Posted by
Hawk on Thursday, September 04, 2008 6:33:47 PM
Apparently many in the world's media are taking note of the phenomenon known as "Sarahcuda". In a Financial Times online article titled "Palin Fascinates European Media," Palin "...grabbed many European headlines on Thursday with the focus either on her ideology or her gender." Yes, for better or worse, Sarah Palin is becoming instantly known worldwide as the woman who is not afraid to take on the Washington establishment, a phrase at which Europeans decidedly sneer when thinking of us Americans. You'd think that the positive message of change heading its way to Washington, put forth by the McCain/Palin ticket and backed up by solid accomplishments and not just lofty rhetoric, would thrill foreigners so used to saying "ugly American." Note I said "positive" not "negative" change, so eloquently contrasted by Rudy Guiliani last night. You'd think they'd be rooting for the kind of reform and downsizing of a government that, in its present form, is decried as evil and cynical in its every global move.
The type of change the other hemisphere is encouraging and hoping occurs, however (literally, in the case of Palistinians who like to donate to the obama campaign or Hamas, who openly endorses him) is exactly the type that would really make us into their American Cousins: socialist agendas, Islamofascist-friendly, big government, huge tax increases, stifling economic downturns, and most importantly, abrogation of the ideals of hard work and innovative competetiveness stoked by a robust free market system. Let's be clear here. What barack promises (tax cuts for 95%, increased taxes on the wealthy) cannot but increase the cost of business which will burden, you guessed it, the middle/lower classes. Now that's trickle down economics you can believe in! Well, their media too seems to be scurrying like a bunch of cockroaches startled by a light switch, judging by the post-Palin response in some of the papars like Le Monde, which is a huge surprise.
Unfortunately, we really can't attribute such panic and the relexive derision and vitriol it evokes, to simple Arab/Eurotrash. We have a next door neighbor who is all in a tizzy about this recent turn of events brought on by the 'cuda: French-speaking Canada!: "...in Canada, French-speaking media were more hostile. 'To paraphrase Martin Luther King, today we could say: “I had a nightmare,” wrote Lysiane Gagnon, of La Presse, a French speaking daily newspaper of Montreal.' Worst is that this nightmare seems realistic, taking into account the age and the health of John McCain.” Gagnon then went on to spew venom at McCain for “being ready to give the vice presidency to an uncultured woman with archaic convictions, without any serious political experience, only to rally the fundamentalists. This is no longer impetuousness, but madness”. Apparenly elite liberalism, found in the dank halls and wine clubs of the Capital, extends far north of the border as well.
To be fair and not paint the whole anti-American dimension with a broad brush found in the trash, the article goes on to say "In Britain, more attention was paid to Ms Palin’s success in combining career and family. 'Almost overnight, Sarah Palin replaced Hillary Clinton as the screen on which we project our doubts and hopes about women and success,' wrote Nancy Gibbs, in the Times.” But let's be honest: most of the planet sickened by the cowboy policies of Americans, who have the temerity to go out and save Europe's (and the rest of the free world's) a_s (again and again), to take the fight against terrorism where it is spawned, to charitably give billions to other continents facing massive catastrophies (like tsunamies and AIDS), and whose country serves as a magnet drawing millions to its shores (or across it's rivers) every year, would prefer that we stop being so racist and elect a black man for President. Oh, did I mention they love his policies too?