Free Republic

Allies of former prime minister regard darling of Tea Party movement as a frivolous figure unworthy of an audience Sarah Palin wants to show to the Republican right that she is the true keeper of the Ronald Reagan flame by meeting the late president's closest ally on the world stage.

Its been said that life often imitates art. However, I never imagined that the satirical airbrushing campaign undertaken by the rabid anti-smoking lobby at the end of “Thank You For Smoking” would ever actually be replicated in real life. Apparently, as the Daily Mail reports, I was wrong (h/t Adam S Baldwin): It seems the man who steered Britain through the most dangerous period of its recent history may have fallen victim to the modern curse of political correctness. (pictures within link)

The angry comments attributed to Mr Wolfowitz came from damning testimony by Xavier Coll, head of human resources at the bank, who provided investigators with his notes of a meeting with Mr Wolfowitz last year. The notes directly contradict Mr Wolfowitz's assertions that the details of Ms Riza's treatment were properly shared with senior bank officials. In March last year, when a mention of Ms Riza's secondment outside the bank to avoid rules about partners was first published in the magazine US News & World Report, an angry Mr Wolfowitz accused Mr Coll of leaking the information. According to Mr...

The approach of the New Year and departure of the old inevitably brings a flurry of "year's best" lists. This even applies to nations, which some organizations make it their business annually to rank in order of wealth, quality of life, and what-have-you. Surprisingly often, the Nordic countries come out on top. This placement is usually a reflection less of objective reality, however, than of the list-makers' enthusiasm for the Nordic welfare-state model. The criteria, in other words, are formulated in such a way that the Nordic countries will inevitably end up on top. Hence Norway, for example, is repeatedly...

Davids Medienkritik discovered deep condescension toward America from a German executive whose company makes most of its money here. Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking defends the German “social model” of capitalism, and implies that we Americans are barely out of the backwoods with our rifles. Europe’s culture is decidedly older than that of the USA. The Fuggers were doing business, while hunting was still the order of the day in America. Right now 37 million people in the USA live below the poverty line. The gulf between poor and rich has widened brutally. Do we want to have a situation like...

VIENNA, Austria - The mayor of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Austrian hometown on Tuesday begged the California governor to reconsider his decision to end ties to the city after locals assailed him for his death penalty stance. Siegfried Nagl, mayor of the southern city of Graz, said he dashed off a letter to Schwarzenegger pleading with him not to return a ring of honor bestowed on him by officials in his birthplace in 1999 and reassuring him that most residents still admire him. "I hope that very soon we'll hear you say, 'I'll be back,'" Nagl told the actor-turned-politician, one of Austria's...

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Political parties in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's hometown have started a petition drive to remove his name from a sports stadium. The dispute stems from the governor's decision this week to deny clemency to Stanley Tookie Williams. The co-founder of the Crips gang was executed early Tuesday in San Quentin State Prison for four 1979 murders. Opposition to the death penalty is strong in Austria, and the once-popular Schwarzenegger has lost much of his shine since becoming California governor for refusing to spare convicted murderers on death row. The outcry was especially sharp this week after the...

The Arnold Schwarzenegger Football Stadium in Austria's second-largest city Graz is to be renamed as a sign of displeasure with the city's most famous son,. A majority of members on Graz City Council voted to rename the stadium after the Austrian-born governor of California approved the execution of Stanley "Tookie" Williams, according to newspaper Kleine Zeitung. The Terminator-turned-governor was born six kilometres outside Graz in the community of Thal. http://www.smh.com.au/news/people/arnies-terminated/2005/12/16/1134676432847.html

Furious politicians from Arnold Schwarzenegger's home city have turned on him over his refusal to stop the execution of a reformed gangster. Councillors in the Austrian city of Graz yesterday voted to remove the California governor's name from the local football stadium. The move comes after the Terminator star denied clemency to convicted murderer Stanley 'Tookie'Williams, 51, the co-founder of Los Angeles' notorious Crips gang. Graz deputy mayor Walter Ferk said: said: 'It is annoying that we are being criticised because of Schwarzenegger's actions in California. 'It is not exactly admirable for us to be connected with the death penalty....

