Most See Trump As A Force For Bad And Untrustworthy

 

These charts are from a YouGov Poll -- done between July 1st and 17th of adults in the U.K. (2340), Australia (2003), Canada (2057), France (2109), Germany (2079), Poland (2098), and the U.S. (2039).

U.S., U.K., France & Germany Public Want Economic Reform

The charts above are from the Pew Research Center. They come from a survey done in November and December of 2020 of about 1,000 adults in each of these countries -- United States, United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The margin of error is around 3.7 points.

French-German-U.K. Opinion Of U.S. Rises Sharply With Biden

 

The charts above are from the Pew Research Center. They did a survey in the last months of 2020 among the people of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom. It shows that the public opinion of U.S. leadership, which had dropped sharply while Trump was in office, has rebounded to the levels it was when Obama was in office. A huge portion of the public in those countries expect things to be much better under President Biden. 

Americans & Germans See Their Relationship Very Differently

 

Germany has been a reliable ally of the United States for decades, but it looks like Donald Trump has seriously damaged that relationship. Americans still see the relationship between the two country as a very good one. Germany sees it very differently. After four years of Trump, they no longer trust the United States.

Can Biden cure this rift between the two countries? He will make it better almost immediately, but he probably won't be able to restore the pre-Trump relationship in only four years. It will remain in German minds that there is a possibility that the U.S. will return to Trumpism four years from now. That will make them very cautious in dealing with the United States.

The charts above are from a survey of Americans and Germans by the Pew Research Center. The Pew Research Center surveyed 1,007 Americans between September 22nd and 28th with a 3.7 point margin of error. Korber-Siftung surveyed 1,005 Germans between September 10th and 17th.

The Fire Devil

The following is just part of an excellent op-ed by Roger Cohen in The New York Times:

No people has found the American lurch toward authoritarianism under President Trump more alarming than the Germans. For postwar Germany, the United States was savior, protector and liberal democratic model. Now, Germans, in shock, speak of the “American catastrophe.”

A recent cover of the weekly magazine Der Spiegel portrays Trump in the Oval Office holding a lighted match, with a country ablaze visible through his window. The headline: “Der Feuerteufel,” or, literally, “the Fire Devil.”

Germans have a particular relationship to fire. The Reichstag fire of 1933 enabled Hitler and the Nazis to scrap the fragile Weimar democracy that had brought them to power. Hitler’s murderous fantasies could now become reality. War, Auschwitz and the German catastrophe followed. . . .

From the deployment of those federal units in Portland, Oregon’s largest city, where protesters have been demanding racial justice and police accountability, it’s not a huge leap to the use of paramilitaries (like the German Freikorps in the 1920s) to buttress a “Law and Order” campaign. The Freikorps battled communists. Today, Trump claims to battle “anarchists,” “terrorists” and violent leftists. It’s the leitmotif of his quest for a second term. . . .

In wartime, the Third Geneva Convention, to which the United States is a party, requires even irregular forces to wear “a fixed distinctive sign recognizable at a distance.” This is critical not only to protecting civilians but also to ensuring accountability for misconduct.

When paramilitary-style units have no identifying insignia, there is no transparency, no accountability — and that means impunity. Democracy dies. Think of all this as setting the scene for Trump’s own “state of emergency” if he does not like the November election result. Social media is combustible enough for a physical fire to be unnecessary.

The president says he wants to protect law-abiding citizens. In 1933, after the Reichstag burned, Hitler issued the “Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of People and State” as his means to seize power.

German horror at Trump has many components. He’s the fear-mongering showman wielding nationalism, racism and violence as if the 20th century held no lessons. He’s the would-be destroyer of the multilateral institutions that brought European peace and made it possible for Germans to raise their bowed heads again. He is a fascist in the making.

Germans Fear Trump More Than World's Worst Dictators

This chart should trouble all Americans. The YouGov Poll asked 2,000 German citizens which world leaders they feared the most. Donald Trump won hands down. About 41% of Germans feared Trump the most. In fact, more feared Trump than the other four (all dictators) combined.

