...I'm okay with being REALITY-based.




Monday, November 03, 2003
      ( 10:59 AM )
 
We're Number Two!!!

Alright! The Good News: The U.S. once again shows it is a powerhouse by coming in second in a poll conducted in Europe by the EU.

The Bad News: Unfortunately, the poll said that we ranked as the second largest threat to world peace. Yep, following close on the heels of Israel (who got the number one slot across Europe), the US beat out Iran, North Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Libya and China!

It was one of 60 surveys the Commission carries
out every year seeking the views of the EU's
375 million citizens on everything from the euro
to EU enlargement.

Around 500 people in each EU country were
asked whether they considered 14 listed
countries as threats to world peace.

Evidently, the Europeans aren't getting the same good news we are in our media these days - you know, that stuff about how great Israel is for not committing wholesale slaughter of Palestinians, and about what a force for good the U.S. has been in the middle east due to our compassionate intervention in Iraq. Maybe they should have a better filter, like we do.

The actual poll results haven't been released yet, but the news is causing big waves because Israel is uber-angry over getting the far and away number one slot as world bad guy in the eyes of Europeans. Top Israelis are saying that the poll just goes to show that all Europeans are anti-semites and that the EU should not be allowed any role in mideast peace talks. So there. However, calmer voices are also trying to be heard:

But a former head of Israel's foreign ministry,
Alon Liel, said Israelis would be wise to
consider why Europeans might think that way.
"Do they hate us or are they truly frightened?
Our natural predilection is to pull out of the
drawer our usual weapon of self-defence -
the weapon of anti-semitism - but this is
probably the wrong place to do so."

We, like the Israelis, seem to believe it impossible that other peoples of other nations could disagree with us and even go so far as to feel threatened by us. We chalk it up to thinking they must harbor some kind of irrational hatred for us (or anti-semitism for Israel).

This is poop, plain and simple. We are not the force of good or the well-beloved nation that we might have been in days gone by. We have done nothing in the past 3 years to engender good feelings, trust or hope in our former allies. The citizens of other nations look on with horror as we bombast our way around this planet, and we have no concept of how we have so completely dissed them. And then on top of that, we can only patronize. The neocons will blast this poll as evidencing "hatred" and "weakness" on the part of Europeans. Meanwhile, we will further alienate the very people who may be the only ones who can save us.

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