Free Republic

Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, grabbed European headlines on Thursday with the focus either on her ideology or her gender. “The Republicans hope to have found their Obama,” opined Le Monde, the left-of-centre French daily, following the mother of five’s rousing speech to the Republican convention on Wednesday. In Germany, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung greeted ”the rage from Wasilla [her home town]” as a woman who presented ”herself as a ”herself as a pugnacious and self-confident politician” The French media provided full coverage of the pregnancy of her teenage daughter (treatment they would be reluctant to apply to their...

Palin intrigues Chinese public By Geoff Dyer in Beijing Published: September 4 2008 07:00 | Last updated: September 4 2008 07:00 Sarah Palin’s speech to the Republican National Convention may have received little attention in China, but the news of her choice as John McCain’s running mate has attracted considerable interest. While Chinese media had appeared more curious about Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy than Mr McCain’s, the appearance of Ms Palin on the campaign trail has shifted the focus of coverage. In recent days, Ms Palin has become one of the most popular keywords on Chinese search engines. ”To China,...

When asked in 2007 whether they approved of the job performance of the leadership of the United States, strong majorities of self-identified Muslims in Sierra Leone, Mali, Senegal, and Guinea said they did approve. In Chad, Mauritania, and Niger, Muslim residents' approval is lower (50% in each of the three Sahelian countries approve of U.S. leadership). But it is still higher than the median 13% approval rating across 11 countries surveyed in the MENA region in 2007. Within the region, approval ratings range from 7% in the United Arab Emirates and 9% in Saudi Arabia to 55% in Morocco. Among...

On August 25 Patrick Donahue of Bloomberg breathlessly informed us that a recent poll showed that Germans love Barack Obama. In a week where Obama's soft polling numbers with Americans who will do the actual voting, you'd be excused if you wondered who cared, but apparently Bloomberg thinks this Obama puffing "news" is worth reporting. It's more reason to be suspicious that the Old Media is in the tank for Barack Obama, in any case. This particular Bloomberg story has little substance and is centered on a population that cannot even vote for Obama in the first place. Interestingly, however,...

How do Muslims see Barack Obama? They have three choices: either as he presents himself, as one who has "never been a Muslim" and has "always been a Christian"; or as a fellow Muslim; or as an apostate from Islam. Reports suggests that while Americans generally view the Democratic candidate having had no religion before converting at Rev. Jeremiah Wrights's hands at 27, Muslims the world over rarely see him as Christian but usually as either Muslim or ex-Muslim. Lee Smith of the Hudson Institute explains why: "Barack Obama's father was Muslim and therefore, according to Islamic law, so is...

PARIS - The United States, Georgia’s strongest ally and military trainer, on Sunday warned Russia to end aggression in the Caucasus or face a diplomatic head-to-head with Washington. The unspecified threat came as UN observers in Georgia confirmed that a military airport near Tbilisi was bombed and another former Soviet satellite state in Poland, a major US ally which is already a Nato partner, called for an EU stabilisation force to be sent in. “We have made it clear to the Russians that if the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, that this will have a significant...

World leaders have condemned Russia’s attacks in South Ossetia, warning Moscow that failure to withdraw risks damaging international relations. The White House said Russia’s military action in the Georgia was “dangerous and disproportionate” and that any further escalation of the conflict could harm bilateral ties. “We have made it clear to the Russians that this will have a significant long term impact on US-Russian relations,” Jim Jeffrey, deputy National Security Adviser, said. In Britain, a spokesman for Gordon Brown said: "We are urging an immediate ceasefire to the fighting in South Ossetia and calling for a resumption of direct dialogue...

While to some folks the idea of dual citizenship might seem benign, it can greatly effect a person’s emotional attachment and identification with this country. Emotional attachment and identification with a country contributes greatly to a person’s willingness to make sacrifices and stand in harms way to defend our home, values and ideals. Still, dual citizenship has become acceptable because instead of promoting assimilation, diversity has become the mantra of our public institutions, undermining what traditionally binds us together; the shared values and political beliefs that make us one people… This notion and the idea that there are no consequences...

