Posted on 09/27/2004 10:01:32 AM PDT by quidnunc
Paris – "Why Bush must be beaten," screamed the headline of Le Nouvel Observateur, a left-leaning French newsweekly. Smaller type above the U.S. president's half profile provided the answer: "His re-election will be a catastrophe for the world and for America."
That sentiment may have been expressed more bluntly than the opinions of many Europeans, yet it captured the passions on this continent over who will occupy the White House come January.
Poised halfway between the political wrangling in Washington over the war in Iraq and the suicide bombs and kidnappings in Baghdad, Europeans have rarely felt so involved in a U.S. presidential race.
Many Europeans, analysts and regular citizens alike, argue that their own security is increasingly at risk, while violence spirals in Iraq and anti- Western hostility hardens in Europe's backyard — the Arab world.
Some on the continent have suggested, only half-jokingly, that with one superpower remaining in a globalized world, Europeans ought to have a say in who should be America's next president.
"Americans will choose their president, and the rest of the world will have to live with that decision," said Bernhard May, a senior analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin. "All we can do is talk to people."
Perhaps mirroring sentiments on the other side the Atlantic, Europeans who dislike Bush are not necessarily strong supporters of John Kerry.
"Europe is get-rid-of-Bush country, which is not quite the same as Kerry country," said Guillaume Parmentier, head of the Center on the United States at the French Institute for International Relations in Paris.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
America to Europe: Either stand and fight, or start buying stock in prayer run manufacturing.
President Bush is very popular in Poland and in Nigeria. Yes, I know that the Germans & Irish don't like him, but so what? Most Germans & Irish are total dolts!
the europeans are a bunch of silly tarts who have grown up thinking that they have to bend down on their knees and kiss every "minority" group that comes within 12 feet of them.
When France and Germany's unemployment is under, hmmm, let's say 7%, then I might even consider entertaining what they have to say about running a country.
Now now, I'm Irish:
BTW, how many Irishmen does it take to screw in a light bulb......don't know you say?
Three........one to hold the light bulb and two to drink until the room spins.......hahahahaha! I kill me!
But seriously, when was the last time there existed a funny frenchman......that was actually french?
Perhaps they take themselves tooooooooo seriously for wit or humour.....don't really know......just seems the reason.
GOOD. I hope this makes the headlines in every paper. Americans don't like Europe telling them how to run their country. It'll add 5% to Bush.
The reasons they hate us not having socialized medicine are 1) they envy us having better healthcare, and 2) they are tired of losing their best and brightest producers to America's lower taxes and better quality life. Socialist mooching only works properly when there's no better place for the producers to go.
Of course their "bumbfounded", the Germans were told they couldn't afford their welfare state for much longer, European unions have agreed to go back to 40 hour work weeks to actually compete instead of subsidizing................They've much gain if we become just like them.........no need to compete.
Yawn, they said the same thing back in 1984 during Reagan's re-election, wrong then, wrong now.
Europe - always there when they need us.
Summary: The United States, although a signatory to the protocol, has neither ratified nor withdrawn from the protocol. The protocol is non-binding over the United States unless ratified.
On June 25, 1997, before the Kyoto Protocol was to be negotiated, the U.S. Senate passed by a 95-0 vote the Byrd-Hagel Resolution (S. Res. 98), which stated the sense of the Senate was that the United States should not be a signatory to any protocol that that did not include binding targets and timetables for developing as well as industrialized nations or "would result in serious harm to the economy of the United States". Disregarding the Senate Resolution, on November 12, 1998, Vice President Al Gore symbolically signed the protocol. Aware of the Senate's view of the protocol, the Clinton Administration never submitted the protocol for ratification.
The current President, George W. Bush, has indicated that he does not intend to submit the treaty for ratification, not because he doesn't support the general idea, but because he is not happy with the details of the treaty. For example, he does not support the split between Annex I countries and others. Bush said of the treaty:
"The world's second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases is China. Yet, China was entirely exempted from the requirements of the Kyoto Protocol. This is a challenge that requires a 100 percent effort; ours, and the rest of the world's. America's unwillingness to embrace a flawed treaty should not be read by our friends and allies as any abdication of responsibility. To the contrary, my administration is committed to a leadership role on the issue of climate change. Our approach must be consistent with the long-term goal of stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere."
China emits 2,893 million metric tons of CO2 per year (2.3 tons per capita). This compares to 5,410 million from the USA (20.1 tons per capita), and 3,171 million from the EU (8.5 tons per capita). China has since ratified the Kyoto Protocol, and is expected to become an Annex I country within the next decade. The US Natural Resources Defense Council, stated in June 2001 that: "By switching from coal to cleaner energy sources, initiating energy efficiency programs, and restructuring its economy, China has reduced its carbon dioxide emissions 17 percent since 1997".
In June 2002, the American Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the "Climate Action Report 2002". Some observers have interpreted this report as being supportive of the protocol, although the report itself does not explicitly endorse the protocol.
The prospect of the US staying outside the agreement influenced a number of other countries including Australia, Japan, and Canada to discuss whether they should ratify the agreement, putting themselves at a competitive disadvantage with the USA. While Japan and Canada ultimately decided to ratify the protocol, Australia's current government has said it will not ratify. This may change at the next change of government, as the major opposition parties have committed to ratification if in a position to do so.
From Wikipedia. Interesting note regarding Australia: Rush was just talking about Kerry's sister who is in Australia trying to INFLUENCE THEIR ELECTION!! in order to get John Howard (friendly to President Bush) defeated.
Q. What is Irish and stays out all summer?
A. Patio Furniture (Paddy O'Furniture)
A real groaner, I know...
Sure we care what they think and their opinions have been duly noted.
We don't listen to Eurarabia.
Her Father proceeded to say that he was not at all pleased with my President Bush.
I then asked him, "If Great Britain were holding an election today, for whom would you vote if the candidates were Maggie Thatcher and Neville Chamberlain?"
He replied, "Why Maggie Thatcher, of course."
I then went on to say, "You may not be pleased with my President Bush, but your grandchildren will certainly be pleased that when the time came, he acted more like a leader than an aristocrat.
Oh, but we did. The majority of Americans are descended from You're-a-peeins who left the old country precisely because they were sick and tired of the corrupt regimes and limited opportunites there. We left to GET AWAY FROM YOU. You can wring your hands, furrow your brows, and snivel all you like, but we're in charge of our own affairs.
To consolodate a few quotes from that famous African-American Teresa Heinz-(for now) Kerry, "Shove it, you idiot scumbags."
Good one!
America to Europe: Drop dead.
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