Obama Not Proud To be An American Abroad...Yet, Anyway

By way of Ace I am watching this video in which Obama calls for the day that a young girl traveling abroad can say with pride that she is an American - that, we are informed, is the change he is working for.

I know that message lights Democratic fires, but my goodness - is that what he wants to present to the general public?

Oh, well - maybe it is a secret plan to get John Sidney McCain so irked that his eyes pop out of his head.

And with Hill Alive, Obama is slated for seven more weeks of pandering to the Loony Left, which means seven more weeks of material for the Right Wing Noise Machine and seven fewer weeks for him to attempt to re-disguise himself as a centrist.  Have a nice day, Baritone!

SING IT WITH ME: "I'm proud to be a Canadian, where at least my health care's free..."

Comments

[kim]

It is envy not fear or disdain. Why d'ya think they wanna come here? This was a loser for Kerry, and for anyone who picks up the baton, and encourages the strain.
=======================

[Other Tom]

The Obama wave has crested. But if he is denied the nomination, it will still be understood to have been the work of the white folks, and the question is whether he would accept the VP slot. I guess the further question is whether, if he did, hs supporters would be mollified.

[clarice]

Yes,OT..Can you imagine hi taking the v slot? Michelle to one side, the RW to the other. FromMessiah to castrato in a couple of weeks..

Love that Proud to be a Canadian song, TM. If I'm carted off for laughing at the computer screen I expect you all to dash to the courthouse in my defense.

(This proud to be an American carp is something for sophomores on their first sole trip abroad. It is preposterous in grwounups--esp those arguing that millions of folks who basically swam thru shark infested waters on sardine boxes should be naturalized. What? Those millions were ALL stupid? They should have just stayed/headed to Havana or Caracas?)

[MayBee]

My theory is that during times of opposing party administrations, Republicans are ashamed of the administration while Democrats are ashamed of the country.

Anyway, I've been traveling and have never had anyone be anything but nice to me when I tell them I'm American. Even in Paris, a chic couple shared their dessert with us and told us how France and America have always had a special relationship.
Well, there was one guy in Asia before the Iraq war who stood up and loudly declared he wanted to move away from "these American People" on the ferry. It made me realize how bigoted some people could be. His girlfriend, bless her heart, refused to budge and he ended up looking stupid.

OTOH, Australians have never had anything good to say about us. But I didn't go there.

[kim]

Don't worry, C; you can always blame the residua of Chantix.
===========================

[MayBee]

This proud to be an American carp is something for sophomores on their first sole trip abroad.

Don't you think the desire to be loved - and caring when you aren't- is uniquely American?
I've never heard a French person worry about what the Brits think of them.

[Ranger]

Looks like Barack is now boxed into either going negative against Hil and destorying his image as someone who will change politics, or going negative on America, in the hopes of mobilizing the moonbats to surge for him, and destory his chances in the general if he wins. Sucks to be him right now.

[GMax]

Actually the most vehement anti Americans I have ever run into have been ex pats living in Europe. Probably a good thing they moved, I always thought.

[MayBee]

hit- an instalanche already????

[clarice]

MayBee , you are definitely right--it's an American thing..And something dimwits across the pond have caught on to to manipulate Jessica and Seth on their big year at LSE or the Sorbonne.

Maybe we can send him a copy of "Barcelona "and he'll wise up.

[GMax]

OMG

Jeff Hit has made Instapundit! VIMH

Hope the squirrels inside your server have track shoes on buddy. Cuz they will get a work out today!

Congratulations. More should share your wit.

[Ranger]

Well, there are a few places in the world where it really is bad to be an American, such as Serbia, but that is the result of the policies of the previous administration as much as the current one, and I doubt an Obama administration is going to work to undo Kosovo's status to improve our image with the Serbs.

[davod]

"OTOH, Australians have never had anything good to say about us. But I didn't go there"

You must have been talking with the wrong Australians.

[MayBee]

You must have been talking with the wrong Australians.

