"As an adviser to Mr Obama noted recently at a transatlantic conference in Washington, the differences for Europe between a first Obama administration and the second Bush Administration will probably be smaller than the differences between the first and the second Bush terms."


Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss...but 100% funkier.

I'll miss Bush, really. Who else is so cartoonily evil and yet bumbling? He's a caricature.

The only changes that have ever been made to benefit the masses come from the people, not politicians. Politicians will take care of their rich friends at the expense of the people as long as they're allowed to.

From what I'm told, there's still plenty of bush in Europe.

Good article.

The Weeners stands out to me:

Why do I have to read a column written by a European journalist (sorry, Gerald, first time reader, stumbled on ya via Drudge) to get a seasoned assessment of what an Obama first term really brings.

Well thought out and well written. Cheers.

Mike Olson, chicago,

American media sucks.

hillbillypharmacist: I'll miss Bush, really. Who else is so cartoonily evil and yet bumbling? He's a caricature.

This. And, he really does have a sense of humor. He's not dry, that's for sure. We'll miss his antics. Cheney, on the other hand...

Oh, and I find the comments in TFA funny:

Why do I have to read a column written by a European journalist (sorry, Gerald, first time reader, stumbled on ya via Drudge) to get a seasoned assessment of what an Obama first term really brings.

Well thought out and well written. Cheers.

Mike Olson, chicago,

Don't look at me, I voted and campaigned for Ron Paul. I'd like to trade with you guys, but tax money shouldn't go to ineffective foreign aid and interventions.

Nigel, Houston, TX, USA

/Ron Paul!
//RON PAUL!!!shift2!

The article contains the word mellifluous.

Nicely played, old chap!

submitter: Europeans are going to miss Bush -- a.k.a. The Boogeyman -- in ways they are only beginning to understand

And I think the same will go for the Democratic Party... without their "arch-enemy" they might actually have to do something, instead of constantly complaining that it's always "Bush's fault" why they can't accomplish more.

/ex-Dem
//non-GOP

Subby: Europeans are going to miss Bush -- a.k.a. The Boogeyman -- in ways they are only beginning to understand

So this means Europeans aren't gay after all?

/got nothing

I think we'll all miss Bush in the same sense that we would miss out favourite superhero's arch-enemy if they wrote him out.

Without him there, fouling everything up, something's just missing...

"He betrayed just a hint of regret about some of the rougher moments in European relations during his presidency, and a surprisingly strong interest in leaving a legacy as a multilateralist and an accomplished diplomat."

bahaha, he's even more delusional than we think he is.

I sincerely doubt it.

i'm sorry, but does the guy ever talk about anything other than souvineers in the article? i didn't get that far

hillbillypharmacist 2008-06-13 12:40:35 PM
I'll miss Bush, really. Who else is so cartoonily evil and yet bumbling? He's a caricature.

Gargamel?

The writer of the article is a hack editorialist specializing in criticizing Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. That's all he's written since day 1.

At Rupert Murdoch's paper, the Times.

British journalism has declined to match the degenerates which increasingly outnumber the normals in its society. In Britain, a tabloid à la World Weekly News is considered a respectable newspaper.

Ugh, I had to stop reading the article because the picture of the chick(??) in the sidebar ("A Don's Life") was so hideous it made me feel queasy.

She kinda looks like Paul McCartney hit repeatedly with the "Uglier" stick. Like something from a very well done horror film.

Global Citizen: i'm sorry, but does the guy ever talk about anything other than souvineers in the article? i didn't get that far

Yea, he said Obama will be just as big a douchebag as Bush. Go back to sleep. We'll wake you after the election.

GreenAdder: From what I'm told, there's still plenty of bush in Europe.

well played sir.

I'm your boogie man! I'm your boogie man!

//Turn me on!

We won't know until he's gone. Frankly, I can't wait to find out.

make me some tea: The Weeners stands out to me:

heh.

The Euro-hipsters will just go back to complaining about American cultural hegemony.

/miss my sub to Private Eye
//especially the Pseuds column

RocketRod: And I think the same will go for the Democratic Party... without their "arch-enemy" they might actually have to do something, instead of constantly complaining that it's always "Bush's fault" why they can't accomplish more.

I think it's funny that some people are so completely deflated they have to complain about things in the possible future. How about we just wait and see, huh, pissy pants?

