I just want to cry. My poor country ... I love this country -- just like all of you love Brazil, China or Vietnam or wherever. All of this criticism begs the question as to just how must responsibility an individual citizen has when it comes to what a government does. If 125,000,000 Americans vote against GWB and he still wins, does that implicate them in everything that happens thereafter? Of course not. We cannot stop paying taxes to protest what our government does, just as you cannot. We can, though, vigorously voice our discontent -- which we do -- through the voting polls, the media and forums such as this.zoonpolitikon wrote:That´s the point, Bush is the menace. However, Bush was reelected by the US people, that is, by the country.
What I am concerned about is what are the Americans thinking about Bush arrogant policy. Don´t they care about the harmful efeccts it can cause? Are they ignoring that is much better to be admired than to be fearsome?
You're right, Dixie, but for the people of a country which is being threatened there is no difference wether the menace comes from the president or from the country itself.
I'd like to know how concerned the americans are about the sense of anti-americanism. Recent researchs has shown that the number of foreing students in the US universities has decreased more than 30%, not only because of the increasingly restricive immigration laws, but also because a lot of those students would feel unsafe in the USA, not to mention a lot of others who are going to look for other countries, because of the mentioned unfriendly image the USA is gaining through this disastrous Bush era.
Let me just say this: No, we are not a nation of "Ugly Americans," although some of us are. We are also not a nation of hate-mongers, hillbillies, yokels, or racists, although some of us most certainly are. We are a country that has been described as a "melting pot," but I don't think this is accurate any longer; rather, we are a "tossed salad" comprised of ethnicities from all over the world that have stayed in the same bowl and have a common dressing, but that's about it.
I will be the first to admit that the United States deserves the criticisms being directed at it today; but consider, please, the fact that September 11 is still fresh in most Americans' minds, and Pearl Harbor is not that distant of a memory either. We were attacked, and despite the knee-jerk responses on the part of our government since then, what you would do in our place?
Thanks for listening.