Must have. So must my friends have. But it would make me happy to be wrong.

[hit and run]

Thanks all!

[anduril]

The Obama wave has crested. But if he is denied the nomination, it will still be understood to have been the work of the white folks devils... [my edit]

Purely speculative question, but my understanding is that one of Hillary's strongest demographics has been white women. Up until last night BHO was doing well among white men. Does this mean that white men will gain a measure of redemption, and be replaced by white women as the source of pure evil?

Per Jay Cost, BHO was thoroughly shellacked among white Catholics and white Protestants--suggesting very tough sledding in PA. He retained his strong showing among blacks, a Dem demographic that is entirely disproportionate to the general population.

I read a suggestion that the Dems hold a redo of the Michigan and Florida primaries, so those important states can be properly contested by both candidates. I'm very much in favor of that idea at this point.

[clarice]

You deserve it.

Back away from those kids.

Now/

[Chris]

Seven more weeks? Gonna need more popcorn. Should be fun to watch theses two try and pander/slander their way to the nomination. There's some old saying that I can't quite recall regarding leftists and their (lack of) love for their country. They are in love with what the country could/would/should be. Something like that.

[Sue]

I didn't know he had his own blog. Did he not want the riff-raff joining him? Too late! I did it anyway. ::grin::

[anduril]

...that a young girl traveling abroad can say with pride that she is an American - that, we are informed, is the change he is working for.

In all my years of watching presidential campaigns, that has to rank near the top in sheer dumbness for a platform statement. We may well miss this guy (and his wife) if Hillary pulls this out. The infighting should be vicious the rest of the way.

[bio mom]

Maybee, Americans on the left are concerned with their popularity abroad. Not on the right. At least very few that I know are.

[Jane]

FromMessiah to castrato in a couple of weeks..

Love it!

Maybee, I spent a month in Oz. There is no place on earth I'm more in love with - well of all the places I've been. I found no Anti-American sentiment at all. And frankly I'm not all that nice.

[MayBee]

I found no Anti-American sentiment at all. And frankly I'm not all that nice.

That's really good to hear. I have a lot of Australian friends, and they all had pretty anti-American feelings. But then, they were very socialist and believed in the government doing more for the people, while all the while they lived abroad and avoided paying taxes.
I also have a lot of American friends who had bad experiences there.
Luckily, it sounds as if it isn't universal. So I concede.

[Jane]

MayBee,

I hang with the red meat capitalists, so that could explain it.

[Sue]

I think it depends on whether they voted for Howard or Rudd on whether you would find them pro-American or anti-American. The ones I know voted for Rudd.

[anduril]

What seems to me common sense from Robert Samuelson: The Housing Fix:

Gloom. Doom. Calamity. Home prices are tumbling. We're bombarded by somber reports. But wait. This is actually good news, because lower home prices are the only real solution to the housing collapse. The sooner prices fall, the better. The longer the adjustment takes, the longer the housing slump (weak sales, low construction, high numbers of unsold homes) will last.

It's elementary economics. Pretend that houses are apples. We have 1,000 apples, priced at $1 each. They don't sell. We can either keep the price at $1 and watch the apples rot. Or we can cut the price until people buy. Housing is no different.

Even many economists -- who should know better -- describe the present situation as an oversupply of unsold homes. True, there is about 10 months' supply of existing homes as opposed to four a few years ago. But the real problem is insufficient demand. There aren't more homes than there are Americans who want homes; that would be a true surplus. There's so much supply because many prospective customers can't buy at today's prices.

By definition, the "housing bubble" meant that home prices got too high. Easy credit, lax lending standards and panic buying raised them to foolish levels. Weak borrowers got loans. People with good credit borrowed too much. Speculators joined the circus.

Look at some numbers from the National Association of Realtors. From 2000 to 2006, median family income rose almost 14 percent to $57,612. Over the same period, the median-priced existing home increased about 50 percent to $221,900. By other indicators, the increase was even greater.

