tomder55
Jul 15, 2010, 06:46 AM
The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso is concerned about the growing rift in the trans-atlantic alliance . Apparently President Obama is not living up to the hype he helped create in his pre-and post-election tours of Europe .Barroso is calling this a "missed opportunity ".
Things evidently came to a head at the G-20 meetings where the liberal states of Europe detailed their more "conservative " austerity plans while the President argued that they should double down on Keynesian spending .
A German official ,concerned that the austerity measures will lead to demonstrations said...
“If our austerity cuts lead to street demos, the protesters will be shouting out phrases they heard from Obama. How do you think that makes us feel?”
Barroso sounds regretful . But French President Nicolas Sarkozy didn't mince words .
“Obama does not come from the same tradition as his predecessors. He is interested in Asia and Russia, not Europe. There is no sense of a privileged relationship. They seem to take us for granted sometimes.”
Nile Gardener of the UK Telegraph editorialized
George W. Bush may not have been the most popular figure in Europe when he was president, but at least he was respected by European leaders, and feared by his enemies. In contrast Barack Obama is not only disliked abroad, but also increasingly isolated among America’s allies, and viewed as weak by America’s adversaries. So much for Obama’s boast of “restoring” America’s standing in the world.
Europe falls out of love with Barack Obama – Telegraph Blogs (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100047411/europe-falls-out-of-love-with-barack-obama/)
And that was my thought when I heard this yesterday. One of the big talking points in the last 2 campaigns was the phony charge that President Bush was a go it alone cowboy who disregarded , isolated ,and alienated many of this country’s longtime allies leaving our alliances in ruin.Part of the impetus for things like the Obama speech in front of the Victory Column in Berlin was to allegedly "repair " these long ignored alliances by telling them that America has not perfected itself....made our share of mistakes, and ...our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.
.
Turns out he was looking in a mirror when he looked at the words scrolling in TOTUS.
Things evidently came to a head at the G-20 meetings where the liberal states of Europe detailed their more "conservative " austerity plans while the President argued that they should double down on Keynesian spending .
A German official ,concerned that the austerity measures will lead to demonstrations said...
“If our austerity cuts lead to street demos, the protesters will be shouting out phrases they heard from Obama. How do you think that makes us feel?”
Barroso sounds regretful . But French President Nicolas Sarkozy didn't mince words .
“Obama does not come from the same tradition as his predecessors. He is interested in Asia and Russia, not Europe. There is no sense of a privileged relationship. They seem to take us for granted sometimes.”
Nile Gardener of the UK Telegraph editorialized
George W. Bush may not have been the most popular figure in Europe when he was president, but at least he was respected by European leaders, and feared by his enemies. In contrast Barack Obama is not only disliked abroad, but also increasingly isolated among America’s allies, and viewed as weak by America’s adversaries. So much for Obama’s boast of “restoring” America’s standing in the world.
Europe falls out of love with Barack Obama – Telegraph Blogs (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100047411/europe-falls-out-of-love-with-barack-obama/)
And that was my thought when I heard this yesterday. One of the big talking points in the last 2 campaigns was the phony charge that President Bush was a go it alone cowboy who disregarded , isolated ,and alienated many of this country’s longtime allies leaving our alliances in ruin.Part of the impetus for things like the Obama speech in front of the Victory Column in Berlin was to allegedly "repair " these long ignored alliances by telling them that America has not perfected itself....made our share of mistakes, and ...our actions around the world have not lived up to our best intentions.
.
Turns out he was looking in a mirror when he looked at the words scrolling in TOTUS.