This is from a country that for the last few decades has been one of the best allies of the United States. It shows how much Trump has damaged this country, when Trump is feared more than the leaders of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.

We MUST vote him out of office next November!

The British Government Knows Trump Is Incompetent

The French and German governments have made no secret of their disdain for Donald Trump and his administration. They consider him to be an incompetent boob, who doesn't understand (or care) about international economics or politics, and is someone who can';t be trusted.

The British government has been a little more circumspect. They are already in a lot of trouble with their leaving the European Union, and they can't afford to antagonize the United States right now. But that doesn't mean they can't see the same truth that the French and Germans have seen.

The British know that Trump and his entire administration are incompetent. And they also know that it's not going to get any better -- Trump is not going to grow into the job, as other presidents have done.

An excellent assessment of what the British really think is to be found in this article in The Daily Mail. It worth a read.

Trump Continues His Attacks On NATO

(Cartoon image is by Matt Wuerker at Politico.com.)

Article 5 of the charter of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) says if any member nation is attacked, it will be considered an attack on all of them, and they will all respond to that attack. This article has only been invoked one time in the history of NATO -- after the terrorist attack on New York City on 9/11. All the NATO nations joined the United States in sending troops to fight in Afghanistan (and those nations all lost soldiers defending the United States).

One would expect a leader of the United States to appreciate this. Unfortunately, we now have an ignorant and incompetent leader who doesn't know or respect the history of NATO -- or its value in protecting the free world.  Upon taking office, Donald Trump almost immediately attacked NATO, berating the NATO nations for not spending enough money (the only thing he has ever cared about) and even suggesting he might withdraw from NATO.

As late as last week, Trump suggested that the United States gets nothing from NATO (forgetting their response to 9/11), leaving the impression that the U.S. would be better off leaving NATO. This left the NATO nations wondering what would happen when it held its meeting on July 11th and 12th. They were right to be nervous, because Donald Trump wasted no time attacking. His first attack was directed at Germany.

Here's how The Guardian reported it:

At his first meeting of the summit, with the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, Trump described the relationship between Germany and Russiaas “inappropriate”.

Nato officials had been nervously awaiting the first meeting as an indicator of how Trump – who arrived in Brussels on Tuesday night – would behave over the next two days. Within minutes they had their answer.

This summit is shaping up to be the most divisive in Nato’s 69-year history. Normally, Nato summits are mostly fixed in advance and proceed in an orderly fashion. Trump’s first words signalled this one was not going to be like that.

He complained that German politicians had been working for Russian energy companies after leaving politics and said this too was inappropriate. Germany was totally controlled by Russia, Trump said.

With Stoltenberg looking on uncomfortably throughout, the US president was unrelenting. “I think it is very sad when Germany makes a massive oil and gas deal with Russia,” Trump said. “We are supposed to be guarding against Russia, and Germany goes out and pays billions and billions dollars a year to Russia.

“We are protecting Germany, we are protecting France, we are protecting all of these countries and then numerous of the countries go out and make a pipeline deal with Russia where they are paying billions of dollars into the coffers of Russia. I think that is very inappropriate.”

He added: “It should never have been allowed to happen. Germany is totally controlled by Russia because they will be getting 60-70% of their energy from Russia and a new pipeline. 

“You tell me if that’s appropriate because I think it’s not. On top of that Germany is just paying just a little bit over 1% [of GDP on Nato defence contributions] whereas the United States is paying 4.2% of a much larger GDP. So I think that’s inappropriate also.” 

His comments were linked to his push for other European countries – particularly Germany – to pay more for Nato’s defence needs. 

“I think it is unfair,” Trump said. Other US presidents had raised the matter of European defence spending levels in the past but he was intent on dealing with it, he continued. “We can’t put up with it.”

Trump Treating G-6 Members As Enemies Strengthens Them

Donald Trump seems to have declared war on our best allies. While embracing dictators such as Vladimir Putin, Recep Erdogan, and Kim Jong-Un, he has tried to bully and threaten allies like France, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, and Italy. He has put a tariff on their steel and aluminum, and threatened to apply other tariffs if they retaliate. And his bullying tactics at the recent G-7 meeting has just driven them further away -- and made them question whether the U.S. can be trusted with Trump as president.