But home prices could not rise faster than incomes forever. Inevitably, the bust arrived. Credit standards have now been tightened, and the (false) hope of perpetually rising home prices -- along with the possibility of always selling at a profit -- has evaporated. For many potential buyers, prices have to drop for housing to become affordable.

How much? No one really knows. There is no national housing market.

[LindaK]

Perhaps one explanation for Obama's puerile comment about his hope that a young girl traveling abroad should be proud to be an American, is that he is appealing to the young boys and girls, the O-bots.

Obama's rhetoric house of cards is starting to get blown away. And we're left with a left wing, slightly sleazy Chicago pol with a nice suit.

[MayBee]

Most likely true about the differences. I take back my blanket statement about Australians.
I will add that they were great fun.

[centralcal]

I have never visited Australia, but I worked at one time for a company owned by Aussies, who sent brass over here to live and work. Great bunch. All were very pro-America (especially loved the shopping here).

[centralcal]

test

[Soylent Red]

Speculators joined the circus.

At least in my market, that's pretty much the crux of it, Anduril.

Artificially inflated home prices driven by "investors" who turned houses over in months rather than owned for decades.

And my experience with Aussies has always been good, and usually centered on unreasonable levels of alcohol consumption.

[HoosierHoops]

continuing upon said topic:
It has been my experience that i have never experienced anti-americanism during my visits to Europe..not once.
Could it be I'm a great american or is it that america is great..more likely the later than the former..but gosh we can 'hope'.

[MayBee]

Hoosier- is it just one month until your boy is home?

[GMax]

Well I have not checked recently but last time I did I think something approaching 40% of home foreclosures were confined to three big states, California and Florida and Michigan.

The speculative bubble and huge run up in prices did not happen here in Texas and I dont see any evidence of other than a temporary slowdown either.

The ultimate best predictor of a good housing market is NEW JOB CREATION. If inmigration and new jobs are strong, housing will be also. When the job market is flat or negative, homes start to build inventory. If speculators are already altering the market, then they will get their head handed to them first, if its any consolation.

[JM Hanes]

Almost everybody wants to change politics in Washington, but "remaking this nation block by block, county by county, state by state"? Not so much. That's a problem for Democrats generally, but till now, Obama's conflation of the two has been primarily rhetorical. Apparently Michelle wasn't around when they were passing out political instincts. The vast majority just want better politicians. They think we've got a Congress of cynics, sloths, and complacents, not a country.

I note that those specific terms conveniently lack quotation marks in the New Yorker piece, so when the hurtin' starts -- and it will! -- I fully expect the Obamas to claim that the memo profile writer misrepresented what Michelle actually meant, and that's a lose/lose proposition.

[JM Hanes]

"Obama calls for the day that a young girl traveling abroad can say with pride that she is an American."

When you're at war, there are certainly some places it might be dangerous to be an American. In my experience, however, the most despised tourists in the world are the French, followed closely by the Germans.

[hrtshpdbox]

"And frankly I'm not all that nice."
Surely you jest!

[PeterUK]

But will BH Obama make abroad somewhere his wife is proud to go to?

[GMax]

More Rezko questions:

Rezko’s bleak financial picture raises the question of how the Rezkos were able to buy a vacant lot adjoining the home of Sen. Barack Obama in 2005, at a time Rezko says he was already in deep debt.

Rezko also reveals in the testimony, before Judge Amy St. Eve on Jan. 16, 2007, that he already knew he was under federal investigation at the time of the land purchase and had hired a criminal defense attorney to deal with the “feds.”

Obama says he sought Rezko’s help because the house he wanted to buy in Chicago’s Hyde Park came with an adjoining lot the seller wanted to sell at the same time.

The above from Hot Air.

[GMax]

Rezko neither needed the distraction nor the land, could not pay for it and probably put it in his wife's name to try to keep creditors away from it. So the explanation from Obama about lot split just being a case of two buyers at the same time just does not scan.

[Other Tom]

I spent my R&R from Vietnam in Sydney in 1968. I had such a wonderful time that when my tour was up I went right back down for my 30-day post-tour leave.

