Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

[Slap Shot]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

Well, almost nobody.

It's a good thing we're more respected around the world now though:

Solid comment/picture non sequitur.

But since you rang, I thought Obama was one of them? And now we want Islamofascits to like us?

Oh, and Newt can gfh.

 

[5mn_Major]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

It's a good thing we're more respected around the world now though:

After this thorough study including a sample size of...one. Or do we give credit for the guys hanging out with the guy.

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

I thought Obama was one of them? And now we want Islamofascits to like us?

Oh, and Newt can gfh.

Oh, to be clear, Newt is being typically dumb here. I haven no issue with an apology, obviously.

The point is not that we want "Islamofascits" to like us. The point is that we shouldn't care. Oddly, a change in the color and party of the President of the Great Satan seems not to have made much of a difference to them. Who could've guessed?

 

[Slap Shot]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

The point is not that we want "Islamofascits" to like us. The point is that we shouldn't care.

Pretty sure the apology (the one that you don't have an issue with) wasn't aimed at the nutjobs and hence we don't care.

 

[WeWantMore]

Pretty sure the apology (the one that you don't have an issue with) wasn't aimed at the nutjobs and hence we don't care.

I know. That's good. Once again, I have zero problem with anything Obama or "we" did today.

My comment was aimed at the (narrow) subset of people who actually thought a new President would make a difference to the nut jobs. How's that working out?

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

I stand by my comments. Any President who goes on an "apology tour" does not really care about this country's values. Zechariah 14.

 

[Kepler]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

My comment was aimed at the (narrow) subset of people who actually thought a new President would make a difference to the nut jobs. How's that working out?

A null set is indeed narrow.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

A null set is indeed narrow.

I could count more people than I have fingers on my hand that are included in the set described.

 

[Kepler]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

I could count more people than I have fingers on my hand that are included in the set described.

Then we'll call you "stumpy."

Dems: Hey, having a president who doesn't unilaterally invade Muslim countries for their oil might actually improve America's standing in the Muslim world. Let's try that.

Reps: OMG, you're surrendering to the turrists!

Dems: (patiently) No. We're talking about trying to understand the perspective of typical work-a-day human beings who happen to be Muslim and would like a better world for their kids. Right now they distrust us because of our hamfisted actions during the Dubya years, and because the odds are we probably murdered one of their relatives during our invasion / occupation / random missile wedding crash. Let's keep fighting the terrorists tooth and nail, but start to recognize the Muslim population has legitimate concerns about our past actions.

Reps: Argh! Don't you realize Islam is a religion of hatred and aggression!!! There's no distinction between a turrist and a Muslim. They're all the same.

Dems: Oh. You're just ignorant and bigoted. I get it now. Sorry I bothered you.

--- time passes ---

Reps: Look! The turrists still hate us! Hahahaha, we were right all along!

Dems: (beyond caring) I hear there are Iranian squirrels plotting in the center lane of the Jersey Turnpike. Maybe you should try to sneak up on them. For America.

Reps: Good idea!

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

Dems: Hey, having a president who doesn't unilaterally invade Muslim countries for their oil might actually improve America's standing in the Muslim world.

Interestingly, that's not where our standing has improved.

+8 in Britain from 2008, +32 in France, +31 in Germany, +31 in Spain. Very good, we agree.

Turkey though, -2. Egypt, -2. Jordan -6, Lebanon -2. Not sure of the '08 baseline, but total favorability is at 11% in Pakistan.

(A notable exception here is a +17 uptick in Indonesia, which is good.)

It's almost like views of the U.S. have to do with more things than who the President is! Who could've thunk it.

 

[dxmnkd316]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

Kenya is only happy we elected someone born in that country.

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

Kenya is only happy we elected someone born in that country.

We were always pretty well liked in Africa, with some of the not insignificant things we did with regard to AIDS.

 

[Kepler]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

Interestingly, that's not where our standing has improved.

+8 in Britain from 2008, +32 in France, +31 in Germany, +31 in Spain. Very good, we agree.

Turkey though, -2. Egypt, -2. Jordan -6, Lebanon -2. Not sure of the '08 baseline, but total favorability is at 11% in Pakistan.

(A notable exception here is a +17 uptick in Indonesia, which is good.)