The chart above shows what the people of those six nations thought of U.S. leadership before the G-7 meeting. Note that all of those nations had a very high opinion of Barack Obama as president. But their opinion of Trump is very low. The percentage saying they have at least some confidence in U.S. leadership under Trump is only 25% or lower in all six countries -- France (14%), Canada (22%), United Kingdom (22%), Germany (11%), Japan (24%), and Italy (25%).

Those are terrible numbers, and Trump's atrocious performance at the G-7 meeting is not going to improve them. I expect it will have the opposite effect -- making these leaders (who stood up to Trump) stronger among their own citizens, and giving them the support they need to fight Trump's ridiculous trade war.

The G-7 meeting just proved once again that Trump's foreign policy moves have been a disaster -- and have seriously damaged the reputation of the United States.

The chart above is from the Pew Research Center.

Trump Is Attacking Our Allies And Helping Our Enemies

(Cartoon image is by Bob Englehart at cagle.com.)

France, Canada, and Great Britain are the oldest allies the United States had. And following World War II, Germany, Japan, and Italy joined the other three in being reliable and important allies of the United States. These six countries, along with the United States, make up the members of the G-7 economic group, and in the past, their unified goals have helped to stabilize the world economy and help all countries to flourish.

But then Donald Trump was elected. He seems to have no respect for our six best allies. They have all tried to reason with Trump, and failing that, they have tried to flatter him in an attempt to maintain their alliance. Trump has snubbed all their efforts. Against their wishes, he has pulled out of the Paris Accords (endangering the climate of the whole world), denigrated NATO (even suggesting the U.S. might pull out), and violated the Iran Agreement and re-instated sections against that country (sanctions that would seriously affect our allies). Now he has gone further. He has placed tariffs on Canada and the European Union, and threatened tariffs against Japan (cars).

Trump seems not to value having allies. He thinks the United States can go it alone in the world -- and threaten all other nations to fallen line with U.S. wishes through our military and economic power. He is wrong, and he's fixing to find that out. The other 6 nations of the G-7 are tired of Trump's behavior and attacks on their economies, and they are ready to fight back. They are ready to impose their own tariffs on U.S. products -- tariffs that will hurt American farmers, industries, and consumers. And they will have the support of their people in this retaliation against Trump (who is very unpopular around the world).

I worry about what is going to happen in the future -- when we need those allies and find they are no longer willing to come to our aid.

But it's worse than just attacking our allies. Trump seems determined to help our enemies. He will be leaving the G-7 summit early to fly to Singapore to meet with North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-Un. Trump is bragging about the meeting like it was some kind of accomplishment. It isn't!

Any past U.S. president (Clinton, Bush, Obama) could have easily had such a meeting. They didn't because they knew it would accomplish nothing except a public relations victory for the North Korean dictator -- making it seem like they were on an equal footing with the United States (one of the world's most powerful nations). Sadly, Trump has given them that PR victory without receiving anything in return.

Trump thinks he can talk Kim Jong-Un into giving up his nuclear weapons, even though he did no preparation before the meeting with North Korea. Trump is a fool, and he's being played by North Korea. They are NOT going to give up their nuclear weapons. Trump has threatened "massive sanctions" if they don't give up those weapons.

He think they only have two choices -- give up the nuclear weapons or starve. That is not true. They have a third option if they get desperate enough -- attack South Korea to get what they need. China and Russia are not going to let that happen. They don't want a war threatening their part of the world, and they will see that North Korea gets just enough to stave off that kind of desperation.

Trump will return from Singapore either empty-handed, or with a really bad deal (that doesn't involve North Korean denuclearization).

North Korea is not the only enemy Trump wants to help. He has done his best to help Russia. Shortly after being sworn in, Trump tried to remove sanctions against Russia, and was stopped by Congress. When Congress passed new sanctions against Russia, Trump refused to impose them. Trump also supported the Russian annexation of the Crimea, and has basically allowed Russia to take control in Syria. Just yesterday, he announced that Russia should be re-admitted to the G-7 (which used to be the G-8 until Russia was kicked out for invading the Ukraine and annexing the Crimea). What has he gotten from Russia for all this help? NOTHING!

