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Bush's Trip to Europe
Boy that sure went swell didn't it, George?
Could it be that the Europeans just don't like your "spread of Democracy" techniques maybe?:
| quote: | A majority of people in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain said they thought it should not be the U.S. role to spread democracy, according to AP-Ipsos polls. A majority of those living in Canada, Mexico and South Korea (news - web sites) also disagreed with that role.
...Resistance to Bush's plans to promote democracy abroad was strongest in France, with 84 percent saying the United States should not play that role, according to the polling conducted for the Associated Press by Ipsos, an international polling firm.
About as many Germans took that position, 80 percent, while two-thirds of those in Britain said they didn't think the United States should be exporting democracy. Just over half of those in Spain and Italy felt that way.
"It's hard to believe our allies are indifferent to the spread of democracy," said Michael O'Hanlon, a senior fellow in foreign policy studies at the Brookings Institution. "But they obviously don't feel comfortable with George Bush (news - web sites) as the self-annointed spreader of democracy."
In the United States, a slight majority, 53 percent, said the United States should not be trying to spread democracy, while 45 percent said the United States should play that role.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...mocracy_ap_poll |
So they're not that fond of our policies. His trip in Germany seemed especially wierd:
| quote: | The route the Bush motorcade will follow from Mainz to the US airbase in Wiesbaden-Erbenheim is usually home to around 15,000 people, but it will be deserted, closed to traffic and pedestrians from 7 in the morning until 7 in the evening.
Naturally not all in the city are happy. Said pharmacist Barbara Mann, 46, who told seven of her nine workers not to come to work: 'Bush is going to kill business around here all day and I find that extremely annoying. Why couldn't he go somewhere else, somewhere less populated?'
http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/top/st...6,83614,00.html |
Just in case you missed just how popular Bush was there, here it is again, esp. in comparison to his father:
| quote: | Sixteen years ago, only minimal disruptions of everyday Mainz life accompanied the elder Bush's stay, as he arrived by helicopter to reduce traffic snarls and required the closure of just one street.
For Wednesday, all streets and shops in Mainz were closed, the busy Rhine River was shut to ship traffic, nonresidents were banned from the city center and even residents were forbidden to step onto their balconies or even open windows or shutters.
Lufthansa, meanwhile, canceled 75 flights and delayed several hundred others because of restricted airspace around the nearby Frankfurt airport. And several expressways between the airport and Mainz were closed for Bush's motorcade.
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansa...10972741.htm?1c |
Not quite the business economic boom as hoped I guess.
But note my emphasis above - not only did businesses halt and streets close, but residents were FUCKING FORBIDDEN AT EVEN LOOKING AT THE GUY AS HE WENT DOWN THE DAMN STREET!!! Shutters closed? Don't step onto balconies? Good Christ, man!
Well I guess you gotta hand it to Bush - he sure did try to "Americanize" those Germans, Bush style, with his planned Town Hall type Q&A sessions with friendly questioners asking pre-screened friendly questions. Those damn Germans are shur dang wierd, though. I mean, they didn't want this at all. No siree - they ACTUALLY wanted to ask REAL questions without any constraints! The nerve of those Germans! How dare they want to actually ask a leader an unscreened question!
Welp, as you might have guessed, that didn't pan out to well:
| quote: | During his trip to Germany on Wednesday, the main highlight of George W. Bush's trip was meant to be a "town hall"-style meeting with average Germans. But with the German government unwilling to permit a scripted event with questions approved in advance, the White House has quietly put the event on ice. Was Bush afraid the event might focus on prickly questions about Iraq and Iran rather than the rosy future he's been touting in Europe this week?
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/int...,343281,00.html |
But give Bush credit for tryin' to push his "vision" to the Europeans. I mean, you can't fault the guy for trying. I guess you can fault him, however, for just being an idiot, which of course the Europeans picked up on:
Uhh, George, you just contradicted yourself there cowboy. That's why they actually laughed at you, just in case you didn't pick up on that.
So overall, I guess the trip went really peachy - at least that's what Bush's advisors will read to him from those Faux News headlines during his morning briefing.
Damn, out of time - Didn't get to the Putin issue. Froomkin in the WaPost mentions it a bit. They actually did come to some agreements on nuclear proliferation - so that actually is a bright spot on the trip. The lectures on Democracy to Putin, however, didn't pan out to well.
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Whence September dusk grows crisper still,
with leaves all crimson conquered,
I yearn to shout,
and dance about,
and stick pickles in my honker...
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