Doesn’t get it
Here’s a laugh-cry test for you — in his parting press conference today, President Bush says he sees nothing wrong with America’s moral standing in the world.
Many times I’ve declined to blog about the president’s judgment because a) I don’t find it that productive, b) others do it better than me, and c) it’s a dead horse. But just this once I’ll indulge. The notion that there’s nothing wrong with America’s moral standing in the world reflects either the arrogant indifference or the ignorance for which the president has long been criticized — either he doesn’t know the world disapproves of our actions, or he doesn’t care.
To name a few blows to our moral credibility over the last eight years, all of which Bush dismissed in the press conference, America has invaded and occupied a country that wasn’t a threat, in defiance of world opinion; we have created a torture regime that flouts international law and has become a symbol of cruelty around the world; and we have obstructed action on climate change while producing an inordinate share of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. For these and other reasons, we are viewed unfavorably by most of the world. In the most recent Pew Global Attitudes Project Survey, America’s favorability rating has improved since 2002 in only 4 of 23 countries surveyed: Tanzania, South Korea, Lebanon and Pakistan (where we register a still-abysmal 19 percent).
Our “moral standing” might be a nebulous concept, but the president addressed the question in terms of global opinion about America, and by that measure we are in need of renewal.