Russia is also the nation that benefits from Trump's attacks on our traditional allies. Putin has to be thrilled that the Western nations are no longer a solid bloc.

Why is Trump attacking our allies and helping our enemies? Is it just stupidity and incompetence, or is it something more nefarious? Is it payback for Russia helping him win the 2016 election? Do the Russians have some nasty secret on Trump they are using to control him?

German Public Says U.S. Is NOT A Reliable Partner

This poll illustrates just how badly Donald Trump has damaged the reputation of the United States. After withdrawing from the Paris Accords and violating the Iran Agreement, many of our best allies simply no longer trust us. Only 14% of the German public thinks the United States is a reliable partner, while an overwhelming 82% say it is not. That's a huge 68 point gap.

Even Russia gets better numbers than the United States does. About 36% said Russia was a reliable partner, while 64% said they were not -- a negative gap of 28 points. You know the reputation of the United States is terrible when Russia's is higher.

This is from a ZDF TV / Mannheim Research Poll -- done between May 15th and 17th of a random sample of 1,200 German adults.

UK-France-Germany Joint Statement On Trump's Iran Idiocy

(This photo of Merkel, May, and Macron from cnbc.com is by Dan Kitwood / Getty Images.)

Trump did it. He announced last Tuesday that he would violate the Iran Agreement by refusing to abide by its terms, and would reimpose strict economic sanctions of Iran. Fortunately, other Western leaders are not as stupid as Trump. Here is the joint statement issued by Theresa May of the United Kingdom, Emmanuel Macron of France, and Angela Merkel of Germany:

It is with regret and concern that we, the Leaders of France, Germany and the United Kingdom take note of President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States of America from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

Together, we emphasise our continuing commitment to the JCPoA. This agreement remains important for our shared security. We recall that the JCPoA was unanimously endorsed by the UN Security Council in resolution 2231. This resolution remains the binding international legal framework for the resolution of the dispute about the Iranian nuclear programme. We urge all sides to remain committed to its full implementation and to act in a spirit of responsibility.

According to the IAEA, Iran continues to abide by the restrictions set out by the JCPoA, in line with its obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The world is a safer place as a result. Therefore we, the E3, will remain parties to the JCPoA. Our governments remain committed to ensuring the agreement is upheld, and will work with all the remaining parties to the deal to ensure this remains the case including through ensuring the continuing economic benefits to the Iranian people that are linked to the agreement.

We urge the US to ensure that the structures of the JCPoA can remain intact, and to avoid taking action which obstructs its full implementation by all other parties to the deal. After engaging with the US Administration in a thorough manner over the past months, we call on the US to do everything possible to preserve the gains for nuclear non-proliferation brought about by the JCPoA, by allowing for a continued enforcement of its main elements.

We encourage Iran to show restraint in response to the decision by the US; Iran must continue to meet its own obligations under the deal, cooperating fully and in a timely manner with IAEA inspection requirements. The IAEA must be able to continue to carry out its long-term verification and monitoring programme without restriction or hindrance. In turn, Iran should continue to receive the sanctions relief it is entitled to whilst it remains in compliance with the terms of the deal.

There must be no doubt: Iran’s nuclear program must always remain peaceful and civilian. While taking the JCPOA as a base, we also agree that other major issues of concern need to be addressed. A long-term framework for Iran’s nuclear programme after some of the provisions of the JCPOA expire, after 2025, will have to be defined. Because our commitment to the security of our allies and partners in the region is unwavering, we must also address in a meaningful way shared concerns about Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its destabilising regional activities, especially in Syria, Iraq and Yemen. We have already started constructive and mutually beneficial discussions on these issues, and the E3 is committed to continuing them with key partners and concerned states across the region.

We and our Foreign Ministers will reach out to all parties to the JCPoA to seek a positive way forward.

Global Approval Of U.S. Leadership Dropped Under Trump

These charts are from a newly-released Gallup Poll. They questioned approximately 1,000 people in each of 135 different countries, and the margin of error is about 2 points. The poll shows that in the last year (since Trump took office) there has been a sharp drop in the number of people that approve of United States leadership on world problems.

