A reminder in cartoon style of what the world thinks of our leaders.

[madfloridian]

My friend in Belgium sent this, I posted it in another forum a while ago. It disturbs me so much. He is angry with us, with me...even though deep down he knows I am one of the good guys. The world is angry.

His translation:

On vient faire le ménage : “We are coming for housekeeping “ (I believe those are Hillary and Obama)

Attendez que je finis –instead of finisse- mon jeu : ‘ Wait for I finish my game ‘ (I cannot reproduce the grammar mistake in English – well, I think so ... ) . It needs a subjonctive instead a present...

They are expecting our Democrats to clean it up. It seems so simple to them. I tried to explain the signing statements in which Bush gives himself such power...but he does not understand.

[Erika]

1. W has shamed us so badly

I hope they know he is not us.

[crim son]

2. A third of Americans still support him.

The thought is mind-boggling.

[Fridays Child]

3. Mind-boggling...

...to the point of brain-numbing.

[Prophet 451]

4. That's what worries us

Over here, the feeling is sort-of that the US got fooled once (in 2000). No shame in that. Then 9/11 happened and BushCo used that to scare the shit out of everyone for years and got themselves a second term (and the dubious voting anomonlies are widely known about here). What amazes, terrifies and angers us is the insane cult of personality that surrounds the man and the third of the electorate that seems to think this moron walks on water.

Seriously, Vladamir Putin just accused the US of seeking world domination. I don't know if you're going to hear about that in the States but it's all over the Beeb this morning. I fully expect that there will be outrage if that remark makes airtime in the US but the reaction here was roughly "yeah, tell us something we don't know". The mental disconnect between the US and the rest of the world is just astounding sometimes.

[crim son]

5. Those of us who understood what Bush was from the beginning

were as appalled and sickened by 2004 as you were. Now I am genuinely frightened because our system of checks and balances has been practically dismantled so it doesn't matter what happens to Bush's numbers. Why people are so complacent would be mysterious were it not for the fact that our media appears to be complicit.

Having said that, I was in Europe in the summer of 2005 and I still met a fair number of people who did not understand the danger Bush represented/represents. I wonder if these people have come around... I mean, wtf will it take?

[madfloridian]

12. That's a good question. I would imagine he worries most in Europe now.

Since he has obviously put them in more danger from attacks. I would hope so, anyway.

[madfloridian]

6. They know we don't like what he is doing...

But I think many fail to see why we don't stop him now that we are back in power. It is hard to explain that we are really not in power in the Senate. They felt relieved when we won, but getting nervous now.

[Doondoo]

7. hit the nail on the head

[madfloridian]

8. He's like a child...but dangerous.

His eyes gleam...with something...maybe a faux religious fervor. Or the gleam of a military dictator who has a mission?

[chknltl]

9. This cartoon implies what we should already know

Thanks for posting this madfloridian.
I am a bit mystified that we here in the DU are not looking at America through the eyes of those in other countries. There is much wisdom to be gleaned here in this cartoon. I'll present these three examples:

We have to stop Saddam before the smoking gun of a mushroom cloud!

Did ANYONE consider looking at America through Saddam's eyes? Ask any American and you will be answered with: "He hates us....." My fellow DUers I ask you, why such shallow thinking here?

Examine for a moment Saddam's position prior to our latest invasion. He had the eyes of the world focused on him, the bush administration made sure to keep those eyes that way after 9-11. His army was but a pale ghost of what it once was prior to the first Gulf War. His allies had all but abandoned him, worse yet many of his Moslem neighbors had actively and militarily aided the infidels in putting him right where he was. Saddam himself was using his military basically as a means to hold his dictatorship together while his country was slowly decaying around him due to all the sanctions which were going on against his country. Saddam was a dictator. His single most base goal was to remain a dictator. He had his palaces and his country, his military toys were all but dismantled, hell he could not even field an air-force anymore.