Wars of Ideas and THE War of Ideas Authored by Dr. Antulio J. Echevarria, II. Added June 12, 2008 Type: Monograph 62 Pages   Cost: Free The author discusses several types of wars of ideas in an effort to achieve a better understanding of what wars of ideas are. That knowledge, in turn, can help inform strategy. It is important to note, for instance, that because ideas are interpreted subjectively, it is not likely that opposing parties will "win" each other over by means of an ideational campaign alone. Hence, physical events, whether intended or incidental, typically play determining...

Europe Fears Obama Might Undercut Progress With Iran By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, June 22, 2008; A14 European officials are increasingly concerned that Sen. Barack Obama's campaign pledge to begin direct talks with Iran on its nuclear program without preconditions could potentially rupture U.S. relations with key European allies early in a potential Obama administration.

The Obama campaign faces a burgeoning problem: the tendency of certain highly-placed Muslims overseas to declare that he is of their faith. The latest to do so is Libya's Qadhafi, in remarks made marking the anniversary of the U.S. air raid on Libya. MEMRI provides this transcript (hat tip: Big Dog) There are elections in America now. Along came a black citizen of Kenyan African origins, a Muslim, who had studied in an Islamic school in Indonesia. His name is Obama. All the people in the Arab and Islamic world and in Africa applauded this man. They welcomed him and...

If the world could vote? What would happen if the world could vote in the US presidential elections? Your vote has been cast. Thank you. Barack Obama 86.7% (3393 votes) John McCain 13.3% (521 votes) Total number of votes: 3914 Countries voted from: 56   Country BarackObama   JohnMcCain Antigua and Barbuda 100%     0% Argentina 100%     0% Austria 50%     50% Australia 94.3%     5.7% Bosnia and Herzegovina 100%     0% Belgium 92.5%     7.5% Brazil 50%     50% Canada 91.7%     8.3% Switzerland 95.7%     4.3% China...

Well, the PEW Research Center just completed its latest "Who Hates America Most" survey, and the results are predictable, according to the International Herald Tribune.

Over the past two years, there has been a noticeable shift in European politics toward the center and right of the political spectrum. It began with conservative electoral victories in Germany and Poland in 2005, and was followed by similar electoral results in Sweden in 2006 and in Finland and France in 2007. This shift has led to a European political environment that is much more amenable to partnering with the United States to address mutual foreign policy challenges. Prior to 2005, European foreign policy efforts were led by France under President Jacques Chirac, a Gaullist who worked tirelessly to...

WASHINGTON — Public opinion in Mexico has turned sharply against the United States over the past decade, and many in America's southern neighbor now hold strongly negative views of President Bush and the candidates vying to replace him, a public opinion survey released Thursday revealed. A Pew Global Attitudes Survey of citizens in Mexico and 23 other countries found that 47 percent of Mexicans have a positive view of the United States, down from 68 percent a decade ago. Nearly half of that decline — 9 percentage points — came since last year, when an anti-immigrant backlash in America inflamed...

WASHINGTON — Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama is far more popular around the world than Republican presidential candidate John McCain, according to a 24-nation poll released Thursday by the Pew Global Attitudes Survey. The Pew study finds that Obama is wildly popular among traditional U.S. allies in Western Europe and Australia, where people have become alienated by American foreign policy during the Bush years. Among the nations polled, Obama was most popular in France and Tanzania, where 84 percent of citizens said they had confidence in his leadership. Other hotbeds of Obama enthusiasm are Germany (82 percent), Australia (80 percent),...