Under President Obama, the approval of U.S. leadership was 48% worldwide, and disapproval only 28% -- a healthy positive gap of 20 points. But under Trump, that approval has dropped by 18 points to about 30% (even lower than the global disappointment with George W. Bush), a disapproval has climbed to 43% -- resulting in a negative gap of 13 points.

The world believes Trump when he says "America first", and they no longer believe the United States can provide leadership that is fair to all parties. They believe Trump will toss them under the bus to get a few more dollars for American corporations.

And it gets even worse. The United States was the most trusted leader under President Obama. Under Trump, they finish in third.

2016 leadership approval:
United States..........48%
Germany..........41%
China..........31%
Russia..........26%

2017 leadership approval:
Germany..........41%
China..........31%
United States..........30%
Russia..........27%

To be blunt -- Donald Trump has seriously damaged the reputation of the U.S. among the people of the world, and he has ceded world leadership to other countries.

Trump's First Trip Has Been An Embarrassment For U.S.

(This map of Trump's trip is from the BBC.)

I read the opinion of one pundit that said Donald Trump has actually looked "presidential" on his first foreign trip. That has to be a sick joke. He has praised nations with serious human rights violations (Saudi Arabia, Israel) and berated nations that are the most democratic -- calling Germany evil and berating most Nato nations. He also refused to assure Western European NATO nations that the U.S. will live up to its NATO obligations (making many wonder if they still have a solid ally in the U.S.). He was also seen pushing other leaders aside to make sure he was in front for photo opportunities. In short, his first foreign trip has been an embarrassment for the United States.

Is it any wonder that he is not respected in the free world? If you doubt that, consider this editorial from the German newspaper Der Spiegel. I post only part of the editorial below:

Donald Trump is not fit to be president of the United States. He does not possess the requisite intellect and does not understand the significance of the office he holds nor the tasks associated with it. He doesn't read. He doesn't bother to peruse important files and intelligence reports and knows little about the issues that he has identified as his priorities. His decisions are capricious and they are delivered in the form of tyrannical decrees.

He is a man free of morals. As has been demonstrated hundreds of times, he is a liar, a racist and a cheat. I feel ashamed to use these words, as sharp and loud as they are. But if they apply to anyone, they apply to Trump. And one of the media's tasks is to continue telling things as they are: Trump has to be removed from the White House. Quickly. He is a danger to the world.

Trump is a miserable politician. He fired the FBI director simply because he could. James Comey had gotten under his skin with his investigation into Trump's confidants. Comey had also refused to swear loyalty and fealty to Trump and to abandon the investigation. He had to go.

Trump is also a miserable boss. His people invent excuses for him and lie on his behalf because they have to, but then Trump wakes up and posts tweets that contradict what they have said. He doesn't care that his spokesman, his secretary of state and his national security adviser had just denied that the president had handed Russia (of all countries) sensitive intelligence gleaned from Israel (of all countries). Trump tweeted: Yes, yes, I did, because I can. I'm president after all.

Nothing is as it should be in this White House. Everyone working there has been compromised multiple times and now they all despise each other - and everyone except for Trump despises Trump. Because of all that, after just 120 days of the Trump administration, we are witness to an American tragedy for which there are five theoretical solutions.

The first is Trump's resignation, which won't happen. The second is that Republicans in the House and Senate support impeachment, which would be justified by the president's proven obstruction of justice, but won't happen because of the Republicans' thirst for power, which they won't willingly give up. The third possible solution is the invocation of the 25th Amendment, which would require the cabinet to declare Trump unfit to discharge the powers of the presidency. That isn't particularly likely either. Fourth: The Democrats get ready to fight and win back majorities in the House and Senate in midterm elections, which are 18 months away, before they then pursue option two, impeachment. Fifth: the international community wakes up and finds a way to circumvent the White House and free itself of its dependence on the U.S. Unlike the preceding four options, the fifth doesn't directly solve the Trump problem, but it is nevertheless necessary - and possible. . . .

