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

[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:
*****http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/02/23/article-2104801-11DB9E2F000005DC-766_306x530.jpg******

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.

[LynahFan]

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

I think the data is pretty clear...opinion of the US is largely up.

Look at those goalposts run!

Euro countries specifically are just more liberal than the US, period. Any Democratic President is going to be more popular in Europe than any Republican, so saying that people who like Democrats like Obama is not exactly very revealing. Additionally, look at just 2008-2011. In nearly all of the cases where the favorability is higher in 2011 than it was in 2008, the vast majority of the bump happened in 2009, purely as a response to a Democrat's election before they could possibly have seen any material effect of the change in administration. In many cases, the numbers are actually going down since then, as they come to the realization that America is still America.

[bronconick]

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

On top of that, in the middle east I expect any bump to occur in the next year or so based on the final withdrawal from Iraq and to be mitigated by whatever Israel feels like spouting in their ongoing urination distance competition with Iran.

[dxmnkd316]

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

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

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

The liberals are winning?

[5mn_Major]

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

Look at those goalposts run!

Euro countries specifically are just more liberal than the US, period. Any Democratic President is going to be more popular in Europe than any Republican, so saying that people who like Democrats like Obama is not exactly very revealing. Additionally, look at just 2008-2011. In nearly all of the cases where the favorability is higher in 2011 than it was in 2008, the vast majority of the bump happened in 2009, purely as a response to a Democrat's election before they could possibly have seen any material effect of the change in administration. In many cases, the numbers are actually going down since then, as they come to the realization that America is still America.

Better said the US is more conservative than nearly everybody (edit: except for the middle east).

If you think that Europe (and the world) was less a fan of the US during the middle 2000s just because W had an elephant on his lapel...I got some swampland for you. I spent months in Europe overseas and talked to hundreds of Europeans during every presidency since 80. In the middle 2000s there was abject hate in Europe towards the US (I was told on many occasions not to say i was an American). The polls line up perfectly with what I experienced. That experience was nowhere close to what it was under not just Obama and Clinton but also Bush I and Reagan. The W years were unique...maybe you've seen evidence to the contrary...

[Kepler]

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

Look at those goalposts run!

5mM was saying one thing while you were responding to me. I didn't change the goalposts, I acknowledged your post was interesting and worth considering. Some of those numbers make me rethink some of the things I've thought about the US profile in the Arab world.

[WeWantMore]

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

5mM was saying one thing while you were responding to me. I didn't change the goalposts, I acknowledged your post was interesting and worth considering. Some of those numbers make me rethink some of the things I've thought about the US profile in the Arab world.

Two different folks here, fwiw.

[LynahFan]

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

Better said the US is more conservative than nearly everybody (edit: except for the middle east).

If you think that Europe (and the world) was less a fan of the US during the middle 2000s just because W had an elephant on his lapel...I got some swampland for you. I spent months in Europe overseas and talked to hundreds of Europeans during every presidency since 80. In the middle 2000s there was abject hate in Europe towards the US (I was told on many occasions not to say i was an American). The polls line up perfectly with what I experienced. That experience was nowhere close to what it was under not just Obama and Clinton but also Bush I and Reagan. The W years were unique...maybe you've seen evidence to the contrary...

Not at all - the W years were definitely unique. He badly overstepped the mandate that 9/11 gave him and any foreign policy acumen that he may have possessed (not sure - could have been zero). But I think that actually supports my larger point in that the large bump in 2009 was only somewhat due to Obama himself. It's not that Obama is unusually well liked, it's only by comparison to someone who was unusually disliked that he looks so good.

[FreshFish]

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

The liberals are winning?

What liberals? There are only about half a dozen liberals left in politics these days and more of them are Republicans than Democrats!

Andrew Cuomo is about the only prominent liberal remaining in the Democratic Party these days (after they ejected Joe Lieberman). Most of them call themselves "progressives" these days, and liberals and "progressives" are very, very different. (though in my view, most of them are little more than vote-grubbing cynics who stand for nothing other than being re-elected....sort of like cancer cells, they want MORE MORE MORE yet don't even know why any longer).

Romney, Christie, Paul Ryan, they are all mainstream liberals, one of the main reasons why they are having so much trouble gaining traction with the Republican party as a whole.

[ScoobyDoo]

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

what liberals? There are only about half a dozen liberals left in politics these days and more of them are republicans than democrats!

Andrew cuomo is about the only prominent liberal remaining in the democratic party these days (after they ejected joe lieberman). Most of them call themselves "progressives" these days, and liberals and "progressives" are very, very different. (though in my view, most of them are little more than vote-grubbing cynics who stand for nothing other than being re-elected....sort of like cancer cells, they want more more more yet don't even know why any longer).

romney, christie, paul ryan, they are all mainstream liberals, one of the main reasons why they are having so much trouble gaining traction with the republican party as a whole.

rotflmao

[Kepler]

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

But I think that actually supports my larger point in that the large bump in 2009 was only somewhat due to Obama himself. It's not that Obama is unusually well liked, it's only by comparison to someone who was unusually disliked that he looks so good.

Then your larger-er (largest?) point is that the 2009 bump was the world's gasp of relief when the US vomited Cheney and his ilk back to the editorial pages of NRO.

The US will never be loved while we are a global empire. The arrogance and bumbling of the prior administration, and the kind of eftardery emanating from the current GOP clown car, promoted a cartoon view of America ("Try and stop us"). Obama has presided while we returned to our normal place in the world, which means particular regimes and interest groups will still use us as a scapegoat.