US politics for non US citizens

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That's really a good point, NOG. I will say this: A smoke filled room can be a hazardous place to work in, especially for long hours. I think that individual liberty ends, where the next person's liberty begins. I realize that's really what you were saying, but clearity makes a great deal of difference on this rather subtle, yet most important point. Individual liberty is the end game of good government. While we may claim that the "greater good" is paramount, I believe that, as you point out, the individual, as a social creature AND an individual in his/her own right, is the key.

 

In Imperial Germany there was the say around, 'Am deutschen Wesen soll die Welt genesen' which roughly translates as: 'German virtues/national character shall cure the world's ills'. Germany then to its surprise had to learn the hard way that this certain product was much less in demand than domestically thought. We now as a nation still feel rather uncomfortable with it. A comparably harsh and humbling lesson on the the American Way of Life hasn't yet been received in the US, allowing the US to go ahead on prescribing the world US medicine without doubt and with undiminished enthusiasm.

 

On another forum I post on regularly, I'm surprised how many people defend Bush and his admin vehemently. I mean, I'm not surprised that he's not universally hated. What I am surprised at, is that some people display fanboy style reactions to criticisms of him. He's a president - he makes mistakes like everyone else, even if he gets things right now and then.

(Although, in my uneducated opinion, I think he's been a disaster, politically, socially and economically)

 

Every politician has his or her fanboys/fangirls. Look at the way Chris Matthews (Hardball on MSNBC) foams over McCain. I would find nothing surprising in people saying they agree with something Bush has done (why would such people not exist? as you pointed out, not everyone has to hate him), but I find it pretty pathetic when some people blindly defend a politician and conveniently ignore actual facts in order to do so. Bush has a rather large number of such supporters, but he certainly hasn't got a monopoly on this attitude. Many people jump to Hillary Clinton's defense and cite her "intelligence" and "foresight" (not my words) with respect to Iraq war, conveniently forgetting that she not only voted for the Iraq War Resolution, but also voted against the Levin Amendment that required Bush to solve the problem through the UN.