The U.S. elected a laughing stock to the presidency and has now made itself dependent on a joke of a man. The country is, as David Brooks wrote recently in the New York Times, dependent on a child. The Trump administration has no foreign policy because Trump has consistently promised American withdrawal while invoking America's strength. He has promised both no wars and more wars. He makes decisions according to his mood, with no strategic coherence or tactical logic. Moscow and Beijing are laughing at America. Elsewhere, people are worried. . . .

In "Game of Thrones," the Mad King was murdered (and the child that later took his place was no better). In real life, an immature boy sits on the throne of the most important country in the world. He could, at any time, issue a catastrophic order that would immediately be carried out. That is why the parents cannot afford to take their eyes off him even for a second. They cannot succumb to exhaustion because he is so taxing. They ultimately have to send him to his room - and return power to the grownups.

It's Time To Offer A Free College Education To Qualified Students In The United States

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am in favor of the government providing free college tuition to students who qualify for college admission. Other countries do it because they know it benefits them -- providing a more educated workforce, giving people a way to better themselves, and providing more revenues for government (through the higher taxes educated people pay on their higher incomes). In other words, it is good for everyone -- students, society, and government.

Germany has just realized this, and recently passed a law providing free tuition for college students. But here in the United States, we do just the opposite. College costs go up every year, making college unaffordable for many poor and working class students (and even some from the lower middle class), and students who try to overcome this by borrowing to pay for their education find themselves deeply in debt upon graduation -- forcing them to spend years paying off that debt, instead of actually bettering themselves (getting married, buying homes, investing, establishing retirement accounts, etc.). Currently, Americans owe more than $1.2 trillion in student loan debt.

It is time the United States realized that providing free tuition for college students would be cost-effective for government (since we would easily recoup the cost their the higher taxes graduates would pay), and would help to reduce the growing economic inequality in this country (by providing an easy way for students to climb the economic ladder).

The Republicans tell us we can't afford to provide free tuition for college students. That is just not true. We would get far more back in increased tax revenues than we would spend providing the free tuition. And if money was needed to start the program, that could be provided by using part of a "Robin Hood" tax (a small tax on Wall Street stock market trades). We can afford it, and it would put this country back on a competitive footing with countries that already do it.

And one of Texas' leading progressives agrees with me. Here's what Jim Hightower has to say about this issue on his excellent blog:

Question: Is making higher education available to every American more important to our national interest than letting Wall Street profiteers make a few more billions-of-dollars each year?

Answer: Of course. Yet, our political leaders – pushed by Wall Street lobbyists – have been making the opposite choice for years. As a result, banksters have loaded students down with a mountain of high-interest loans, rising from just over $2 billion a decade ago to nearly a trillion last year. Worse, the financiers – either banks or government lenders – have become the gatekeepers of advanced education, shutting out thousands of young people wanting to get ahead, but not able to hurdle the formidable financial barrier.

This is enormously costly to America – and completely unnecessary. The smart choice – as we learned from the GI Bill after World War II – would be to make college and professional training free. Universal access to higher education – ie, free access – produces a very high return on the public's investment, while also producing widely-shared prosperity and a broadly educated citizenry.

Of course, an up-front investment in a smarter, more productive, more democratic civilization is pricey. So where do we get the money to do what America needs? Get it from where it went. Wall Street's superrich speculators are now making millions of super-fast, robotic financial transactions per second, generating trillions of dollars a year for them – but producing nothing of real value for us, while distorting and endangering markets.

Put a tiny tax on each of those automated gambles by speculators, and more than enough money will come into the public coffers to free-up higher-ed for all. For information, check out United States Students Association: www.usstudents.org.

There's No Limit To United States Spying

The newest information to come to light out of the files released by Edward Snowden is that the United States was spying on our German friends -- including listening in on the phone line of German Chancellor Angela Merkel (pictured above). Merkel is mad as hell about it, and didn't believe President Obama when he called her to deny it.

