Obama's New Global Vision: It's Beginning to Happen

Amy Sullivan was asking for an Obama "catch-phrase". I like this one to describe Obama's foreign policy.
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"Assimilation of all countries into a World Socialist government".
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Everybody sing!!!!
"[Chorus]
We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving
There's a choice we're making
We're saving our own lives
It's true we'll make a better day
Just you and me
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Now you know. Obama is a Michael Jackson fan, and his foreign policy is based on the "We Are the People" song.

During the campaign critics were saying "there's no way he can do all this!"
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Now they're saying "I can't believe he's doing all this!"
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It's amazing what you can accomplish by setting bellicosity aside and forming honest partnerships based on trust and respect.
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I like Obama and think he's great, but he's just got common sense. Not to be too simplistic, but it really is, the neo-con FoPo is just foolish. "My way or the highway" I'm glad we've shown them the highway.
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I do thank you for posting it though Scherer, but not everybody is surprised.

MS... good work. This is exactly it. You address the substance, and utterly ignore spin, perception, and all the rest of the nonsense. Stay on it and we'll all be fine...

Hey rusty, "We Are the World" - not a Michael Jackson song. He helped write it, but it's technically the charitable single by "USA for Africa".

If you're gonna be derisive, get the facts right.

I wrote yesterday about an exchange with a Chinese journalist, who remarked that the President's response was evident based on the giving of preferential treatment to anglo journalists in the conference. Clearly, this journalist was responding from a frame of reference where America is supreme and that other non-white actors are less than, despite their accomplishments. This is a frame that most African Americans understand and therefore the president was able to recognize the indignity that results from this frame and respond in a manner, that while not directly addressing the statement, paid the extra attention, put in additional effort to make the exchange that much more important and in so doing restored a sense of equality and allowed the journo to retain his dignity.
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This is not something that would have happened with a Bush or McCain presidency and I am confident that in a country like China where dignity is supremely important, the home audience has a perspective of this new President that will bode well in the future.
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Just as I believe that recent grumbling from China about borrowing and global currency and such is a direct result of feeling that despite their accomplishments they were being treated as a second-class country, inferior to white majority countries and not being looked upon as an equal partner on the world stage. Does this exchange strip away all of the perceived slights that have given rise to these perceptions, of course not. However, it does give an example of how the Obama doctrine operating in real time can begin to shape a different perspective.

This is yet another area where Obama's actions are finally starting to shine through the fog of relentless stupidity.
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A party and a president who adapts a policy of making enemies of our oldest and most traditional allies - Europe* - is no real party and no real president.
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I thank my maker every day that the sun finally rose to chase that foul brood of roaches back into the woodwork where they belong.
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Our previous president is known for harfing at dinners, gaffing at public functions, made a fine target for shoes and brickbats, and nothing more.
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To them, good riddance and I'll see you in Hell.
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Let the real real America shine!

President Obama is lifted further in admiration by his wife - the new Princess Diana. ................

http://thefiresidepost.com/2009/04/03/michelle-obama-the-new-princess-di/

Good point Dee, how he handled that press room actually made me proud to be an American and proud I had a part in electing him. There were several reporters that he made laugh, the female Indian reporter comes to mind, and he seemed to own the stage.
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America is definitely back!

You know?
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I think that one of the reasons Republicans don't like Obama is that eveybody likes him and nobody likes them...

Kind of like a player-hater thing. Sort of.

sieze = cease, Michael. Also - "he said, in prepared remarks read off a teleprompter." If I never hear another word about a teleprompter the rest of my life I will die a happy man.

French President Nicholas Sarkozy, a former ideological ally of both McCain and Bush,
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That's a little unfair to Sarkozy. A French conservative is not the same as an American radical right-winger: He basically endorsed Obama during the GE.
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somepeoplelikeit, I agree that this is mostly just common sense. It's actually funny how surprised everyone is to see an American President behave rationally!

Rose: "That's a little unfair to Sarkozy. A French conservative is not the same as an American radical right-winger: He basically endorsed Obama during the GE."
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This is true; a conservative outside of America is a liberal in America. A conservative in America is a right-wing fringe politician outside of America, usually regarded as either dangerous or absurd.
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It's amazing how much Americans have allowed themselves to get so far off center of the world's political spectrum.

I think an unexpected outcome of Obama's presidency is that by him saying that we want to be a part of the world stage and not it's ruler, that other nations will again look to us as being the world leader and standard bearer.

The world is happy to have a US president that has command of at least one language.