So I ask you: WHAT IN THE HELL COULD SADDAM HAVE DONE WITH A NUKE? Keep lookin at this through Saddam's eyes. WAS HE A MARTYR? You already know the answer, SO DID HE. If he somehow managed to get a nuke smuggled through his fictional terrorist links to America and set it off, what would have happened to Saddam and his precious goal of remaining a dictator? Yes you already know that answer too, SO DID HE. It is quite difficult enjoying the luxuries of being a dictator when the might of not only the greatest military the world has ever seen is about to take you out but the rest of the world is joining in on a piece of that action. WE ALREADY KNOW SADDAM WAS NOT A MARTYR. Using a nuke anywhere in the world would have caused his precious dictatorship to become measured in days...maybe even less.... Do you suppose Saddam knew this? The ONLY purpose a nuke could have provided Saddam would have been DEFENSIVE... and quite frankly I suspect he was smart enough to know that if the world caught wind that he actually did posses one his precious dictatorship would have been taken from him in rapid fashion and his very life would be taken shortly thereafter.

So now that we have taken a little peek at America through Saddam's eyes how silly does the notion that Saddam was about to somehow launch a WMD against ANYONE sound now? If you persist in the notion that he would have done that then you must subscribe to the fact that Saddam was a martyr...you can not argue that he would have remained in power for much longer after using one!
I argue that the very LAST thing Saddam wanted anywhere in his country was a NUKE.

That is looking at America through the eyes of a foreign dictator...let's take a terrifying potential look at America through the eyes of the current civilian populace of Iraq.

America has come to their country. Their country is now in a MUCH larger turmoil than it was while Saddam was still in charge. Their basic needs like electricity, water and sewage are now in shorter supply than it was under Saddam. Their prospects for a future are greatly decreased over what it once was while Saddam was in power. Even though Saddam's regime was no pic-nic, the average Iraqi citizen would likely admit that his or her life was better before the Americans came! Think about this my fellow DUers, for the average Iraqi, as horrible as life under Saddam was life now is now for them is far worse!

Now add an influx of foreign terrorists looking to recruit soldiers for their own army into this mix. They are likely working under the radar, well hidden behind the obvious civil war and the very public struggle America is undergoing over in that land. What do you suppose the average Iraqi civilian is thinking when he is presented with the added information: America has invaded your country and has used WMD against you and your countrymen. America has helped set up a puppet government in order to continue stealing your oil. America does not care about you or your countrymen. You and your children have NO hope for a future because of America! (Do you doubt that these things and worse about America are being whispered into the ears of the common Iraqi civilian...IF YOU WERE A TERRORIST LEADER WOULDN'T YOU WANT THIS KIND OF STUFF SPREAD AROUND THROUGH THE CIVILIANS OF IRAQ IN ORDER TO GAIN RECRUITS INTO YOUR JIHADISTIC ARMY?

Unlike Saddam those terrorists advocate martydom....unlike Saddam the terrorists are not going to be afraid of using a WMD anywhere. Still feel safe and snug over on this side of the pond my fellow DUers? Bushco is aiding the terrorists here by providing them with a large pool of Iraqi civilians who have an honest to God legitimate reason to absolutely HATE America. I predict that we are on a clear road to future 9-11 attacks because of bushco's actions....take your own look through the eyes of those we so profoundly have disturbed throughout the world and see what you come up with. Maybe I am wrong...maybe those guys are not over in Iraq looking for recruits..I am just exercising a little "What If" style thinking here by asking myself what would I do if I were in these positions...
again I ask you TAKE A LOOK THROUGH THE EYES OF THOSE WE HAVE SO PROFOUNDLY DISTURBED and come to your own conclusions. If you were a European right now, thinking thoughts like this, would you be happy with America right now? Terrorists HAVE hit places outside of the Twin Towers you know! Isn't the "War on Terorism" supposed to be reducing the terrorists?

Here is a third example: After 9-11 the world was appalled over what had happened to America. Certainly there were those throughout the world who felt that we deserved to get hit like that but by and large MOST of the world did not feel this way.

