Most Favored Candidates For Democratization

"As a recent RAND Corporation paper on public diplomacy put it, "Misunderstanding of American values is not the principal source of anti-Americanism." Sometimes foreigners understand us just fine; they simply don't like what they see. The study concludes that "some U.S. policies have been, are, and will continue to be major sources of anti-Americanism." (Italics are in the original.) It didn't matter what ads Tutwiler produced: Her audience already distrusted Brand America."

Boy, do I love Slate. I go into "Slate withdrawal" on the weekends when at the most all that is posted is a daily roundup of news events. This quote taken from a Fred Kaplan column today eloquently points out why the rest of the world hates us. It really irks me that everytime someone (usually from the left) speaks out against U.S. policy, they automatically get tagged (usually by someone on the right) as "anti-American". Its such a ridiculous assertion (most of the time) that responding to it only lends it credibility as an attack. When I disagree openly with U.S. policy and the Bush administration agenda, it doesn't come from a deep-seated hatred for this country, it comes from a desire to see this country continue to thrive and to see it's people live happy lives. The standard progressive agenda of a living wage, universal education and health care, reasonable business regulation, pro-environmental policies, gun control, freedom of choice, and a sensible crime & justice policy are, taken all together, intended to give people a chance to pursue life, liberty, and happiness as guaranteed by our Constitution. How can we expect those who start the race far behind the others to perform just as well as those with a head start? America has taken on this new agenda under Bush to spread democracy and freedom around the world. We speak with flourishing rhetoric about the fruits of democracy and the improvements to quality of life that will bring abroad, but at home, we have allowed such an imbalance between the haves and have-nots that our own democracy is in danger. The whole world has their eyes on America. We may present the image of having our house in order to "Most Favored Candidates for Democratization", but news has no borders, and people around the world are aware of the plight of the downtrodden in our backyard. They are aware of the special interests that control foreign and domestic policy in Washington D.C. and statehouses across the country. They must wonder if what we call democracy is worth losing their life over.