Ah yes, this is far preferable to missing the guy we named as our leader for the past eight years because they... I dunno... Liked him and thought he did a good job.

Craptastic: make me some tea: The Weeners stands out to me:

heh.

what word triggers weeners in the filter...

They'll get over it.

Who are they (and we, for that matter) going to blame stuff on now?

antoniojvr Quote 2008-06-13 03:54:57 PM
www.neoconnews.com

Well I don't think it's millions tbh
Closer to 90,000 I'd say.

antoniojvr



"Barack Derangement Syndrome" anyone?

pxlboy: Craptastic: make me some tea: The Weeners stands out to me:

heh.

what word triggers weeners in the filter...

found it.

/dumb

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/gerard_baker/
Have a look at this journalists articles and see if you spot a trend.

submitter: Europeans are going to miss Bush -- a.k.a. The Boogeyman -- in ways they are only beginning to understand

Err, no.

not being able to blame climate change on US greed and intransigence any more might pose problems for Europeans

??? There are already Europe-wide climate change commitments. Unless Obama arrives at the first conference with a cry of 'let's all go nuclear tomorrow' he's hardly going to embarrass us.

He is certainly going to want more European effort in Afghanistan.

Without going back to the UN he'll continue to get Britain's involvement, but nothing else. Same old same old.

He is promising to start a new US-led diplomatic track with the Iranian leadership that could upset the delicate balancing act painstakingly constructed between the US, the EU, Russia and China.

Say what now ? Brown, Sarkozy, and Merkel have all already suggested a more softly softly approach to Iran-US diplomacy than Bush's all guns blazing efforts.

And when it comes to free trade he, like the Democratic Party, is decidedly not keen on being nice to foreigners.

That probably is true. It's debatable how much it matters, major European exporters already have US plants (BMW is one obvious example) which are not going to be hit by trade barriers, and have you noticed the state of your currency recently ?

[Bush expressed] a surprisingly strong interest in leaving a legacy as a multilateralist and an accomplished diplomat

Dear God.

h to the 'ojo: In Britain, a tabloid à la World Weekly News is considered a respectable newspaper.

By whom ?

FarkinNortherner:
h to the 'ojo: In Britain, a tabloid à la World Weekly News is considered a respectable newspaper.

By whom ?

yobs, chavs, essex, people over age 45

The rest of the world, OTOH, will have a immense weight lifted off its chest.

The author of this piece is quite the pessimist.

lunarworks: I think we'll all miss Bush in the same sense that we would miss out favourite superhero's arch-enemy if they wrote him out.

Without him there, fouling everything up, something's just missing...

Yeah, like Europe is going to all of a sudden get cozy with the idea of assuming any responsibility for improving things in their own backyard, instead of whining "B-b-but Bush! B-b-but America!"

I'm not a Republican, I'm just sick of the constant sniping against America...good president, bad president, we're your favorite pissing post. Get bent.

Eh. Nothing will change, the Europeans will still despise the US, but if the Obamamessiah is president, it will be because of his naivety and inexperience. European pols never seem to lack for a reason to dislike the US.

Mr Obama will say more congenial things about global warming, Guantanamo Bay and the treatment of detainees (as will Mr McCain).

Didn't McCain just say today that the Supreme Court's ruling on detainees' habeas corpus was one of the worst in history? I think Mr. British Conservative is understating real political differences.

Brainwash: "He betrayed just a hint of regret about some of the rougher moments in European relations during his presidency, and a surprisingly strong interest in leaving a legacy as a multilateralist and an accomplished diplomat."

bahaha, he's even more delusional than we think he is.


Damn! There I was with the quote already cut & copied and ready to be pasted. So there I am, scrolling down to the bottom and getting ready to enter my pithy little comment.

And then I got Brainwashed. Even down to the "delusional" bit.

wankers

Well lets hope this negative asshole is wrong.

Annnnd, after starting out reasonably, this quickly becomes yet another Bush apologist article. Guess the writer had to get in one last blowjob.

This whole essay seems written to inflame the xenophobic tendencies of right-wingers.

