AMERICA IS NOT BUSH: THE DAMAGE THE PRESIDENT HAS DONE TO OUR COUNTRY'S
REPUTATION CAN BE REBUILT -- BY THOSE WHO UPHOLD OUR FOUNDING FATHERS' IDEALS -
SIDNEY BLUMENTHAL (SALON, MAY 31): Public diplomacy is not about meeting and
greeting, working the rope line, shaking hands or kissing babies. It is not a
political campaign. And it is not about convincing Muslim peoples that we too
are monotheistic. Public diplomacy rests on policy, and to begin with, the
policy must be sound. America can begin to recover its reputation in the world
only through self-recovery.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/20...licy/print.html

A very worthwhile read and it is also the case that, "America" is not really America but is the
United States of America. The US prempted the generic america and equated it to USA, prety much in disregard of how Persons in other American Countries thought or felt about that. So
we start off a step behind when trying to build a mutually satisfying and satisfactory relationship with them but our survival and thrival depends on doing so.

Say it ain't so! Bush not America? Ya mean we've been "Bushwacked"?

And, incredibly, many foreigners (including middle-easterners) who detest American foreign policy still LOVE Americans and would love the chance to BE Americans.

There is still hope.

Very True and yet our leadership in the Democratic Party acts like they think it is sufficient
to be Not Bush or Bush Lite. What is the Program on which a Democratic Party Campaign
can be based?

As jeffmoskin states, yes, it is incredible that so many foreigners still love America. IMO this speaks more to the actions of their own governments and to the good reputation of the United States of America which still lingers even though the U.S. of today is unlike the U.S. most of us.grew up in. The " top man " in most countries has so much power, it shapes the way the people regard the country to some extent, but people can and do remember the real United States and all the good things it once stood for. We all know that Bush is largely hated by the people around the world, yet as jeff moskin says, they would still like to be here.

A.B.



Politicians are politicians. A very good question by Ria - What is the Program on which a Democratic Party Campaign
can be based?

They are going to do the same thing they did before the last presidential election - pretend to be different from Bush and hope that will be enough. ( It may be ) If Bush is able to make some good news, whether by design or by good luck, he could surprise the quavering, take no chances Democrat party, who are closer to being the same as the Republicans as than being different. The American people have made their desires known concerning Iraq and on Immigration. The question is: Why does the Congress which is elected to respect the wishes of the people, look the other way? - Aside from a very few.

A.B.

Because they know the people (supposedly) voted for Bush twice maybe?

Yeah, maybe.

But enough people really DID vote for that idiot to make it close enough for Rove to steal.

"HOW CAN 59 MILLION PEOPLE BE SO STUPID?"

November 3 Headline, Daily Mirror, London newspaper

Ohio Lt. Governor has just done the sort of thing the Republicans pray for. The following article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer exposes a move made by Lt. Governor Lee Fisher which the Repubs. can and probably will exploit in their desire to show how corrupt the Dems. are.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Once a Political Hack...
Is this any sort of record for taking advantage of a political patronage job?

Lt. Governor Lee Fisher hired Frankie Coleman, the wife of Columbus Mayor Mike Coleman in February to work as an assistant manager in the work force development unit of the Development Department. The job pays $70,000/year and no one else was even interviewed for the job.

That's fine, she and everyone else seemed to be in on the fact that her job was a bit nebulous in actual duties.

Soon after she got the job in February, however, Coleman indicated in e-mails to co-workers that she did not know what she was hired to do.

"I do not have a defined job description, so I'm not sure exactly what I will be doing," she wrote on March 2.

Then on March 26, when a co-worker asked about creating business cards for Coleman, she responded: "I was trying to find out what the heck my job title was before I requested cards. . . . Maybe I will just get cards with my name and numbers and 'No title.' "