September 06, 2005

Unofficial Poll...Subject: Europe

Lately weÃ•ve been hearing a lot from the American Left regarding the Ã’inept handlingÃ“ of Hurricane KatrinaÃ•s aftermath by the Bush administration. ItÃ•s unfortunate, but true, the latest in a long string of petty attacks on the current occupant of the White House.

Similarly, the Europeans have been quick to jump on the Ã’criticize Bush and AmericaÃ“ bandwagon, but this is nothing new either. ItÃ•s just another excuse for them to talk about how awful Bush is (and Americans in general), and they put an imaginary feather in their caps for being (in their view) more civilized than the brutish American colonialsÃ‰for indeed, I believe that is still how they view us, even after nearly 300 years of independence.

Earlier this year, NY Times reporter Thomas L. Friedman created a documentary entitled, Ã’Does Europe Hate Us?Ã“ that aired on the Discovery-Times Channel. He spoke with people all over France, Germany and England, and many of them said they either hated George W. Bush, the American people, or both. Here are quotes from two of his subjects: "We miss the America that made us dream," opines a young French woman. "We have to wait four years for someone else to give us back the country we knew and liked," says a German man.

I have two questions that I am hoping you will take the time to truthfully answer. They are yes/no questions, but feel free to add any commentary you desire. I would request also that you not answer in the comments field, but e-mail me at blogmeisterusa@gmail.com. I promise to update on the poll frequently, and will close the poll on 9/17. Please forward the poll questions to anyone you think would be interested in responding, as IÃ•d like to get as many answers as possible.

Here are the questions:

*Are you surprised at the level of animosity directed at the US from Europeans and others around the world?