Australia has always had a vocal Left, though much smaller than that of Britain, but I have never encountered a warmer, more fun-loving people. They certainly were good to me, and forty years on I still love them for it.

[Jane]

I was in Sydney for 2 weeks and Perth for 2 weeks. In Perth I lived on the beach where Heath Leger's pals had his memorial service. In Sydney I lived on the hill over looking the harbor. The back of the house was all glass.

My office is full of the pix I took there. What really got to me was, first of all, the air. I live in the country and never notice the air at all, but when I landed in Australia, the air seemed different. Cleaner I guess. The second thing that blew my mind was the birds. Hell the pigeons are pink. Lime green, purple, pink birds flying all around, unafraid.

I also liked the kangaroos on the golf courses at night.

In Perth (Cottlesloe really) at 6:00 every nite the entire town would walk straight for the beach to surf. It was a nightly after- work ritual. Mind blowing really.

The most surprising part was Rottnest Island, off of Perth, where an animal called a Quakka resides. It's a cross between a kangaroo and a squirrel.

I would move there tomorrow.

On a different note, the Rezko jury has been empaneled. I like what I've read about the Judge. Let the games begin.

[Boston Wedding Videographer]

great point.

[hit and run]

I spent a week in Sydney and a week in Melbourne several years back.

Loved, loved, loved it.

Was there on business and the people were awesome and I can contribute to the notion that large amounts of alcohol contributed to the experience.

Shocking, coming from me, I know.

[HoosierHoops]

Maybee:
Jordan arrives back in the states April 28th.
He is on R& R right now outside of Fallujah somewhere taking showers..chatting to us on the Sat phone all hours of the night and IM'ing his girlfriend on his laptop. Our stress level is very good and getting better by the day..we know it will only be about 30 plus days when he'll be in Kuwait doing his debriefing..
Any of you JOM'ers in the So.Cal area.
For a week starting April 28th, I have rented a 3 story, huge Beach house in Oceanside and and will be rotating Jordan's platoon in for daily BBQ's and swimming and fun in the sun. The Hoopster would like you to come and visit some US Marine hero's.
Over the last couple of years we have gotten to know all his buddies at camp pendleton and they are really good kids.
( even though they can't shoot ball all that great..The hoopster has dropped all of them in HORSE)
So let me know and I'll email you our location in Oceanside and a phone number.

[MayBee]

That is really sweet, hoosier.

[Sue]

“It was a double hit,” she said. “Some people were mocking me and said that I should have early voted, and that’s a good option, but still that shouldn’t take away my right to vote that day.”

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/topstories/stories/030608dnmetvoterreax.2571371c.html>Poor widdle darlin'. It wasn't her responsibility to find out where to vote, someone just took away her right.

Someone needs to remind these people that Iraqis found their polling places while avoiding the beheading man and the IEDs.

[PeterUK]

Hillary being a broad American will have no problems.

[Jane]

Hoosier,

I'm really happy for you. And you do sound happy!

[clarice]

Hoosier! Great. One of my young friends is coming home after 2 tours in Iraq..Am making for his homecoming party lots of citrus curd filled cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (he LOVES lemon) and a cake covered in fondant, confetti and sporting bursting firecrackers made of sugarpaste.
If I were nearer to you, you couldn't keep me from the Oceanside frolicing.

[Lesley]

As far as the young girl traveling abroad, my daughter lived in Italy for a year. The only time she was ashamed to be an American was the time she and a friend, as a special treat, went to an expensive restaurant in Florence only to be seated next to a table full of wealthy Americans tourists who spent the entire evening loudy bashing George Bush.

She told me, "Geez, Mom. I wish those awful people would have just shut up. The rest of the Italians in the restaurant could have cared less about George Bush. They made fools about of themselves."

[Jane]

This just in:

As questioning of potential jurors wrapped up Tuesday in the corruption trial of political fund-raiser Tony Rezko, a new accusation has surfaced that Rezko paid a $1.5 million bribe in an effort to win a $50 million business deal in Iraq.