California’s execution of a murderer this morning outraged many in Europe who regard the practice as barbaric, and feelings ran particularly deep in state Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s native Austria. At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI’s top official for justice matters denounced the death penalty for going against redemption and human dignity. “We know the death penalty doesn’t resolve anything,” Cardinal Renato Martino said. “Even a criminal is worthy of respect because he is a human being. The death penalty is a negation of human dignity.” Capital punishment is illegal throughout the European Union, and many Europeans consider state-sponsored executions...

"Down with America" is the title of a recent song by the popular Belgian musician Raymond van het Groenewoud. Written in Dutch and published by EMI , "Weg met Amerika" ("Down with America") will be available in record shops as of next week, and was played on Belgian state radio last Thursday and Friday. Here is a quote from the lyrics of the song: Hamburgers and coke, yes you already knew But do you also know the cause of the general decay? Short-sighted thinking, loud talking Sticking to one-liners forever Down with America! Down with the jerks from America Down...

Linda McQuaig says standing up to U.S. will gain us respect abroad It's now clear how the Bush administration sees things: Canadian sovereignty exists only at its pleasure. If we do what Washington wants, we retain our sovereignty. If we don't, all bets are off. This is what U.S. ambassador Paul Cellucci clarified last week in his angered response to Paul Martin's announcement that Canada won't join the U.S. missile defence scheme. Cellucci noted that Washington would simply deploy its anti-missile system over Canadian airspace anyway, and expressed puzzlement over Canada's decision to "in effect, give up its sovereignty." No...

European Union justice and interior ministers agreed Friday that new immigrants to the 25-nation bloc should be required to learn local languages, and to adhere to general "European values" that will guide them toward better integration. Dutch immigration minister Rita Verdonk, who chaired the meeting, said all countries agreed to make integrating newcomers a priority, considering the growing ethnic tensions as EU nations struggle to absorb a steady stream of poor, mostly Muslim immigrants. Just this month in the Netherlands, the slaying of filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a suspected Muslim radical unleashed a wave of attacks against mosques, churches...

Sneering, insults, condescension – it's not so much fun being an American in London since the election There was a moment when we Americans living in Britain, all 200,000 or so of us, thought we were home free. The years of being mocked and antagonised for our country's leader were coming to an end. "Actually, I'm voting for Kerry" was the simplest way of getting out of a difficult conversation. The truth is that many Americans in Britain probably voted for Bush, but have kept it to themselves. It's about as fashionable as admitting to having the clap. "Every meeting...

VIENNA, Austria - The U.N. nuclear agency said Thursday it warned the United States about the vulnerability of explosives stored at Iraq (news - web sites)'s Al-Qaqaa military installation after another facility — Iraq's main nuclear complex — was looted in April 2003. Melissa Fleming, a spokeswoman for the International Atomic Energy Agency, told The Associated Press that U.S. officials were cautioned directly about what was stored at Al-Qaqaa, the main high explosives facility in Iraq. Some 377 tons of high explosives — HMX and RDX and PETN — are now missing from the facility, and questions have arisen about...

So badly have relations deteriorated that the U.S. ambassador to Spain, George Argyros, opted to go hunting last week instead of attending national day celebrations in Madrid -- where French troops pointedly marched in a morning parade instead of American ones.[snip]For its part, the Bush administration has shown it has a long memory when it comes to diplomatic slights. Even as he acknowledged that "mistakes can get made," Ambassador Argyros criticized Zapatero's refusal to honor the American flag in protesting the Iraq war. "It was a real insult to the American people," Argyros told El Pais newspaper in an interview...

This should come as no surprise....it's more America-bashing from the Axis of Weasels...this time from our old ally Jacques Chirac of France. Speaking in communist Vietnam (where else,) Mr. Chirac had this to say about the country that has repeatedly saved his bacon throughout history. He said that France was right to stand up to cultural and linguistic diversity. And who is he talking about standing up to? Why of course, the United States! Chirac warned that the world's different values would be "choked" by American ones. He said that would lead to a "general world subculture" based around the...

