In the light of a new survey showing that a majority of Americans believe the United States is less respected in the world than it was two years ago -- and with even the Washington Post's Jackson Diehl "diehling out" a punchy comeuppance to Barack Obama for his inability to forge strong friendships with world leaders, many are beginning to reassess the strengths of George W. Bush as Chief Executive.William Teach from Right Wing News sums up a few of the differences between then and now:
...No matter what one can say about Bush, he charmed many world leaders, and had a good working relationship with even those who had a different political opinion than he did. Even those who slammed him. He understood that world diplomacy was not about Bush, but, about the interests of the United States, and, that when push came to shove, it was "just business." Obama treats everything as personal and being about Obama. For him, he seems to believe that meeting POTUS is a privilege, ergo the idiotic gifts to Brown's and the Queen, blowing off the British press, a poor relationship with Sarkozy, and blowing off Germany for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Things did not go very well for Obama when he went to Germany for the WWII remembrance ceremony, where he managed to annoy, well, everyone.
Bush made friends with leaders all over the world. Remember the dancing he engaged in during a visit with Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Africa? Remember his great relationship with Israel? He had an excellent relationship with Putin, a wise decision. Bush took the time. He perhaps attempted to charm world leaders too much at times, but, he tried. Obama can hardly be bothered to pick up a phone, and he and his administration have made gaffe after gaffe, offered insult after insult. Someone needs to explain to President Neophyte that international diplomacy is about political interests, not about himself.
