While researching a piece on Obama’s popularity, I came across a website called The World Wants Obama. Their signature post reads in part:
Although Americans have done many positive things around the world, the US government – once the champion of anti-colonialism and self-determination – has often appeared to be an arrogant bully, waging war and pursuing its own interests at the expense of others. President Bush has taken this to extremes, but the general policy was little better under his predecessors; for example, Bill Clinton imposed economic sanctions on Iraq for all eight years of his presidency, against the wishes of the vast majority of UN countries, causing the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children.
…
We want an America that lives up to the principles it preaches, listens rather than lectures, conserves rather than consumes, makes peace rather than war and uses its influence positively in the world.
Interestingly, there hasn’t been a new post on the site since July.
Can’t understand why that might be so:
Cuba’s foreign minister called President Barack Obama an “imperial and arrogant” liar Monday for his conduct at the U.N. climate conference, a reflection of the communist island’s increasingly fiery verbal attacks on the U.S. government.
Bruno Rodriguez spent an hour and a half lambasting Obama’s behavior in Copenhagen, telling a news conference, “at this summit, there was only imperial, arrogant Obama, who does not listen, who imposes his positions and even threatens developing countries.”
He called the summit “a fallacy, a farce” and said Washington used back-room deals and strong-arm tactics to foist on the world a deal that he labeled “undemocratic” and “suicidal” because it urges – but does not require – major polluters to make deeper emissions cuts.
Rodriguez also said Cuba and other poor nations have refused to recognize the agreement because they weren’t permitted to participate in its development.
He singled out comments Obama made during a news conference in Copenhagen, when the U.S. president said no agreement had yet been reached but he was confident one would before the summit ended. “Obama knew he was lying, that he was deceiving public opinion,” the foreign minister said.
Cuba isn’t alone in communicating disdain for The One:
For Brazilian Environment minister Carlos Minc the outcome of the Copenhagen’s Climate Conference was well below Brazil’s expectations. He was particularly disappointed with American president Barack Obama’s performance.
“The Nobel Prize is not up to the expectation that the planet’s population places on him,” Minc stated, alluding to the Nobel Peace Prize received this year by the US leader.
In a direct and personal appeal to the president, the Brazilian minister then said, “Obama, do something. Or you will have to bring the Nobel Prize back here.”
Minc said the Brazilian delegation was equally disappointed with Obama’s speech: “We were very frustrated with President Obama’s speech, it seemed like he had nothing to do with it,” the minister complained.
The Brazilian representative said he didn’t like either the way the meeting was run by the Denmark representatives. On Wednesday, December 16, the Danish Environment minister, Connie Hedegaard, resigned as chairman of the conference. Prime minister Loekke Lars Rasmussen took her place.
Leaving the Conference’s plenary at daybreak on Saturday, December 19, after hours of intense negotiations, Minc, commented he was living one of the saddest days of his life. For him, the COP-15 was “a disappointment,” although it showed “some limited progress.”
At the end, after spending days of discussions with representatives from around the wordd, the Brazilian minister came to the conclusion that the US was the main culprit “for this bad climate,” because Obama showed up in Copenhagen with very modest goals and without “a mandate to negotiate,” since the American Senate hadn’t approved his plan for cutting emission gases.
Obama’s halo has lost its sheen. A sheen many of us recognized as being artificially acquired.
Crossposted(*).