In a court filing, Rezko's lawyers say that prosecutors accused him in a closed-door meeting of paying the bribe to Aiham Alsammarae, Iraq's former minister of electricity.

~~

Shockingly, Rezko denies.

Link under my name or at Glenns.

[clarice]

Ah--and all I have is this tidbit from BOTW for OT:

"Kerry, an Obama supporter, turns up in this Boston Globe blog entry cheering his man on Iraq:

Kerry says Hillary Clinton's much-remarked-upon 3 a.m. phone call TV ad is a deceptive "fear tactic" because she's never faced such a crisis.
And when she has faced war-or-peace decisions in the US Senate, she not only whiffed on Iraq, but she also flubbed on Iran, the 2004 Democratic nominee argued.
"The fact is that she had a red phone moment, as Barack Obama said," Kerry said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" on Sunday. "Her red phone moment was on the war in Iraq, and she chose the Bush course, the wrong course.
Well, let's look again at the Senate roll call, shall we? Seventy-seven senators "chose the Bush course." One of them was the junior senator from Massachusetts, the guy Steinem described as "a man who knows what war is like."

[kim]

That's hilarious, Clarice. Kerry is one of a kind. No, Joe Wilson is like him, too.
====================

[JorgXMcKie]

Someone should ask those whiny Texas (must be Dems if they're from Texas and whine) voters what *they* did to help the situation *prior* to election day. Evidently somewhere between extremely little (like reading up to find out where to vote) and nothing. (Come to think of it, isn't that what Lefties ultimately want? To have helpless people standing around waiting for help?) and nothing.

As for housing prices, one of my grad students, who has wanted to buy a house for years (saving money, living in a small apartment with a spouse and 2 kids) and was priced out of the market in a big college city/town told me just Monday night that he had made a deal.

A few weeks earlier he had asked for my advice (I teach budget) and I told him to go to the neighborhood he liked that was at least 20% out of his price range, look for places with lots of 'For Sale' signs in the yard, then find a local realtor and tell them he was interested in foreclosed properties.

He found one he liked, owned by a bank, that had originally been listed at $223,900 (probably down a bit from 2006) then re-listed at 195K. He asked me about it, and I told him to find out when it had last been sold, how much it sold for, etc (to get an estimate of how much the bank was on the hook for) and then we'd low-ball them a bit. Turns out that the bank probably has around 175K or less in the house. He offered 140K (he could go up to 160K he thought) and ended up getting it for 149K.

He intends to live there forever, but I guarantee that by 2010 he'll have at least 50K equity in it, even if it is in Michigan.

Even burst housing bubbles are good for someone.

[kim]

Last week's rap on the Clinton campaign was that they hadn't planned past Super Tuesday. So what happened?
===============================

[GMax]

Hey I am Texas Democrat voter and I am not whining!

[ben]

"The fact is that she had a red phone moment, as Barack Obama said," Kerry said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" on Sunday. "Her red phone moment was on the war in Iraq, and she chose the Bush course, the wrong course."

Now that really is CHUTZPAH...because he is the guy who also said this:

