Well,…sort of. At least he was chosen by the electoral college. That’s kind of like being chosen by popular vote, in a way…Almost. And that stuff that went on in Florida (that got him the electoral win) where his brother is governor, was probably just coincidental.
I mean what I just wrote sincerely, but it keeps coming out sardonic.
Things American, that stupify us over here:
Misconceptions gallore:
Not my own opinions, mind you. Just some general things often heard from the public over here.
Thye stick out in travels, as they are the ones, besides Brits, who only speak English!
Ever read The American Scholar by Ralph Waldo Emerson? Sadly, he makes the same complaint…
Ok, granted that Bush isn’t very educated. And he’s more than a little aggressive. (probably, too much in the case of Iraq). But I think he did a good job right after 9/11. Face it, the Taliban needed to go, regardless of whether or not they were haboring Bin Laden. If there’s one good thing he has done it’s that. (we had help from other countries, too. Thank you for that.) You can argue that he risked more American lives by sending in troops, but I have family who were in the army in Afghanistan and what they saw maybe them WANT to be there, just to get rid of the Taliban. Bush isn’t a total loser. He just acts like it sometimes. I definitely like him more than Clinton. Don’t even get me started on that guy.
Some of my best friends are American (no really!) but they are educated and have all lived in other countries or have family members from other countries - maybe this gives them a bigger world view?
I have also met lots of lovely people when travelling in the states.
The thing that gets me is the ignorance of the masses - the endless supply of the ignorant on day time talk shows.
We arguably have this in all countries, it’s just that America shows us this on TV and Film on a daily basis, thus appearing to have more than its fair share of ignorance and stupidity.
Also the ‘rights’ issue.
I cannot fathom how anyone can fight for their right to not wear a seatbelt, helmit, fence their pool etc etc because for us, it might be a pain but we fundamently understand that it is for safety of us and our families and communities. This also makes Americans come across as ignorant.
Also, ofcourse, the right to have guns - how can Americans on the one hand become shocked and horrified at the high school shoot outs etc and yet fight for the right to have millions of guns circulating in the communities?
Just because SOME Americans like to keep an arsenal of guns doesn’t mean we all do. Some people are responsible enough to keep atomic bombs if they wanted to, but sadly we can’t single out stupid people and take away their toys…or sterilize them. I know it’s controversial, but some people really should not be allowed to breed.
<nitpick>That’s not quite true for a variety of reasons. For instance, there are other travellers who don’t learn the language of the country they’re visiting too (and there’s less incentive to do it if your home language is English, which doesn’t only include Americans and British). </nitpick>
But you’re right that we both score badly in surveys compared to most other countries, and yes it does help if you can at least make an effort to speak to people in their own language.
pepperlandgirl
I hope, and believe, that Emerson wouldn’t say that if he was writing today. Exported popular culture rarely places anyone’s country in a favourable light, though, however much money it makes.
From my ten years in Germany, as an American citizen, I agree with several previous posters that it’s not the people, with one exception, that are disliked, but many of the government policies and attitudes.
The one exception is the military. There IS discrimination against soldiers in towns with American bases, even though the same towns have absolutely no problems with non-military Americans living or visiting there.
As someone who fit into both camps during my stay (two years as a soldier, eight as a civilian), I can understand the hostility towards the soldiers, as they would often go out on the town in large groups, get drunk, and cause all sorts of problems. To be fair, they weren’t real happy with having German bases in their towns for the same reason, but the language/cultural differences made it even worse when dealing with our soldiers.
>The one exception is the military […]
Two words: young men.
We need our guns for keepin the King of England out of our face.
Yes, oftentimes large groups of young men, under the influence of alcohol. 
That’s why I also mentioned that they weren’t fond of bases full of soldiers of any ilk, even their own.
I’ve often wondered about the motivations/agenda behind the military actions undertaken by the American government.
Its hard to understand why they’d intervene in some conflicts whilst ignoring others.
As regards Europe add to all of the above a fundamental difference in philosophy of politics. While European political ideals tend tends towards forwarding the “common good” the US ideal is more oriented at the “individual good.” It might seem to be a hairsplitting difference at first glance, but has deep ramifications. For instance: the resulting conception of freedom in the US flavor can come across as offensive to a European sensibility since, according to the European, the common good supercedes the freedoms of the individual to a higher degree than in the US. This is most clearly obvious in cases like gun control.
When you add to that the higher degree of moral idealism in the US it becomes downright confusing to us Urapeeans. Hence it’s easy to end up asking yourself: how can a country that embraces freedom and the rights of the individual to run their lives as they see fit also support the death penalty and seriously consider banning abortions. You could say that, to some, the Merkins look like a load of freewheeling, gun tooting Libertarian moralists.
On the same mint Americans once in awhile slam us for being overtly statist and reactionary. Which combined with the paradoxically liberal moral climate could arguably come across as we were a bunch of bureaucratic, dope smoking Socialist libertines.
As most often the root of the evil, whatever end of the stick you are at, is all the nationalist and patriotic crap that is spewed either in magnanimous spills through the mouth, as in the US, or in sizzling jets through the nose, as in Europe. Whichever way it comes out the vomit stinks and corrodes the poor bastard who happens to be standing at the receiving end.
Just my two Euro Cents…
Sparc
So everyone hates us now…they’ll come back as soon as they need something. Gotta go…Jerry Springer’s on.
Off to IMHO.
I cannot explain why the Jerry Springer watching, anti-abortion rights crusaders, and consumers of all things at the expense of others have become the average American stereotype. Oh, I forgot rude tourist and poor chocolate connoiseur. I don’t see myself as any of those things and most other Americans I know are only one or two of them, if at all. Does Jerry Springer realize what a pain in the ass he is??? I’m nice and I don’t throw chairs at my relatives, damn it!
Do you know how many other countries have leaders that “need to go” just as much as the Taliban did. It ain’t Bush’s job to decide who runs countries that aren’t his own. Bin Laden made his attack slightly more justifiable, but this still doesn’t mean that he did a good job post 9/11. Anyone could have shuffled around Washington post 9/11 and it’d be called “doing a good job.”
You know, we really didn’t care about who Clinton did what to and what he said about it. At least we felt like he could find other countries on a map and that he knew what he was talking about.
Anyway.
I was talking to the security guy at work last night, and we were discussing Survivor.
Him: (on Ted) well, it was cause he was pissing in the cave. It’s disgusting. Typical yanks… I knew some back in the army.
So, now you know. If you’d just learn to piss outside the cave, the rest of the world would like you a lot better 
Many people around the world love AND hate the U.S., simultaneously.
P.J. O’Rourke told a hilarious story years ago, about his travels in Lebanon. He said that he met a young Arab male who screamed in his face that America was the Great Satan, and that all Americans deserved to die and (in almost the same breath!) he was going to dental school in Michigan, as soon as he could get the financing arranged.
I think this Arab O’Rourke described is typical of many people in the Third World. They resent the U.S. for its debaucherie and conspicuous consumption, while at the same time, they dream of moving to America, and SHARING in some of that debaucherie and consumption!