ALT="Support our Advertisers! Click Here!" BORDER="0"> href="http://www.reason.com/subscribe.html"> src="http://www.reason.com/ads/rsubadx.gif" alt="Subscribe to Reason" border="0">     Reason DailyRecent stories A Gong for Europe (9/23) The Sorrows of CBS (9/22) No Way Out (9/21) Reason Daily archive September 23, 2004 A Gong for Europe On Iraq, several trans-Atlantic cousins are useless Michael Young Spain's Socialist prime minister, José Luis Rodriquez Zapatero, is known by the moniker "Bambi", and a peek will corroborate that he resembles the feeble fawn from the Walt Disney cartoon. But there is more to it than looks: He showed that he merited the nickname after the Madrid train...

NITED NATIONS : France, one of the harshest critics of the war that brought down Saddam Hussein, stressed it would not commit troops for Iraq despite appeals from the United States and United Nations. As Iraq Prime Minister Iyad Allawi met in Washington with US President George W. Bush and hailed the war as a success, France poured cold water on any slim hope it might send forces to help ease the post-war chaos. "As everyone knows, France did not approve of the conditions in which the conflict was unleashed. Neither today nor tomorrow will it commit itself militarily in...

LONDON, Sept. 22 — The editorial cartoon in the Times of London newspaper today was derisive: the first panel has President Bush telling the United Nations General Assembly, "Friends, our policy in Iraq is directed solely towards a successful election." The second panel has him saying which election: "Mine." European newspapers, including some that supported the American military campaign in Iraq, were largely critical of Mr. Bush's address on Tuesday to the United Nations. The Financial Times contended in its lead editorial that the Bush administration "systematically refused to engage with what actually has happened in Iraq" namely, in its...

September 17, 2004 Iran continues to stonewall UN nuclear weapons inspectors. Iran apparently feels that the European nations and the UN will not impose sanctions in an attempt to stop Iran's nuclear weapons development program, and would turn on Israel if the Israelis launched an air strike to destroy Iranian nuclear weapons facilities. Basically, the Europeans are not all that worried about Iran developing nukes, feeling that the chances of these weapons being passed to terrorists, or used against Israel, are very low. The Europeans note that the Iranian "world Islamic revolution," has been more rhetoric than anything else over...

"People hate you. Everyone hates you. The whole world hates you." The pretty middle-aged woman, a Swiss mother and scholar, at the dinner table in Geneva earnestly wants to make that perfectly clear. She isn't angry with me. She thinks the American people are totally ignorant, misled by the media and a criminal president. She also thinks the United States invaded Afghanistan in order to grab an oil pipeline. This is my test of whether conversation is possible. I can understand how Europeans can believe the war in Iraq was about oil. After all, European nations like France and Russia...

Check this video out...I'm not sure if I'm supposed to laugh or get ticked... http://www.viva.tv/player/player.php?id=11004&fid=23005916&format=real_a dsl&focus=off

LONDON (Reuters) - President Bush is ill and goes to the hospital. Doctor: "Open your mouth and say a-a-a-a-a." Bush: "What, at the same time?" It's a typically wry Russian joke, but it could have come from almost anywhere around Europe where the U.S. leader's intellect is a favorite topic for satire. Add to that the widely believed caricature of Bush as a trigger-happy global cowboy, and it's perhaps not hard to understand why he provokes so much enmity in the Old World. Indeed, among U.S. presidents, only Richard Nixon -- of Watergate notoriety -- comes close to rivaling Bush...

A nostalgia for utopian crusades is more seductive than gradual democratic evolution Unlike Europeans, Americans view freedom as the absence of fear and wont. That difference explains both Europe's contempt for America's idealistic interventionism and why European liberal intellectuals flirt with illiberal Islamism and terrorism. For Americans, freedom sets areas of non-interference by the government - the absence of fear - and a modicum of means to pursue disparate individual goals without the hindrance deprivation - the absence of wont - but little else. America's freedom is a freedom with a small "f," an individual, petit bourgeois freedom that does...

