"EU presidency: US economic plans 'a way to hell'" (RealClearMarkets):

A top European Union politician on Wednesday slammed U.S. plans to spend its way out of recession as "a way to hell."

Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, whose country currently holds the EU presidency, told the European Parliament that President Barack Obama's massive stimulus package and banking bailout "will undermine the stability of the global financial market."

Calling David Cameron a "lightweight."  Tacky gifts for Gordon Brown.  Spooking our Chinese creditors.  Now this.  It's starting to look like a worrying trend of Obama alienating our allies.  But then, no doubt we're a little spoiled after the diplomatic talents of W.

Comments

[Tom]

Gee, no one slammed US plans when W was president. *end sarcasm*

(Not that I necessarily agree with Obama's agenda, but for Gorb's Sake, Nathan, couldn't you try to be a bit objective once in a while?)

[Nathan Smith]

Sometimes it's more fun to mock, debunk, satirize, and that kind of thing. And useful too. By the end of Bush's second term the Bush-alienated-our-allies had been rendered completely obsolete by the Bush administration's diligent diplomacy, foreign elections that return pro-US leaders, and the Russia-Georgia war. It's time for people to start realizing that while Obama's mere election was a reminder that the US is a democracy that can hire and fire its leaders (which BDS-inspired propaganda had cast into doubt in many people's minds) and thus improved the US's standing in the world, the way he's conducting himself in office seems to be fraying ties with allies and emboldening enemies.

[Nato]

I was reading an article in Foreign Affairs complaining bitterly about the starvation of the US Foreign Service of funds and capability under Bush, which Rice apparently tried to reverse but failed to do so. I actually put it down after awhile because J Anthony Holmes (the author) had made his point and it didn't seem to be any more complex than "restore the diplomatic corps." Fine, got it.

Maybe he didn't get the memo on Bush's diligent diplomacy. Or maybe the foreign service is obsolete and unnecessary for diligence. Whatever the case, it was obvious his complaint owed to BDS.

[marlboro]

Your car can develop surface lumps when the protective coating is covered with paint which separates it from the original coat.