No substance, just troll bait.

reference:
World's Top 100 newspapers
The Sun, News of the World,
Rank Newspaper NameCountryCirculation (000)

7.News of the WorldUK3,516
8.The SunUK3,149

14.The Daily MailUK2,390

16.The Mail on SundayUK2,342

30.Daily MirrorUK1,634

33.Sunday MirrorUK1,450

40.The Sunday TimesUK1,303

62.The Daily TelegraphUK900

69.Daily ExpressUK845

75.Sunday ExpressUK809

80.Daily StarUK786

99.The Sunday TelegraphUK665
100.The TimesUK66

Oh yeah, very intellectual


What happened was people depended on the BBC for news and so almost everyone else went low-brow.

For a nation of 60 MM + expats, there is the Guardian on the left and the Financial Times on the right -- but at least 10% of the country subscribes to World Weekly News equivalents or ~ 1/3rd of households

I_C_Weener: "As an adviser to Mr Obama noted recently at a transatlantic conference in Washington, the differences for Europe between a first Obama administration and the second Bush Administration will probably be smaller than the differences between the first and the second Bush terms."


Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss...but 100% funkier.



All you world leaders, line up for your Obama backrubs.

As I've been saying for months.

Ignoring Presidential personalities, it's been pretty much inevitable since the end of the Cold War that the US would eventually start pursuing more insular policies. Which means that Europe, Japan, etc. will find themselves in the hot seat in terms of dealing with some of the problems that are coming down the pike.

One of the reasons that Osama bin Laden is one of the stupidest bastards on the planet is that he delayed the US withdrawal by about half a generation -- which might have been just long enough to frustrate the latest surge of Islamic radicalism.

FarkinNortherner: submitter: Europeans are going to miss Bush -- a.k.a. The Boogeyman -- in ways they are only beginning to understand

Err, no.

not being able to blame climate change on US greed and intransigence any more might pose problems for Europeans

??? There are already Europe-wide climate change commitments. Unless Obama arrives at the first conference with a cry of 'let's all go nuclear tomorrow' he's hardly going to embarrass us.

He is certainly going to want more European effort in Afghanistan.

Without going back to the UN he'll continue to get Britain's involvement, but nothing else. Same old same old.

He is promising to start a new US-led diplomatic track with the Iranian leadership that could upset the delicate balancing act painstakingly constructed between the US, the EU, Russia and China.

Say what now ? Brown, Sarkozy, and Merkel have all already suggested a more softly softly approach to Iran-US diplomacy than Bush's all guns blazing efforts.

And when it comes to free trade he, like the Democratic Party, is decidedly not keen on being nice to foreigners.

That probably is true. It's debatable how much it matters, major European exporters already have US plants (BMW is one obvious example) which are not going to be hit by trade barriers, and have you noticed the state of your currency recently ?

[Bush expressed] a surprisingly strong interest in leaving a legacy as a multilateralist and an accomplished diplomat

Dear God.

h to the 'ojo: In Britain, a tabloid à la World Weekly News is considered a respectable newspaper.

By whom ?

Actually Afghanistan is NATO thing not a UN one. You cannot even get the UN to do anythig serious aboutthe the Dadfurmuchless take on Al Qaeda nd the Taliban. Among our NATO "allies" some of them wil send troops but will nto allow then to engage in combat. For example Germany sends aircrft but they are not alowed to bomb anything, at least France is not so timid.

On Iran Obama is not going to get any furhter with his talking to/sanctions approach. Iran is one of Germany's largest trading parrtners and they are sitl recovering form a severe recession that gave them their highest unmeployment since WWII. and Obama certainly is not going get Russia or China to agree to anything about Iran. Iran will change because of the internal politics. Things there are bad and getting worse. They cannot even benefit from the highprice of oil because their oil industry is such sad dahpe they have to import fuel and it is not any chepaer for them than for us.

Obama will repackage foreign policy but will not change it much.

savage_world: One of the reasons that Osama bin Laden is one of the stupidest bastards on the planet is that he delayed the US withdrawal by about half a generation -- which might have been just long enough to frustrate the latest surge of Islamic radicalism.

Uh, delaying US withdrawal is what OBL wants. Otherwise, how will he find enough angry folks to fund his international coalition of discontent?

He causes problems, lets the sovereign nations take the heat, and reaps in the profit of dissatisfied muslims who are resentful of US power.

It's not a mistake, it's his plan. We just fall for it.