Swin Cash sounded pretty miffed when a predominantly Greek crowd jeered the U.S. men in their upset loss Sunday to Puerto Rico. She and her teammates were in the crowd, and they heard more than a few of the invectives aimed at the Americans...It seems it is acceptable for any nation's fans to chant or sing for their team or individual at any event without being interrupted, save those of the United States. The moment a chant of "U-S-A!" breaks out, as it does in most venues where Americans compete, it is drowned out by whistles. That is the European...

The staff of ver.di, Germany’s largest service-sector union and the largest independent, individual trade union in the world, is worried. Its leaders now realize that there won’t be enough warmongers around to adequately support members’ Socialist way-of-life. They rightfully “fear” that the planned withdrawal of tens of thousands of US military personnel and their dependents from Germany will result in thousands of lost union jobs, particularly in areas surrounding affected bases and installations.“But…warmongers?” You ask. Well sure, that is exactly how ver.di’s chairman, union kingpin Frank Bsirske, described the American government and military just last year. And that wasn’t all...

German men are being shamed into urinating while sitting down by a gadget which is saving millions of women from cleaning up in the bathroom after them. The WC ghost, a £6 voice-alarm, reprimands men for standing at the lavatory pan. It is triggered when the seat is lifted. The battery-operated devices are attached to the seats and deliver stern warnings to those who attempt to stand and urinate (known as "Stehpinkeln"). "Hey, stand-peeing is not allowed here and will be punished with fines, so if you don't want any trouble, you'd best sit down," one of the devices orders...

Helen and I have been hanging out in Europe, trying to find out if the Europeans hate us as much as John Kerry says they do. The natives were almost universally friendly, even after learning that we strongly supported President Bush. We learned that most Europeans harbor serious misconceptions about America, and many view our country similarly to the way a Michael Moore or George Soros does. I suspect much of the problem is the news media — theirs and ours. Working in China, I spend a lot of time watching CNN International, so much that I regularly want to...

Most Europeans who are fiercely critical of George W. Bush would feel at home in Massachusetts. Liberal Massachusetts seems a world apart from Texas, the home state of President Bush. Its dominantly liberal politics and "Europeanness" offer a stark contrast to the cowboy conservatism of Texas. Not to mention that the convention week in Boston offered a multitude of opportunities to witness or participate in anti-Bush rallies and events critical of the current administration's policies. However, it is alarming to see how the mere facts that presidential contender John Kerry is from Massachusetts, is a Democrat and is not George...

... Europeans casually talk of the Kerry rapprochement to come, as if in their magnanimity they have given us one last chance to return to sobriety. They exude a bold confidence, even to strangers, that the brightened prospects of the Democratic challenger are proof that America has seen the European light and therefore, of course, Mr. Kerry must win. Never has Europe been so emotionally involved in an American election -- and never to their peril have they read us so wrong. ... And few American administrations have proved as controversial in refashioning American foreign policy as have the blunt-speaking...

Snip

Europe, Down On Bush, Keeps A Keen Eye On Kerry AFP: 7/27/2004 LONDON, July 27 (AFP) - Europe is watching this week's Democratic Party convention with keen interest, with many seeing in John Kerry a potential saviour from US President George W. Bush and his unilateralist ways. Though the two rivals for the White House are neck and neck in US opinion polls, Kerry is widely regarded as the out and out favourite among Europeans, both for his politics and his many ties with the continent. "Europe wants a fresh start, and that includes Europeans who are pro-American ... who...

Most European historians and political pundits agree that it has been a long time, at least a generation, since the world has felt so consumed with passion about an American election, and since so many have been so hopeful of regime change in Washington. This year, they say, there is one place where the choice between John Kerry and George W. Bush will indeed have a profound impact, and interestingly it is not the Middle East. It is Europe. Timothy Garton Ash, director of the European Studies Center at Oxford, argues that the "wrenching confrontation" between Europe and America over...

