are proud to be Canadians, with our tolerant society, hockey (damn NHL lockout), beer and socialized medicine (interesting combination, but we're an interesting bunch). And we don’t hate America. America has been our closest friend for years. It’s just Bush we don’t like. And that sentiment towards some international leaders isn’t new in any nation. But people turn it around on us going “You disagree with the president, you don’t support the president, you hate the president, you hate America, you’re a commie/terrorist.” Besides, it’s not like there haven’t been people (usually right-wing talk radio and Fox News hosts, or Pat Buchanan) who don’t like Canada, referring to us as “Soviet Canuckistan,” etc.

Reasons why we don't like Bush:
1) Trade irritants- tariffs on softwood lumber and bans on beef cause most Canadians to be angry with the Bush administration for using these issues to harm our economy, but are generally polite about it in the name of diplomacy (a word Bush doesn't seem to know the meaning of).
2) Political spectrum- We just don't agree with Bush on anything. Remember when people said Kerry was too liberal? In Canada, he would probably be moderate to right-wing. Most Canadians didn’t like either candidate, but thought Kerry was the lesser of the evils.
3) Iraq- Most Canadians were opposed to the war when it started, and that was before all the casualties, no WMDs, no ties to Al Qaeda, and when we thought that the American forces were going to be welcomed with open arms. Plus, our troops were already in Afghanistan, and would be stretched to their limit is they had to send some to Iraq. But all we got back was “You are either with us or against us,” from Bush, which made us feel like he thought we were his enemy.
4) Missile Defence- Most Canadians are opposed to missile defence, but Bush wants to bring us in on it, and we’re afraid Paul Martin, not the strongest Prime Minister we ever had, might say yes.
5) Personality- We view George W. Bush as stubborn and not that bright. He is also unwilling to admit that he is wrong, and tries to wrap himself in the flag and the troops to the point where is becomes unpatriotic to question him (for example, in the first debate he was criticizing Kerry for criticizing the war- “Wrong war, wrong place, wrong time. What kind of message are you sending to the troops?”).

Basically, most Canadians don’t like Bush, but like America. But, with the exception of Carolyn Parrish, our Parliamentary Village Loudmouthed Idiot, most of us try to be nice about it, especially in this day and age when diplomacy is especially important.

“Living next to you (Americans) is a lot like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and mild-mannered the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.” –Former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau

chiprj

on Nov 30, 2004

Here we go again with the political blog spell-off. Spelling and grammar, grammar and spelling...the issues that count!

I hope that makes you happy. The truth of my Blog is the issue.

COL Gene and Reddirty - You're right. The issue is what is important. But, if you're going to write about it, show that you care enough about it to get it across in a way that makes sense. A way to show how important it is to you. That you care about the issue enough to get the title right. If you can't get the little things right, why should I think you have anything serious to say or that you truly think or care deeply about it? English is a tough language, even for native speakers. I realize that. Spend two minutes and do a cut and paste job in word. Grammar and spell check are friends to all shades of the political spectrum. Typos in the body of an article is one thing. Screwing up the title in a basic way is completely different. It detracts from your message.

COL Gene

on Nov 30, 2004

Chiprj

Thanks for your comments. I will try. Take a look at my book, Four More For George W? It looks at the major issues and I did try to make sure the Grammar and Spell check were used.

eieio

on Nov 30, 2004

And I think you're wrong.

jeblackstar

Care to expand on your reasons why?

dabe

on Nov 30, 2004

COL Gene, I'm with ya 100%. Truly, it's embarrassing to think that we would be associated with the most arrogant, self-serving lying sack of shit in the free world. I can honestly say that bush will never represent me, I will never accept him as my "leader", and I'm just going to endure him, as will millions of others like me, for four years, because we have no choice.

Daiwa

on Nov 30, 2004

Insightful to picto. Nice job.

Cheers,
Daiwa

Jackmouve

on Nov 30, 2004

I think that lost in this discussion is the fact that because Bush, for whatever reasons, is not respected by most of the free and not so free world, leaves us vulnerable as a country. And if you think that how the rest on the world views our President doesn't matter then you have a thing or two to learn. The President of the US is also the leader of the free world. Even if it is not true, if you can get the buzz going then it goes a long way. Take that whole flip flop thing. It was an illusion. If I vote for you to have a war budget then vote against the way you disperse it, that is not a flip flop, but Bush and his camp got that buzz word going and rode it into the white house. Point being whenever you watch TV you have the news saying how every hate Bush and in extension US, you have every comedian under the sun saying how big an idiot he is, most of his staff are resigning.... This is, needless to say, not America's finest hour. We are in a completely different place than we were when Clinton was in the house. And Perception is the key here. And if you don't think that we are more vulnerable to attack now than ever before you better think again. We are a wounded animal and the jackals are circling.

dabe

on Nov 30, 2004

.... This is, needless to say, not America's finest hour. We are in a completely different place than we were when Clinton was in the house. And Perception is the key here. And if you don't think that we are more vulnerable to attack now than ever before you better think again. We are a wounded animal and the jackals are circling.

Jackmouve, this is a great perspective! Thank you. Thank You. You get an inciteful, I mean insightful

from me.

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