Arrogant America
January 21, 2005
Arrogant America
"The first-term view of America as an unrivalled power with a single focus,
uninterested in consultation, its perceived arrogance captured by the
photographs at Abu Ghraib, will be hard to shake."
- Foreign policy reporter Roger Cohen on how the world sees Bush,
January 16 Week in Review.
Thank God
"Many Europeans who deplore Washington's blunt methods and go-it-alone
tendencies still say the United States can recapture its moral leadership."
- Mark Landler, January 16 Week in Review.
Sen. Robert Who?
"Essie Mae Washington-Williams spent 78 years as the unacknowledged mixed-race
daughter of the Senate's most notorious white supremacist."
- Book reviewer Janet Maslin writing about a book by one of Strom
Thurmond's daughters, January 17. Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd was a member of
the Ku Klux Klan before joining the Senate.
Relaying Reckless Leftist Charges
On Pro-U.S. Bloggers in Iraq
"When I telephoned a man named Ali Fadhil in Baghdad last week, I wondered who
might answer. A C.I.A. operative? An American posing as an Iraqi? Someone paid
by the Defense Department to support the war? Or simply an Iraqi with some mixed
feelings about the American presence in Iraq? Until he picked up the phone, he
was just a ghost on the Internet. The mystery began last month when I went
online to see what Iraqis think about the war and the Jan. 30 national election.
I stumbled into an ideological snake pit."
- The opening to Sarah Boxer's story in the January 18 Arts section on a
pro-U.S. blog run by brothers in Iraq, based on speculations on the far-left
blog Martini Republic.
How Ever Did Bush Win?
"On the eve of President Bush's second inauguration, most Americans say they do
not expect the economy to improve or American troops to be withdrawn from Iraq
by the time Mr. Bush leaves the White House, and many have reservations about
his signature plan to overhaul Social Security, according to the latest New York
Times/CBS News Poll. Seventy percent, however, said they thought Mr. Bush would
succeed in changing the Social Security system. The poll found that 43 percent
of respondents expect most forms of abortion to be illegal by the time Mr. Bush
leaves the White House, given Mr. Bush's expected appointments to the Supreme
Court. The Times/CBS News Poll offered the kind of conflicting portrait of the
nation's view of Mr. Bush that was evident throughout last year's presidential
campaign. Nearly 60 percent of respondents said they were generally optimistic
on the eve of Mr. Bush's swearing-in about the next four years, but clear
majorities disapproved of Mr. Bush's management of the economy and the war in
Iraq."
- The opening to Adam Nagourney and Robin Toner's Inauguration Day story on
the latest CBS/NYT poll, January 20.
Celebrating Military "In Response
to Critics"
"In response to critics who have questioned the propriety of a lavish inaugural
celebration in a time of war, Mr. Bush has made the military a central focus of
the week's events, and sponsors of other gatherings this week have followed his
lead."
- Scott Shane, January 19.
"The tribute, 'Saluting Those Who Serve,' was created by inaugural organizers to
set a solemn tone for the festivities surrounding Mr. Bush's swearing-in on
Thursday and comes amid criticism of a three-day celebration with a price tag of
$40 million. In addition to the military, 7,000 civilians also attended the
invitation-only event."
- White House reporter Elisabeth Bumiller, January 19.