It's almost like views of the U.S. have to do with more things than who the President is! Who could've thunk it.

Very good chart and worth thinking about. Thanks for posting it.

BTW, does the top row mean the US' favorability in the US?

 

[Kepler]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

We were always pretty well liked in Africa, with some of the not insignificant things we did with regard to AIDS.

I don't remember if he backed it up with any money, but one of the few (only) international things Dubya did that was sane was back AIDS aid for Africa.

 

[FreshFish]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

We were always pretty well liked in Africa, with some of the not insignificant things we did with regard to AIDS.

yeah, didn't Bono team up with some guy in Washington DC several years back to dramatically increase US anti-AIDs work in Africa? What was that guy's name again?

 

[WeWantMore]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

I don't remember if he backed it up with any money, but one of the few (only) international things Dubya did that was sane was back AIDS aid for Africa.

Oh, he backed it up with money.

A recent report from the Pew Global Attitudes Project found that "the US image is much stronger in Africa than in other regions of the world". At least 80 per cent of respondents in Ghana, Kenya and Cote d'Ivoire were favourable to the US. In all other sub-Saharan African countries polled, there were more "favourables" than "non-favourables". Part of the reason for that support is money. Lots of it.

When President Bush came to power in 2001, the US spent $1.4bn a year on humanitarian and development aid in Africa. By 2006, the figure had quadrupled to $5.6bn a year. And it is likely to get bigger.

Of course, there's a another side to the story.

Even on aid to Africa, Bush's claims do not stand up to scrutiny. The president has made foreign aid a priority of his administration, nearly tripling the overall budget for foreign assistance from where it stood in 2000. And many in his administration, like former speechwriter Michael Gerson, as well as aid advocates in Congress, like Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, have increased conservatives' interest in Africa. But the administration has spent much of the aid money on unilaterally created programs that neither learn from existing efforts nor respond effectively to Africans' real needs.

And it shows. One of the White House's major aid initiatives, the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), has wasted much of its funds on scientifically questionable programs designed to please American religious conservatives. Though studies show that only a comprehensive approach, including condom distribution, sexual education, and antiretrovirals, could reduce HIV, the White House insisted that PEPFAR spend one-third of its behavioral prevention budget on programs that promote abstinence until marriage. It also refused to let PEPFAR money go for programs like needle exchanges and aggressive condom promotion.

I honestly don't know nearly enough about the issue to have a position one way or the other.

 

[ScoobyDoo]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

Though studies show that only a comprehensive approach, including condom distribution, sexual education, and antiretrovirals, could reduce HIV, the White House insisted that PEPFAR spend one-third of its behavioral prevention budget on programs that promote abstinence until marriage. It also refused to let PEPFAR money go for programs like needle exchanges and aggressive condom promotion.

What a complete waste of money. Glad those social conservatives have so much of it.

 

[FlagDUDE08]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

We were always pretty well liked in Africa, with some of the not insignificant things we did with regard to AIDS.

That's because we have a bunch of super-Christians and Wizard of Oz dogs that blessed the rains there.

 

[Rover]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

Well, almost nobody.

It's a good thing we're more respected around the world now though:

Looks like a Tea Party rally to me!

 

[5mn_Major]

Re: Obama XXIII: The Muslin Anti-Christ Wages War on the forces of Christianity!

+8 in Britain from 2008, +32 in France, +31 in Germany, +31 in Spain. Very good, we agree.

Turkey though, -2. Egypt, -2. Jordan -6, Lebanon -2. Not sure of the '08 baseline, but total favorability is at 11% in Pakistan.

(A notable exception here is a +17 uptick in Indonesia, which is good.)

It's almost like views of the U.S. have to do with more things than who the President is! Who could've thunk it.

I think the data is pretty clear...opinion of the US is largely up. Even if you take 2011 when the president became more politically handicapped...the US is doing well. The middle east is down/flat yet we do have to remember that the middle east probably didn't mind the US overthrowing Saddam so much. It wasn't quite as good of a deal for the US itself though.

But Asia opinion is up and Europe opinion is up strongly...and I would argue that that's a pretty good result as Eurasia encompasses the majority of the worlds population with the greatest economic implication.

And I'm not sure what else would overshadow US public policy, foriegn or otherwise, in terms of influencing international opinion.