NEW YORK: The popularity of the United States in India has shot up dramatically since 2002, in a period in which Uncle Sam's image took a beating globally, a survey has said. America turned out to be the most popular in India, with its ratings rising up to 71 per cent, up from 54 per cent in the summer of 2002, in the survey conducted by an independent body - the Pew Research Centre - over 16 nations to assess favourabilty ratings of five major countries. Besides, India is the only country outside the US where a majority of people...

In Kenya, they name babies after him and quaff "Senator" brand beer in his honour. Global TV networks camp outside his grandmother's rural home. In Uganda, a town has renamed a street "Obama Boulevard". And in Nigeria, militants even called a brief ceasefire in praise of the US Democratic presidential nominee. "Obama-mania" has been sweeping through Africa all year, but the euphoria hit new heights when he clinched his party's ticket last week to run for the US presidency in November. The positive symbolism of seeing a man with an African father nearing the world's most powerful position is obvious....

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - More than one third of adults in Mexico want Democrat Barack Obama to win this year’s presidential election in the United States, according to a poll by Reforma. 35 per cent of respondents prefer Obama, while 15 per cent would choose Republican John McCain. In addition, 30 per cent of respondents express no preference, and 20 per cent are undecided. McCain has become the presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee in 2008, while Obama clinched the Democratic Party’s nomination on Jun. 3. Since taking office in December 2006, Mexican president Felipe Calderón has waged a frontal...

Iranians Turn Away from Their Own Ruler, and to the US -- On a recent afternoon, while riding a rickety bus down Vali Asr Avenue, Tehran's main thoroughfare, I overheard two women discussing the grim state of Iranian politics. One of them had reached a rather desperate conclusion. "Let the Americans come," she said loudly. "Let them sort things out for us once and for all." Everyone in the women's section of the bus absorbed this casually, and her friend nodded in assent. Although their leaders still call America the "Great Satan," ordinary Iranians' affection for the United States seems...

If citizens of five leading European countries were electing the next U.S. president, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama would be a shoo-in, according to a new poll that also reveals strong views on America's global role. In a survey of some 6,200 people in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia, the senator from Illinois received 52 percent of the vote to just 15 percent for Republican Sen. John McCain. Sen. Hillary Clinton was not listed as an option in the YouGov poll, conducted for the London Daily Telegraph 's Internet site. The biggest gap between the two presumptive candidates was in...

I know Obama is getting record crowds, estimated as high as 75,000 in Portland, OR.  But is curiosity the same thing as support?  Are these massive crowds going to vote en masse? Obama is a draw, but is he selling liberalism like never before or are liberals simply coming out like never before? Given some of his more ludicrous statements one has to wonder how many Americans are ready for his hard core liberal stances: Pitching his message to Oregon’s environmentally-conscious voters, Obama called on the United States to “lead by example” on global warming, and develop new technologies at home which...

Was Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King on the mark last week when he asserted Islamic terrorists would rejoice if Obama becomes the next U.S. president? What do the terrorists think about these policies? Well, journalist, Aaron Klein, recently asked them: Ramadan Adassi, leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades terror group in the West Bank's Anskar refugee camp, pointed to Obama's rise to stardom as "an important success. He won popularity in spite of the Zionists and the conservatives." Abu Hamed, leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades in the northern Gaza Strip, explained the Democrat candidates' anti-war positions "prove that important...

OK, so he did lose the Pennsylvania primary but might Barack Obama be otherwise elected King of the World? Let's imagine that there was one additional presidential primary added to the endless mix that helps determine who will next occupy the White House. It would be an imaginary primary for all those people in the world who cannot vote in American elections because, well, they are foreigners. Let's call it the World Primary. We're not just talking Canada and Mexico here. Sure, they have to live right next to us, so perhaps a few of them should be designated as...