This should not surprise anyone. We already knew the U.S. had spied on the French, and some are already saying we have done it to the British also. And a new newspaper report from The Guardian says the Italians are now accusing the U.S. of spying on them too. It would not surprise me at all if all of these reports are true. The United States has been spying on everyone -- both friend and foe. After all, if a government will spy on its own citizens (and we know that happened, and is probably still happening), what would stop them from doing it to everyone else?

The reason this was done is because of a flaw shared by all governments (of every kind), and that is that any government will do whatever it has the capability to do (and simple ethics and morality will not prevent that -- nor will the fact that it may not even make sense). And the American government has the awesome capability to spy on the entire world (or at least anyone in the world they want to spy on), so they do it -- and it does not make any difference which party is in the White House.

But why spy on our friends, instead of just our enemies? Simply because we have the capability to do it, but don't have the will-power to rein in that power. Now we will probably have to pay a price for that ridiculous spying on our friends. German officials are already questioning whether they want to enter into an economic trade agreement with the U.S. because of the spying. This will undoubtably affect our relationship with many nations in many ways.

The Patriot Act and our seemingly endless capabilities to eavesdrop of anyone anywhere should not be taken to have given our government an unlimited license to spy. The government should not be spying on its own citizens, and it should not be spying on friendly nations (because the negative effects will far outweigh any imagined benefit).

One of the most reasonable comments I have heard so far come from Senator Bernie Sanders, in a letter he wrote to President Obama about the spying. Bernie said:

“The strained relations with our allies as a result of wholesale NSA eavesdropping have impacted our ability to work with these countries in combating terrorism and advancing common economic goals. Clearly, in the complex and difficult world we now find ourselves, it is imperative that we try to improve our relations with friendly countries, not exacerbate them.”

“I hope you will work with me and other members of Congress in support of legislation that ends the current reckless activities of the NSA, and to develop policies which protect civil liberties and privacy rights while keeping our nation safe.”

If there is any good to come out of this mess, it is that maybe now these nations we consider friends will hesitate to back any future military invasions the U.S. wants to engage in on nations that pose no security risk to us (but are invaded just because we don't like their government, or their form of government). And maybe their hesitation will cause our own leaders to have second thoughts.

Little Support For An Attack On Syria

(The image above is from the Facebook page of The American Progressive.)

It is certainly no secret that the Obama administration is preparing to launch a military attack on Syria. They have spent days now trying to justify such an attack, even going so far as to claim that the security of the United States is at stake. The American people are not buying that argument, and several polls have shown that most Americans are against launching an attack on Syria -- even if the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against the rebels.

Now it looks like international support for such an act is dwindling. There will be no United Nations resolution authorizing such an attack, since both Russia and China have made it clear that they would block any such resolution. Instead, the Obama administration had hoped to have the support of NATO (or at least most of the strongest NATO nations) and participation by NATO in an attack. Unfortunately for the administration, it looks like that probably won't happen.

The German government says it has not been asked, and is not considering, any military action against Syria. And the British Parliament voted to deny their Prime Minister the right to engage the British military in an attack on Syria. In fact, there is only one NATO nation that is willing to help the U.S. attack Syria, and that is France (which is trying to save face after recognizing the rebels as the official government of Syria).

Even most of the nations in the Middle East are against the attack. Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq have all come out against such an attack. The only nations there that might support the United States in an attack are Turkey (early supporters of the rebel uprising) and Saudi Arabia (which has been providing money and arms to the rebels). Israel has hinted they would like to see an attack, but they could not participate (since that would cause more problems in the region as a whole).

So it boils down to the United States, France, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia against everyone else -- including a majority of the American public. An attack on Syria at this time is just a bad idea. Hopefully, the Obama administration will come to its senses before deciding to make this reckless attack a reality.

BBC Poll Rating Of 16 Countries & E.U.

Those who believe in American "exceptionalism" (the idea that the United States is by far the best country in the world) are not going to like the results of the newest BBC Country Ratings Poll. The BBC does this poll each year, interviewing over 26,000 people about whether they hold a negative or positive view of 16 countries and the European Union. To be fair, the respondents living in a particular country are excluded when figuring the average percentages for each country.

