Well the dislike of Bush is certainly nothing to do with inferiority...I think we can safely scotch that canard along with the one that goes 'they're just jealous'. It's the kind of thing someone says when they don't want to address the real issues. For these people, a glib dismissal is far more preferable than self-examination. So let's consign that view to the waste paper basket. There are plenty of our US friends who are more than ready to discuss the real issues anyway.
Nope, there are lots of 'real' reasons for the view 'against' Bush (by which I mean viewpoints that Eropeans actually hold, rather than viewpoints imagined by professional 'expert' rent-a-quote hucksters). I personally don't hold any of these reasons that close to my heart, I'm just passing on 'the word on the street'.
First on the list is Bush's grasp of global politics, as exemplified by 'you're either for us or against us'. Now, regardless of how US citizens might see it, many see this as an incredibly stupid thing to say. Really bloody stupid, in fact. And when they are the words of the world's most powerful man, well.....he made a lot of nations think of him as a playground bully and he has only himself to blame for taking that line. No wonder that a lot of nations simply thought 'f*** off'. It's a plain response to the man himself, along the lines of 'alright, if you want it that way, we're against you'. Like I say, a really bloody stupid thing to say.
Secondly, not fully signing up to the Kyoto thing left a bad feeling. When people were looking to the US to take a stand/lead the way to the future, and demonstrate to the world a set of good honest principles, Bush turned round and says 'I'm doing what's good for the US, not what's good for the world'. OK, that's up to him, but a lot of people took this as confirmation that Bush was in no way interested in the environment. This view was given a lot of early fuel by Bush's opening up of the ANWR for oil-drilling. The Kyoto thing underlined this view. This can't be undone, people who wish to protect the environment will not find anything good to say about him. He's lost that one, and again he has only himself to blame for the line he took.
Thirdly, the manner in which Bush won the election raised a lot of questions. This meant a lot of close examination in the media all over the world. Many, rightly or wrongly, reached the conclusion that there was something fishy going on, or at least were rather suspicious. Once someone reaches that viewpoint, they are going to doubt pretty much whatever Bush does. I'm afraid that situation cannot be helped...some people will always have the view that he tricked his way into power. That's just something he will have to live with. That is not his fault at all though, unless you believe he did trick his way into power.
That's just a few things. The other thing to remember is that by virtue of his position, and the position of the US, there are people who will always think he's a prat anyway, even if he were the best president ever.
My own views:
Bush is in bed with big business, as they bankrolled him to the presidency and he owes a lot of favours.
Bush is trying to get the rest of the world on his side, with some kicks in the shin from our Tony. I think he could have got UN backing for the Iraq thing, but for France and Russia. But there will always be those who are just plain against war, even if it is absolutely necessary. We had them in the UK when we were squaring up to Mr Hitler. Deal with it, don't just say 'oh they're jealous'.
Anyway, that's my view.