Former President Jimmy Carter continued to express his thinly veiled support for Barack Obama over the weekend during a trip to the Middle East. The Nobel laureate discussed what he called strong support for the Democratic hopeful that he discovered in his travels to Africa and Asia. Carter has not formally endorsed either candidate, although he has suggested that he strongly leans towards supporting the Illinois Senator over rival Hillary Clinton. The man who occupied the White House from 1978 to 1982 said that Obama is the clear favorite in Ghana, Nigeria, and Nepal, and added that “world opinion is...

30pc favour Hillary in Pakistan survey Wednesday, April 16, 2008 News Desk ISLAMABAD: According to a survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, every second Pakistani has a view on American presidential hopefuls with Hillary Clinton on top scoring 30 per cent followed by Barack Obama at 14 per cent and John McCain at 8 per cent. The remaining 48 per cent were unable to give a view, which is quite understandable given the complexities of the American primaries. When asked who would you like to win in the next American elections, only 13 per cent supported the party of President...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eight out of 10 Arabs have an unfavorable view of the United States and only six percent believe the U.S. troop build-up in Iraq in the last year has worked, said a poll of six Arab countries released on Monday. The poll by the University of Maryland and Zogby International, also found most Arabs did not see U.S. foe Iran as a threat and they sympathized more with Hamas in the Palestinian Territories than U.S.-backed Fatah. "There is a growing mistrust and lack of confidence in the United States," said Shibley Telhami, a University of Maryland professor...

If there's one thing the Democrats are certain they can accomplish provided they win in November (and it doesn't matter, for this purpose, which of the two candidates becomes the nominee) it will be the restoration of America's tattered world reputation. Barack Obama has promised that his first priority is to get the United States out of Iraq and "restore our standing in the world." Mrs. Clinton has said that an "urgent task" for the next president is to "restore America's standing in the world." Other Democrats hit this theme over and over again. Sen. Pat Leahy offered the standard...

If there's one thing the Democrats are certain they can accomplish provided they win in November (and it doesn't matter, for this purpose, which of the two candidates becomes the nominee) it will be the restoration of America's tattered world reputation. Barack Obama has promised that his first priority is to get the United States out of Iraq and "restore our standing in the world." Mrs. Clinton has said that an "urgent task" for the next president is to "restore America's standing in the world." Other Democrats hit this theme over and over again. Sen. Pat Leahy offered the standard...

WHEN Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, arrives in Britain this week, he will start the job of presenting a new face of America to Europe. “We need to do a better job on America’s image,” he said, citing the many differences he has had over the years with President George W Bush, from the conduct of the war in Iraq to the importance of climate change. Once he reaches British soil, he intends to adopt a more neutral tone. It is against diplomatic protocol to criticise your country abroad. In any case, McCain is grateful to Bush for...

Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister of France and a longtime humanitarian, diplomatic and political activist on the international scene, says that whoever succeeds President George W. Bush may restore something of the United States' battered image and standing overseas, but that "the magic is over." In a wide-ranging conversation with Roger Cohen of the International Herald Tribune at the launch of a Forum for New Diplomacy in Paris, Kouchner on Tuesday also held out the hope of talking with Hamas, the Palestinian faction that rules the Gaza Strip but has been ostracized by the West and by its Palestinian rival,...

The Strategic Framework of the Balkan Conflict “The interests of the United States are obviously different from those of Europe. We are increasingly coming to the conclusion that the events in the Balkans developed in such a way so that Washington could establish a dominant presence in the region, which was not the case after 1945. We should not lose sight of the fact that it was precisely Germany that started this unfortunate game, championing ethnically-based national states in the region. We should remember that Germany was the first to recognize Slovenia and Croatia. What still remains to be solved...

Europe’s media and left-wing intelligentsia see Barack Obama as the most appealing candidate for the U.S. presidency. He exemplifies what the French leftist magazine Le Nouvel Observateur calls “the America we like.” Most Europeans deny that they’re anti-American; they argue instead that there are two Americas—the good and the bad. Michael Moore is a good American, honored with the Cannes film festival’s highest prize in 2006 for his anti-Bush fantasy documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. Other good Americans include Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Noam Chomsky, Barbra Streisand, and Philip Roth. Charlton Heston and Billy Graham are bad—as bad as McDonald’s—and so, of...