As you can see from the graphic above, the United States finished in the middle of the pack -- with 6 countries and the European Union having both a higher positive rating and a lower negative rating. The U.S. was viewed positively by 45% of respondents and negatively by 34% of respondents. Last year those numbers for the U.S. was 47% positive and 33% negative (which means the U.S. has dropped a bit in the estimation of those living in other countries). Note that less than half of those living in other countries have a positive view of the U.S.

This year Germany was rated the most popular country (with a 59% positive rating and 15% negative rating). Last year Japan was the most popular country, but this year they dropped 7 points from their positive rating and added 6 points to their negative rating -- dropping them down to fourth in the rating poll. Iran was the least popular country (with a 15% positive rating and a 59% negative rating -- exactly the opposite of Germany's numbers). Iran was also the least popular last year.

Germans Push Clean Energy - Reduce CO2

Here in the United States we use far more than our share of the world's energy, and we continue to use the dirty carbon dioxide producing fossil fuels to make most of that energy. Only a tiny part of the energy we produce comes from clean and renewable energy sources (like wind, tides, solar, etc.). We continue to buy into the argument that either those sources are too expensive to develop or they are unable to provide a significant part of our needs. I think the real truth is that the oil, gas, and coal companies have bought too many of our politicians.

While the United States continues to make excuses, Germany has bit the bullet and invested heavily in the new renewable energy technologies, and it is already paying off big for them. Here is part of the the German energy story, as reported in The Guardian:

Germany has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions significantly in recent years as it has pushed forward a renewable agenda leading Europe into an age of wind and solar power. 

In the past year, the country's CO2 emissions fell by 2.4% compared with 2010, according to figures released by Germany's Federal Environment Agency (UBA). The decrease, say experts, has largely come through a push towards renewable energy that has accelerated since the country began its move away from nuclear power. 

In the first six months of 2012, the amount of electricity produced using renewable energy rose from 20% to 25%, bringing the country closer to its targets of 35% by 2020 and 80% by 2050. 

"We are on a good track in regard to the increase in the share of renewables," said Brigitte Knopf, deputy head of research at the sustainable solutions project at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Pik). "This is a story of success, though some challenges are still ahead."

There are still problems, but the Germans are forging ahead to reach their goal, instead of whinging that it can't be done. If they can do this without hurting their industry or curtailing electric use by consumers, why can't the United States do the same?

Another Vote Against European Austerity

Just a few days ago, the French people booted conservative Nicolas Sarkozy out of office and replaced him with an anti-austerity candidate. On that same day, the Greek people voted against their own austerity government. These moves followed the recent downfall of the Dutch conservative government (who were also touting an austerity budget). All over Europe, it seems the people are rejecting the failed policy of austerity (which has thrown several European countries deeper into recession).

Now there is evidence that the anti-austerity movement has even reach the 600-pound gorilla of the European Union -- Germany, where conservative leader Angela Merkel (pictured above) has been one of the strongest proponents of austerity. Last week, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein, the governing conservative coalition of Christian Democrats (Merkel's party) and Free Democrats were ousted. This week that was repeated in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

North Rhine-Westphalia is important because it is Germany's most populous state (containing more than a fifth of the country's population). It is also the state that launched Merkel into power in 2005 by giving her Christian Democrats more than 45% of the vote. But this week the party was only able to get 25.8% of the vote. They will now be replaced by a moderate-left coalition composed of Social Democrats (with 38.8% of the vote) and the Green Party (with 11.9% of the vote).

These two German states have now joined 2 or 3 other states, who also booted out the conservatives last year. It seems that the anti-austerity feeling is growing in Germany, even though that country is in better economic shape than most European nations. That is bad news for Merkel (one of the principal architects of the austerity policy), who must run for re-election next year. The odds are now very much against Merkel's election to a third term.

The Europeans are starting to realize they have been hoodwinked by the conservatives and their austerity policy -- a policy that favors the rich and hurts everyone else. Hopefully, that anti-austerity feeling can cross the ocean and find a home in this country. The Republican Party is trying to impose their own version of the failed austerity policy in the United States -- and it will be just as disastrous here as it has been in Europe. They must be stopped before they turn the current recession into a long-lasting depression.