Sen. Kerry: ”[I] Think We Clearly Have To Keep The Pressure On Terrorism Globally. This Doesn’t End With Afghanistan By Any Imagination. And I Think The President Has Made That Clear. I Think We Have Made That Clear. Terrorism Is A Global Menace. It’s A Scourge. And It Is Absolutely Vital That We Continue, For Instance, Saddam Hussein.” (CNN’s “Larry King Live,” 12/14/01)
Sen. Kerry: “But It Is Something That We Know—For Instance, Saddam Hussein Has Used Weapons Of Mass Destruction Against His Own People, And There Is Some Evidence Of Their Efforts To Try To Secure These Kinds Of Weapons And Even Test Them.” (CBS’ “Face The Nation,” 9/23/01)
Sen. Kerry: “According To The CIA’s Report, All U.S. Intelligence Experts Agree That Iraq Is Seeking Nuclear Weapons. There Is Little Question That Saddam Hussein Wants To Develop Nuclear Weapons.” (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 10/9/02, p. S10172-10173)
Sen. Kerry: “In The Wake Of September 11 … Who Can Say That This Master Of Miscalculation Will Not Develop A Weapon Of Mass Destruction Even Greater – A Nuclear Weapon …” (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 10/9/02, p. S10173)
Sen. Kerry: “The Crisis Is Even More Threatening By Virtue Of The Fact That Iraq Has Developed A Chemical Weapons Capability, And Is Pursuing A Nuclear Weapons Development Program.” (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 10/2/90, p. S14332)
Sen. Kerry: “If We Go To War In The Next Few Days, It Will Not Be Because Our Immediate Vital Interests Are So Threatened And We Have No Other Choice. It Is Not Because Of Nuclear, Chemical, Biological Weapons When, After All, Saddam Hussein Had All Those Abilities Or Was Working Toward Them For Years …” (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 1/12/91, p. S396)
Sen. Kerry: “And, Mr. President, We Have Every Reason To Believe That Saddam Hussein Will Continue To Do Everything In His Power To Further Develop Weapons Of Mass Destruction And The Ability To Deliver Those Weapons, And That He Will Use Those Weapons Without Concern Or Pangs Of Conscience If Ever And Whenever His Own Calculations Persuade Him It Is In His Interests To Do So.” (Sen. John Kerry, Congressional Record, 3/13/98, p. S1912)
Sen. Kerry: “If You Don’t Believe … Saddam Hussein Is A Threat With Nuclear Weapons, Then You Shouldn’t Vote For Me.” (Ronald Brownstein, “On Iraq, Kerry Appears either Torn or Shrewd,” Los Angeles Times, 1/31/03)
Sen. Kerry: ”[Leaving Saddam Hussein] Unfettered With Nuclear Weapons Or Weapons Of Mass Destruction Is Unacceptable.” (Jill Lawrence, “War Issue Challenges Democratic Candidates,” USA Today, 2/12/03)

[clarice]

Is Kerry the biggest POS or merely schizophrenic?..Inquiring minds want to know.

[ben]

"Is Kerry the biggest POS or merely schizophrenic?"

Do we really have to choose?

[clarice]

You're the boss of you, ben. No one can make you do anything.

I am waiting for Kerry's "etched, etched in his memory speech" where he gos on and on about how he stood at the pass (the Senate floor actually) and singlehandedly turned the tide against the AUMF.

[Larry]

Just to remind everyone where I stand on Kerry, I choose P O S. He can claim insanity, but he ain't gettin off.

[ben]

Thanks Clarice, in which case I will go with both POS and Schizo....

I think was Kerry is saying is that he actually supported Hillary before he didn't support her.

[ben]

didnt come out right, but you guys get the gist...

[Sue]

Just to remind everyone where I stand on Kerry

I was hoping for a location. I wanted to see you standing on Kerry.

[MayBee]

Kerry knows he voted on AUMF the same way Rockefeller did.

[ben]

"I was hoping for a location. I wanted to see you standing on Kerry."

Hmm, better not say give it to Obama or lay it on Hillary lest anyone demand pictures....

[kim]

We know Kerry was seeking weapons of mass intelligence from the CIA.
================

[ben]

"Kerry knows he voted on AUMF the same way Rockefeller did."

Yes but you know that AUMF did not really mean MF. It was GWB that interpreted it that way, that nasty warmongering illiterate.

[Pofarmer]

Even burst housing bubbles are good for someone.

80K discount ain't too bad.

However, I don't think this thing is done dropping by a long shot. Might have got a cool 100K off in 6 months or less.

[davod]

"But then, they were very socialist and believed in the government doing more for the people, while all the while they lived abroad and avoided paying taxes."

I bet you they used to hate Australia as well, until the recent elections.