This is an excellent essay on the reason why so many Western Europeans tend to view Americans with contempt: public opinion is being manipulated by the left-wing media. It is long but definitely worth the read. Posted here in four installments, for education and discussion purposes only. I I moved from the U.S. to Europe in 1998, and I’ve been drawing comparisons ever since. Living in turn in the Netherlands, where kids come out of high school able to speak four languages, where gay marriage is a non-issue, and where book-buying levels are the world’s highest, and in Norway, where...

Mensa members, known for their stratospheric IQs, learn a valuable lesson soon after joining the group: Keep it to yourself. The inevitable reaction from those not in Mensa, upon meeting those who are, goes something like this, "If you're so smart, why aren't you rich (or famous, happy, successful)?" This revelation spawns several corollaries. Intelligence is no guarantee of a life well-lived. Education and intelligence are not the same. There's bookwise and there's streetwise. The United States should keep this in mind as reaction to terrorism and the Iraq war congeals into another round of anti-Americanism. The media have stoked...

PARIS -- When "Fahrenheit 9/11" was selected for the Cannes film festival, another documentary about George W. Bush was waiting in the wings in case Michael Moore's film wasn't ready in time. "The organizers were keen to include our film in the Official Selection but felt it was politically incorrect to have two anti-Bush documentaries at Cannes," says Jean-Francois Lepetit, whose Flach Film produced "Le Monde Selon Bush" (The World According to Bush). Directed by seasoned documentary maker William Karel, the 90-minute film could scarcely be more different to Moore's pamphlet that went on to win the Palme d'Or. Karel's...

José Manuel Barroso, the outgoing Portuguese prime minister who has been nominated as president of the European Commission, on Tuesday criticised the US for its occasional "arrogance" and sought to distance himself from some of his recent domestic policies by underlining his social and environmental credentials. Questioned on Portugal's involvement in the US-led war coalition in Iraq, on the first day of hearings before the European parliament, Mr Barroso said that, while he was a long-standing admirer of the US, he also hated what he described as American "arrogance" and "unilateralism". He added: "I think there are magnificent things that...

European Media Paint Bush, America as Villains By Dale HurdCBN News Sr. Reporter July 7, 2004 The coverage of Bush and Iraq is so one-sided in Europe that it is now accepted as fact that Bush and the Iraq war are both bad, and you had better not say otherwise. CBN.com – PARIS - In an Iraqi court last week, Saddam Hussein called President Bush a criminal. Very few Americans took that charge seriously. But the international news media has repeatedly cast President Bush as a villain on the world stage. And for millions around the world, the message seems...

France's passion for cinema and its collective antipathy for President Bush made Wednesday's opening of "Fahrenheit 9/11" a headline event that quickly proved a boon at the box office. But even Michael Moore could not escape that critical Gallic eye. The movie that won the highest award at May's Cannes Film Festival wracked up "extraordinary" ticket sales for its first afternoon showings in Paris, according to the MK2 movie chain. Elevating the movie to an event, the left-leaning newspaper Liberation left the laudatory commentary to its nationally known executive editor. "Michael Moore is a television show unto himself," Serge July...

France-bashing is considered good politics in America. Bush-bashing is seen as good politics in France. And for the moment, both countries are happily taking pot shots at each other. Cheap shots might be a better description. President Jacques Chirac took aim at President Bush last week and accused him of "going too far" by urging the European Union to begin membership negotiations with Turkey as soon as possible. The odd thing is that Chirac also believes Turkey should be admitted to the European Union. He just didn't like Bush telling him so. "It's a bit as if I explained to...

Europe Reassesses U.S. on Fourth of July 54 minutes ago Add World - AP to My Yahoo! By MORT ROSENBLUM, AP Special Correspondent PARIS - It's July 4 in Europe, when U.S. ambassadors from Lisbon to Ljubljana hoist California chardonnay and ask their garden party guests to toast an often rocky but rock-solid friendship. This year, more than at any time in most people's memory, the response is mumbled and muted. A new mood is clear in Athens, for instance, where the world will soon gather for ancient games meant to periodically wipe away any national hard feelings. Once, Greeks...