So since then, the world has seen America perform pretty much the same deeds that Saddam did and likely for pretty much the same reasons. We have invaded a country under false pretenses, we have used WMD against our adversary as well as the civilians (and our own soldiers), we are quite likely stealing Iraq's oil, we are threatening the neighbors of Iraq, we have destabilized the entire Middle East, we have set up prisons where we have deposited thousands, (likely more) of civilians and we condone the use of torture on them. Did I leave anything out? Feel free to add more, we daily write posts here in the DU in regards to these very crimes so it is not like we can plead ignorance here.

These crimes alone condemn us in the eyes of much of the world. Add the fact that we cling to our precious SUVs, spend billions on frivolities for purposes of entertainment and vanity all the while that global warming is likely sending this planet to a nasty future.... yeah, maybe we can just party on...maybe the rest of the world should JUST EAT CAKE... Do you doubt that WE THE PEOPLE are percieved like this??? Can you at least grant that there is some justification for this perception?

So how many individuals on this planet outside of America are going to cheer this time when we get hit by future 9-11s? Are you looking back at yourself my fellow DUers through their eyes? Even if we don't get hit by future 9-11s, it is a small planet and we still have to live here... Do you have any problems with gaining an advantage over an asshole when opportunity presents itself? Regardless of scale, on an individual one or on a national level, who is going to think twice about ripping off an American...afterall we have proven that we are a bunch of arrogant belligerent assholes who feel somehow that we deserve the worlds respect! TAKE A LOOK BACK AT AMERICA THROUGH THE EYES OF THOSE WE HAVE SO PROFOUNDLY AFFECTED.

Surely someone out there must have sympathy for us....

If you have read my rant this far I thank you. I know that these words are all supposition, I am aware that this has all been based on thoughts sprung from my own imagination... just like that cartoon above was sprung from the artists own imagination. I strongly want you all to try to consider how America is perceived by non-Americans. I firmly believe if we do this we will have a paradigm shift in our own thinking about ourselves. For me I am profoundly embarrassed and shamed to be an American. That said the best place to be is right, here right now...WE STILL HAVE IT IN OUR OWN HANDS, THE ABILITY TO RECTIFY ALL OF THIS. We can far more easily change ourselves and how we are perceived from within the system than from without. America is supposed to be about WE THE PEOPLE!

Now take another look at the cartoon which a non-American provided madfloridian at the top of this thread and after a moment of shame ask yourself this: How can I change this? My answer begins with IMPEACHMENT. If we remove from power the very folks who have done this to the world we will have taken the first step on the road of recovery. I could be wrong here but I see no other solution which ends in our being able to partake in this worlds affairs and still appear to that world to actually be wearing clothes.

madfloridian: I have ranted extensively in your thread here...I apologize because I should have started my own thread...it is not a great excuse but this cartoon provided by your Belgian friend had that affect on me. Your friend has every right in my opinion to be mad as hell at America. I hope you show him or her my words...as a matter of fact I would love to see your friend's opinion of my words if that is possible. I STRONGLY thank your friend for holding up this mirror.

[madfloridian]

10. Thank you for your lovely rant. They do expect us to stop him.

It does no good now for me to try to explain to him anymore on this issue. It is to the world a clear thing....the Democrats won because the people of the US want him stopped. The world expects us to do so. It is a huge burden for our Democrats, who through the last years have been used to using correct words and phrases and not making waves too much.

All the rhetoric on the floors of congress is beginning to seem useless in many ways as more are dying there in Iraq.

The cartoon had a very serious effect on me, too.

[durtee librul]

11. Yeah and what have those

elected dems shown the world??? They are losers as well imho. Non-binding resolutions, talk, talk and more talk....nothing of substance (so far).

Your friend is right and it's not just in Europe - it's world wide. We have friends in Australia and they are just as upset as madfloridians' friend.

So far, the dems are talking the talk, but NOT walking the walk - and sadly they haven't shown me they have any plans to walk the walk either that the American people told them to in November.