[PeterUK]

A socialist it someone who hates capitalism.Socialists cannot abide living in capitalist countries and must perforce convert those countries in to socialist states.Having succeeded,socialists them move somewhere else where they can make money.

[ben]

Which reminds me, during the State of the Union Bush said those who didn't think they were paying enough taxes could send in checks or money orders...I wonder how many did? And I wonder if I could have the list so I could write them about some investment opportunities?

[pagar]

" One of them was the junior senator from Massachusetts, the guy Steinem described as "a man who knows what war is like."

What John Kerry knows about war is how to win it for whoever American is fighting.

[invernessie]

"...that a young girl traveling abroad (NATALIE MAINES???) can say with pride that she is an American - that, we are informed, is the change he is working for"

Obama - honorary Dixie Hick

[narciso]

I was googling Mr. Auchi, Rezko's straw buyer and Obama's benefactor, and the retraction by the british Observer newspaper
appears, four years after sane liberal Nick Cohen, outed him on the eve of the war. This Auchi character, is a major figure in Britain, administering the Anglo-Arab federation, chipping in to Labor's coffers, e al. Not to mention, a 'bagman' in the Italian political scandals, that nearly shattered the entire political
establishment. Yet right around Nov of last year this is conveniently swept under the rug.This is very much a result of the 'libel tourism' pioneered by Khalid bin
Mahfouz (yet another Hadramauti Yemenite, technically not a Saudi, just like Bin Laden, and Joe Wilson and Tom Kean's benefactor, Al Amoudi) to 'memory hole' inconvenient facts about their record. Like the track record of the Muwafaq and Waqf Foundations and the path of their donations.

People screamed (have they stopped yet?) bloody murder over some investments that KbM
made in the president's company 15 to 20 years ago. Yet Kerrey, was not held to account for the BCCI funds that financed the Democrat's retaking of the Senate, provided through David Paul's Centrust which in turn was part of Ghaith Pharoan's little nest egg. BCCI rehabilitated, 'old and senile' Democratic establishment solon
Clark Clifford, underwrote the Carter Center, Andy Young's junkets, and CNN's IPO.

[Jane]

I was hoping for a location

Sue,

I've read that line about 10 times and it still makes me laugh.

[Larry]

Sue: Me, too.

[Sue]

Jane & Larry,

I'm glad it brought laughter. The world needs more laughter and with our resident laugh machine busy with his own blog, I must work overtime.

[Mark E]

To liberals, patriotism means America is unjust and sucks.

[Davebo]

I'd be happy to be able to travel abroad and not have to pay over a buck fifty for a single Euro.

Till that time comes, I'll stay in Conus.

[Anthony]

I generally vacation in Europe every year and I have only once had someone be rude to me because I am American. It was a Dutchwoman living in Germany who was trying to get me to have an argument with her. I refused and simply continued drinking my beer.

My theory is that there are a lot of Americans who simply feel "cultural cringe" -- face it, the US is in many ways an egalitarian culture and our elites and their globe trotting kids tend to feel it most. They cannot feel vindicated unless a European gives them positive reinforcement.

I am a soccer fan and I have noticed this also amongst US fans. Many feel they need a European to somehow vindicate their soccer fanaticism and to say that the USNT and MLS are great. Personally, I know MLS is not the English or Italian leagues and that our nataional team is not the best in the world. And I don't care, I just follow it anyway.

People worried about Europeans liking them are like fellow soccer fans.

[The Ace]

The fact is that she had a red phone moment, as Barack Obama said," Kerry said on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" on Sunday. "Her red phone moment was on the war in Iraq, and she chose the Bush course, the wrong course."

What does this even mean?! More Dems voted for "the Bush course" in Iraq than voted for Operation Desert Storm, now remembered as a "good war."

Otherwise, per the topic, the left are just a bunch of intellectually insecure lightweight pansy's. Which is why they're always focusing on their own self esteem.

[Mike G]

How could a guy pushing the need to suck up to the French possibly have lost Ohio? C'est incroyable!