In the overseas press there is an expectation — especially in Western Europe — that the Americans will soon come to their senses and fire George W. Bush (search). What exactly ticked them off so bad? It was when Bush said, "We're fighting terrorism, and you're either with us or you're against us." You could just hear the gasps across the Atlantic. Writing in The Financial Times recently, the solidly anti-Bush Martin Wolfe wrote: "Sept. 11, 2001 transformed the U.S. in ways most non-Americans still do not understand." He may be anti-Bush, but he got that right. The Euros don't...

BERLIN -- I can understand, my German friend said, why Germans voted for Hitler in 1933 -- though he did not receive a majority of the vote. The Weimar Republic was weak and incompetent. The Great Depression had ruined the nation's war-devastated economy. People were bitter because they thought their leaders had betrayed them in the war. They wanted revenge for the humiliation of Versailles. Hitler promised strong leadership and a new beginning. But why did they continue to support that group of crazy drug addicts, thugs, killers and madmen? The historical question remains. I leave aside the question of...

French Filmmaker Takes Own Stab at Bush PARIS (Hollywood Reporter) - When "Fahrenheit 9/11" was selected for the Cannes Film Festival, another documentary about George W. Bush was waiting in the wings in case Michael Moore's film wasn't ready in time. "The organizers were keen to include our film in the Official Selection but felt it was politically incorrect to have two anti-Bush documentaries at Cannes," says Jean-Francois Lepetit, whose Flach Film produced "Le Monde Selon Bush" (The World According to Bush).Directed by seasoned documentary maker William Karel, the 90-minute film could scarcely be more different to Moore's Palme d'Or...

PARIS, June 6: A majority of French and 51 per cent of Americans are opposed to US President George W. Bush winning another four years in the White House, according to an opinion poll in French Sunday newspaper Journal de Dimanche. Eighty four per cent of French people questioned hope Bush will lose the US presidential election in November, as do 51 per cent of their US counterparts, according to the Ipsos poll, which described itself as "a comparative study of opinions on either side of the Atlantic". Sixty-eight percent of French said they were "absolutely opposed" to Bush being...

Ugly American?   On Sunday, when 15 world leaders, including Presidents Jacques Chirac and George W. Bush, gathered on the beaches of Normandy to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Allied landings, it was hard to find a festive mood anywhere in Europe. Yet 3,000 U.S. soldiers died on D-Day and more than 400,000 Americans were killed in World War II. Their sacrifice made it possible for Europeans to celebrate the peaceful unification of Europe under the blue flag of liberty four weeks ago. Had it not been for the Allies and the United States, the unification of Europe would...

LONDON, May 8 - Earlier this year, George Osborne, a Conservative member of Parliament, took a straw poll of some legislators from his party. The subject was President Bush. The results were not pretty. "George Bush scares the hell out of me," one Tory said, according to an article by Mr. Osborne in The Spectator. Another told him: "Bush is a man who might wail at the moon. I don't feel comfortable with him." A third said that while he would vote for Bush in November if he could, "I think Anglo-American relations would be better if Kerry won." That...

Only the Moderates [Conservatives] want president Bush to be reelected accoring to an opinion poll by Svenska Dagbladet (SvD). All members of Parliament were asked the question who would you like to have elected as the president of the United States in November? A total of 75% of the MPs took part in the poll. Result: Bush 10.2%, Kerry 80.3%, Don’t know: 9.5% Moderats (Conservatives): Bush 58.8%, Kerry 8.8%, Don’t know: 32.4% (Total answers: 62%) Christian Democrats: Bush 29.2%, Kerry 37.5%, Don’t know: 33.3% (Total answers: 73%) Centre Party: Bush 0%, Kerry 90%, Don’t know: 10% (Total answers: 91%) The...

An ominously off-balance White House finally seems to have found a bit of traction in taking John Kerry to task for claiming that many foreign leaders are hoping he ousts President Bush from the White House this November. White House surrogates have spent several days pressing Sen. Kerry (D-Mass.) to name names. And yesterday, White House press secretary Scott McClellan upped the ante by claiming Kerry was lying. “Either [Kerry] is straightforward and states who they are, or the only conclusion one can draw is that he is making it up to attack the president,” McClellan intoned. Late Monday, Boston...