Overall, 56% of voters say they at least somewhat approve of the President's performance so far. Forty-four percent (44%) disapprove. For more data, see Obama By the Numbers and recent demographic highlights. Ratings for Congress are up, but so is the number who say that most members of Congress are corrupt.
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And the French love him. Surprise surprise!
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http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/obama_administration/daily_presidential_tracking_poll

[...] Time's Michael Scherer writes, “Like Bush, McCain believed in something called ‘American exceptionalism,’ which separated the U.S. from the rest of the world, in moral standing, in military power, in economic might, and in the ability to influence other nations…Obama came at the issues of foreign policy from an entirely different direction. While he said his first role as president would be to protect and improve the United States, he placed his country in a larger framework of nations, not above the framework. While McCain spoke about U.S. leadership (what ‘we did for Europe after World War II’), Obama spoke about collaboration, of a ‘new era of international cooperation,’ of ‘rebuilding our alliances,’ of rejecting ‘a foreign policy that lectures without listening.’ ‘America is strongest when we act alongside strong partners,’ Obama said in a major foreign policy speech last year, in reference to World War II. For McCain, that war showed how America could reshape the world. For Obama, the same conflict showed how America could work with others.” [...]

For those who don't know Rusty, see Nate Silver at 538 on Rasmussen:
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/03/worst-pollster-in-world-strikes-again.html
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Of course, lets not mention the fact that he hates the French, for some reason.
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Obama was entirely correct when he referred to France as "Our First Ally".

Wasn't WWII some of both? America's individual contribution did directly lead to the fall of the axis powers, I mean it's a lot less likely that the Nazis would've been stopped had America not been involved (nice one, Hirohito). And then with America's involvement saw a permanently renewed bond between America and Britain, and then the victory led to NATO, etc. Also, WWII led directly to America's status as a superpower, and eventually the lone one.

53_3, Obama's team has made some gaffes so far (the dvds and that reset button) but I guess I'd take those any day over seeing my country's president try to back rub a world leader and be fiercely rebuked. Giving southern hospitality is alright in the South, NOT in a global setting. Bush never seemed to get that. Man, that was bad.

And a lot of the reason for Republicans I agree has to do with them feeling bitter about the world's perception. The player-haters thing also instantly reminded me of that hilarious Chappelle's Show sketch.

53_3
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Just keep letting Republicans hold on to Rasmussen's polls. Its the only one in the country reflecting those numbers and as long as they keep swearing by them they will keep looking up and wondering why they keep getting their ass kicked in elections.

Rusty -

Just a word of caution. Looking only at Rasmussen for your polling data is a rather larger mistake. One could hardly call them a neutral poll.

So for balance Research 2000; Favorable: 67% Unfavorable 30% (this poll tends to lean left while Ras leans right)

Gallup: Favorable 61% Unfavorable 29% (Gallup tends to run neutral) (this job approval)

Pollster.com aggregate numbers: Favorable: 59.9% unfavorable: 33.3% (again job approval

Now as far as just Favorable and Unfavorable

Fox: 62% vs 32%
Gallup: 69% vs 28%

Pollster.com aggregate: 61.7% vs 30.7%

http://pollster.com/

apollyon07:
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"And a lot of the reason for Republicans I agree has to do with them feeling bitter about the world's perception. The player-haters thing also instantly reminded me of that hilarious Chappelle's Show sketch."
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You shouldn't feel bitter about the worlds perception. The footage of the Katrina debacle set the planet on it's ear.
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It's kinda like the Rodney King beating, you see. You can't argue away live coverage with rhetoric, and Republicans have a rather nasty habit of going overboard with it.
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As for WWII, the answer is no. We emerged as the other half of a bipolar world. Neither we nor the Soviet Union wanted to really test each other, so we cannot, other than threoretically, say that we were 'alone at the top'.
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As for what we did in WWII, don't forget that one can only ask for so much 'gratitude' before it becomes onerous. I've never heard any of the European nations express anything other than thanks for what we did then, but we took you thought processes too far when we decided to establish ourselves as their 'boss'.
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People do not like being lead around by the nose, regardless of favors done, and you guys screwed up this aspect of it big time.

'Like Bush, McCain believed in something called "American exceptionalism," ...'
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I wish our politicians would take the time to read Matt Miller's "The Tyranny of Bad Ideas." If we are to move forward, we need to discard some of our outdated legacy.

apollyon07:
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As for Obama's gaffes?
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There will always be gaffes. They don't mean a thing, usually.
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I would be a little ruthless if I said GW's were worse than Obamas, but I don't see how that could be avoided.
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Even then, though, it's not really the meat of the issue:
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You have Katrina, Iraq, 'with us or against us' as policy, wanton trampling of the Constitution, fomenting of hatred (on tape, even McCain felt it went to far), and an endless list of other indicators that show just how lowsy the Republicans and GWB were during their reign.
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Rove wasn't nicknamed 'turdblossom' for nothing, and lets not get in to the rampant corruption, which many of you GOP types characterize as 'free enterprise in action'.
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Even Rush Limbaugh supports what the CEOs did! How bad is that.
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In summary, I do not see how a sane American could ever see Republican ideology as viable.