[xxx]

I'm a republican, and I've never been ashamed to be an american, even during the carter / clinton years. I'm able to differentiate between the policies of a given government, and the country itself.

The only people I've ever heard say that they were ashamed of being americans were democrats or further left.

[joeindc44]

yeah, I've never felt the need to apologize for being an American. Most of the Euro's I've met have been pretty much misinformed when it came to criticizing America, didn't care either way, or thought it was cool. Really, I don't want Franz the hyper-indulged humanist atheist's approval, nor do I want Islamic Rage Boy's approval.

[Richard Aubrey]

I've traveled in Europe, Mexico and Central America. If seeing those places doesn't make you proud to be an American, your head's in the wrong place.
I've always been proud, and, so far, nobody's given me any crap about it. Far from it, except for the pickpockets and so forth.
But then, several generations of Aubreys have traveled to Europe for the specific purpose of killing Europeans. Maybe there's a racial memory or something.
Being a bit facetious above. But when you consider being the representative of the hyperpuissant power--examples demonstrated locally, see your grandma for clues--you wonder what the indigenous personnel are really thinking.
Or not.

[Dennis]

I suspect that when John announces HIS choice for a running mate.... that I figure will be either Colin or Condy...this race for the White House will be OVER.

[Andrew V]

"OTOH, Australians have never had anything good to say about us. But I didn't go there."

Well MayBee needs to meet different Australians. I was Melbourne in the week leading up to the 2004 election and I didn't meet anyone who had anything bad to say about America.

[kim]

I suspect McCain is a little too tuned into military sensibility to pick Colin. I think his name is mud there. And Condi wants to be NFL commissioner. I think SOS might be easier.
========================

[Max]

"When you're at war, there are certainly some places it might be dangerous to be an American."

And yet we have American men and women in American uniforms in dangerous places all over the world. That may be where Obama should look for women proud to be Americans. He risks getting a dainty size 8 combat boot up his butt.

[gsarcs]

Just finished spending a year living and working in southern Italy. In the entire year I only experienced three anti-Bush episodes. One was a twentyish Arab male - no surprise there, one matronly Canadian woman married to an Italian that complained that Bush should have just left the Iraqis alone because "Saddam was just killing his own people and not bothering anyone else" and a twentyish Italian male that was recently out of university-no surprise there either. Other than that we were treated warmly and with great kindness.
Of greater importance was whether we liked the south better than the north of Italy. The correct answer was the south...of course!

[paul a'barge]

What the heck is "Barcelona"? Some kind of book?

[clarice]

A movie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barcelona_(film)

[MayBee]

Andrew V- yes, that I need to meet different Australians has been established. Apparently other people have been luckier than my friends and me.

[Jim]

I've spend some time in Australia. There is an anti-American element, but the funny thing is that these folks seemed more American to me than they did Australian. They tended to have that petulant, adolescent, quality that you find among certain American Liberals. Frankly their attitudes seemed forced and pretentious, and they were kind of paranoid.

[Porchlight]

Barcelona is one of my favorite movies of the '90s and definitely my favorite Whit Stillman film. Chris Eigeman cracks me up. I should probably watch it again, as my politics have changed quite a bit since it came out.

[Oldcrow]

seven fewer weeks for him to attempt to re-disguise himself as a centrist.

Obama never has nor will he try to disguise himself as a centrist even if he wins the nomination. You see the Messiah (pbuh) is a true believer it is why he is so good at giving speeches, he believes every word he says.

[david foster]

Back in the Cold War days, somebody once observed that: When Americans don't like the government, they change the government. When the Soviet government doesn't like the people, they change the people.

Pretty clearly, leading Democrats feel that the people of America are unworthy of them.

[bledsoe]

No, this is really how liberals think. I can remember distinctly a dinner table conversation in which a liberal friend of mine stated that he preferred Bill Clinton over Bush because when he travelled abroad, an Italian customs flunky made fun of Bush when he saw his American passport. I said, "You really are going to pick your President based on what some Italian version of Barney Fife thinks?"