REYNOSA — Carlos Lopez made his choice in the U.S. Democratic presidential primary months ago, but he’ll never have a chance to cast a vote. The 65-year-old optometrist from Monterrey has followed the race avidly from Mexico and thinks a Barack Obama presidency will do the most to improve relations between his country and its northern neighbor. “Hillary’s the old system,” he said while enjoying a recent afternoon lunch in Reynosa’s downtown plaza. “Obama represents a change for Mexico, as much as America.” Lopez is not alone in his ability to recall the names, personalities and platforms of the major...

As Hamas drew Ashkelon into the circle of communities coming under heavy rocket attacks, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and the Foreign Ministry on Thursday began preparing both Israeli and world opinion for the possibility of a large-scale incursion into Gaza. JPost Editor-In-Chief David Horovitz comments on the Gaza escalation Barak, during a series of meetings at the Defense Ministry, said, "We should be prepared for an upswing in hostilities in Gaza. The big ground operation is a reality and it is tangible. We are not eager to embark upon such an operation, but we are not put off by it...

All of us - Asians, Arabs, Europeans and Africans - are subjects of the American empire, whether we like it or not. Which is why it's only fair to ask we be given a say in the election of the man (or woman?) who will rule us from 1600, Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC. And of all the American subjects, no other people deserve this right to elect the US president more than the people of the Middle East and the Muslim world And perhaps more than anyone, it's the people in the Muslim world who want the Obama revolution...

If Barack Obama fulfills the MSM's storyline of Obama the Dragon Slayer, a new theme will surface - Obama the Global Candidate. In his February 11, 2008 article entitled "Obama, the Democratic Nominee? Yes He Can!" Dick Morris unequivocally declared, I believe that Barack Obama will defeat Hillary and win the Democratic nomination. If Morris is right, we should see hints of the next big MSM storyline emerge in the weeks ahead. It could look like this. Obama will be packaged as the Global Candidate to whom the world's poor and oppressed look for signs of hope for the future....

Many in Iran Bear the U.S. No Ill Will February 11, 2008 International Herald Tribune Michael Slackman TEHRAN -- When the shah ruled Iran, the Westernized elite would enjoy Hollywood movies at a small theater in the center of the city. Today, that theater is an Islamic cultural center and a meeting place for fundamentalists. So it was a bit of a surprise that in the gift shop, where everything was infused with a religious theme, the best selling items last week were American children's movies: "Rugrats Go Wild," "Meet the Robinsons" and "The Incredibles." All bootlegged, of course, and...

Respondents also show support for Bhutto's party, distrust of MusharrafISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Sympathy for al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and the Taliban has dropped sharply in Pakistan amid a wave of deadly violence, according to the results of a recent opinion poll.The survey, conducted last month for the U.S.-based Terror Free Tomorrow organization, also identified the party of assassinated opposition leader Benazir Bhutto as the country's most popular ahead of Feb. 18 elections, and said most Pakistanis want President Pervez Musharraf to quit.The poll suggests Pakistanis are looking to peaceful opposition groups after months of political turmoil and a wave...

JAKARTA (Reuters) - The 2008 U.S. presidential election is being watched closely by millions around the world but few are more fired up than Indonesians, who can lay claim to Democratic hopeful Barack Obama as nearly one of their own. In the capital Jakarta where Obama, 46, spent part of his childhood, U.S. expatriates and Indonesians crowded around television sets on Wednesday to watch the results of nominating contests across 24 states thousands of miles away pouring in. At the end of the biggest day of U.S. presidential voting before the November election, Obama won 12 states to Clinton's eight...

