From deep in the heart of Blue America, Inauguration Day lamentations

[whometense]

Dan Kennedy of the Boston Phoenix blogs the inaguration.

Really good writer, but for those who aren't interested in the rest, here's the Kerry bit:

Indecent disrespect. There’s a lovely phrase in the opening to the Declaration of Independence that I think gets at much of what is wrong with Bush’s presidency. Thomas Jefferson writes that "a decent respect to the opinions of mankind" compels him and his fellow revolutionaries to explain why they are separating themselves from the British monarchy.

During the presidential debates, John Kerry made this very point, saying that when a president takes military action, "you’ve got to do it in a way that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people, understand fully why you’re doing what you’re doing, and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."

A decent respect to the opinions of mankind, in other words. But Bush and his allies on the right sneered and smirked, accusing Kerry of sucking up to the French. Bush twisted Kerry’s quote around into a cheap applause line: "America will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our people." That’s not what Kerry said, but never mind.

Today the Guardian reported on the results of a BBC poll of 22,000 people in 21 countries that revealed deep distrust of the United States under Bush, and that suggested negative opinions of the White House are beginning to harden into negative opinions about the American people as well. According to the poll, 58 percent said they "expected Bush to have a negative impact on peace and security," as opposed to just 26 percent who "considered him a positive force." The countries were a disparate bunch, ranging from Turkey and Brazil to Germany and France...

[ginnyinWI]

1. sad but true. It was the most important election of our lifetime. n/t

[Pirate Smile]

2. This reminds me of Friedman's NYT Op-ed today.

-snip-
"Let me put this as bluntly as I can: There is nothing that the Europeans want to hear from George Bush, there is nothing that they will listen to from George Bush that will change their minds about him or the Iraq war or U.S. foreign policy. Mr. Bush is more widely and deeply disliked in Europe than any U.S. president in history. Some people here must have a good thing to say about him, but I haven't met them yet.

-snip-
Listening is also a sign of respect. It is a sign that you actually value what the other person might have to say. If you just listen to someone first, it is amazing how much they will listen to you back. Most Europeans, though, are convinced that George Bush is deaf - that he cannot listen or hear. Just proving that he is not deaf, and therefore the Europeans don't have to shout, would do wonders for Mr. Bush's standing.

What would Mr. Bush hear? Some of it is classic Eurowhining, easily dismissible. But some of it is very heartfelt, even touching. I heard it while doing interviews at the Pony Club, a trendy bar/beauty parlor in East Berlin. And more and more I think it explains why many Europeans dislike Mr. Bush so intensely. It's this: Europeans love to make fun of naïve American optimism, but deep down, they envy it and they want America to be that open, foreigner-embracing, carefree, goofily enthusiastic place that cynical old Europe can never be. Many young Europeans blame Mr. Bush for making America, since 9/11, into a strange new land that exports fear more than hope, and has become dark and brooding - a place whose greeting to visitors has gone from "Give me your tired, your poor" to "Give me your fingerprints." They look at Mr. Bush as someone who stole something precious from them.

Tim Kreutzfeldt, the bar owner, said to me: "Bush took away our America. I mean we love America. We are very sad about America. We believe in America and American values, but not in Bush. And it makes us angry that he distorted our image of the country which is so important to us. It is not what America stands for - and this makes us angry and it should make every American angry, because America lost so much in its reputation worldwide." The Bush team, he added, is giving everyone in the world the impression that "somebody is coming to kill you."

Stefan Elfenbein, a food critic nursing a beer at our table, added: "I know many people who don't want to travel to America anymore. ... People are afraid to be hassled at the border. ... We all discuss it, when somebody goes to America 'Are you sure?' We had hope that Kerry would win and would make a statement, 'America is back to what it was four years ago.' We hoped that he would be the symbol, the figure who would say, ' is the country that welcomes everybody again.' now we have to wait four more years, hopefully for somebody to give us back the country we knew and liked."
-snip-

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/27/opinion/27fried.html?hp

[whometense]

3. That's interesting...

I haven't seen today's Times yet, but it's been a while since Friedman wrote anything I wanted to read.

That said, whenever I see * on TV I turn it off or change the channel. The reason? There is nothing I want to hear from him either.

I'm sure this is all true, and Iraq, the environment, and everything else aside, was the single greatest reason I wanted Kerry to win - to prove to the world we're not the ignorant boors * makes us look to be.

[Pirate Smile]

4. Right. There is absolutely nothing Bush could ever say that would

change anything.

Actually, I think this is why Rove went for expanding the base instead of reaching out to the middle.

They knew that the people (Dems and Independents) who already have a negative view of Bush were completely out of reach.

They had to drive up Kerry's negatives and inflame their base with hatred and fear of him. If there is one thing they are good at it is spreading hate and fear. "He'll outlaw the bible and make everybody gay, even you!"