Contrary to what some believe, Barak Obama is very much hated by the islamic terrorists. Al-Ekhlaas which is the largest Al Qaeda forum on the internet had a thread yesterday that was full of hate, racism, and racial slurs against Obama . They believe that he will be “another Bush” in term of fighting the terrorists and one member even called him the “N” word. Here are some of the some of the posts: Beginning of the translation: “In allah name I know that he is worse than Bush. Bush does not need the blessing of the Jews because they...

A survey of European media -- Deutsche Welle, for example, implies that if Germans cannot help Americans vote Obama into office, then the US political system itself must be flawed.

Foreign leaders and journalists often joke that the whole world should get to vote in U.S. elections since the outcome affects the entire planet. His recent setback in New Hampshire notwithstanding, an intense scrutiny of Barack Obama is taking place from Buenos Aires to Paris. But what observers and politicians are saying about him is what they are really saying about their own societies. In Europe, one senses a quiet shame. The left, which loves to criticize the Unites States for its imperial foreign policy and its discrimination against blacks and Hispanics, is not really saluting Obama. There have been...

They may not have a vote, but civic-minded people in the Middle East are watching the U.S. presidential race closely, and some have already chosen their favorite candidate. "My favorite is unquestionably Sen. [Barack] Obama. He presents a new face of America to the Middle East, and to the world at large," Hafed Al Ghwell, a Libyan-American with the Dubai School of Government, told ABC News. "I think [Obama] is capable of restoring the image of America as a beacon of democracy," said Fadi Salem, a Syrian engineer, also with the DSG. The Illinios Democrat seems to have captured the...

Interesting internet poll on who the world might elect as the US president, if they could vote.

Istanbul, Turkey - The US has hailed Turkey as moderate Islamic democracy, the kind it would like to see develop elsewhere. It's a key NATO ally, with US aircraft stationed here. Yet, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Ankara Friday to defuse tensions over Kurdish rebels operating in Iraq, she faces a nation that is now the most anti-American in the world, according to one survey. In the meetings with Ms. Rice, and next Monday in Washington with President Bush, Turkey's prime minister is expected to press the US to take steps against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)...

According to a poll, the US was the mostly favourably viewed country even in the Left-ruled states of West Bengal and Kerala (Reuters Photo) NEW DELHI: Indians, cutting across states and socio-economic status, have more 'warm' feelings for the United States than any other country, according to an extensive survey done by a team led by a US-based political scientist of Indian origin. The survey, which polled over 2 lakh respondents, found that of those who expressed an opinion the warmth towards the US was the maximum followed by Japan, Russia and China. The three other countries about which the...

THERE is widespread global concern that the US cannot be trusted to act responsibly in the world, according to a multinational poll released today. But while there is broad international frustration with how the United States conducts its foreign policy, few people around the world wanted the US to completely back off its role as a global policeman, the poll found. "There's clearly a trend in terms of deepening negative attitudes to the US in how it executes foreign policy,'' said Christopher Whitney, executive director for studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs which helped co-ordinate the 18-country study....

LONDON, Jan. 23 -- Global opinion of U.S. foreign policy has sharply deteriorated in the past two years, according to a BBC poll released on the eve of President Bush's annual State of the Union address. Nearly three-quarters of those polled in 25 countries disapprove of U.S. policies toward Iraq, and more than two-thirds said the U.S. military presence in the Middle East does more harm than good. Nearly half of those polled in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East said the United States is now playing a mainly negative role in the world. More than 26,000...

Just About the Dumbest Thing I’ve Ever Read smalldeadanimals.com 21 September 2006 In its attempt to sway, manipulate, and form world opinion to fit with editorial boards, the MSM now has a new tool: World Opinion Polls. In case you missed that, I’ll rephrase it. The MSM now conducts WORLD opinion polls so that we can be enlightened by knowing what the world thinks. The concept is so flawed that I won’t insult the intelligence of readers here by even bothering to debunk it, but I will say this. What does it say of news media editorial boards, when...