http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-20233941Quote:
Obama second term: What it means for the world
Europe will be waking up this morning with a general sigh of relief...
The BBC's Mohsen Asgari in Tehran writes: Many in Iran were concerned that a Republican win would mean war, and believe a Barack Obama victory makes life safer for the people, because the US will move quickly to set up a new round of talks over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
However, some Iranian political activists believe that Barack Obama's victory will give rise to more pressures on Iran...
Pakistan's military, which controls the country's national security policy, has traditionally felt more comfortable with Republican governments in the US. Democratic leaders, on the other hand, have tended to be rather cold towards it, due to its position civil liberties, democracy and nuclear weapons...
lol
Meanwhile, in the land of the smuggest people on earth...
http://www.spiegel.de/international/wor ... 65431.htmlQuote:
Regardless which candidate wins the US presidential election on Tuesday, neither of them has been honest to the American people about the scale of the problems facing the country. But Americans have only themselves to blame. They prefer to be lied to rather than to face the truth.
Greying and weighed down by his first term in office, Barack Obama is barely recognizable as the beacon of hope he was in 2008...And Obama too has started avoiding the hard realities that America must face...
It doesn't make things any better that the Democrat is up against an unprincipled rival who has deserved much of the criticism levelled at him. One can blame Barack Obama for this sad evolution. But one can also blame the American people. It may sound harsh, but they want to be lied to. A politician who doesn't lie simply won't be elected.
In short, he would have said that America is no longer in every respect the best country on the planet, but rather, like every other nation, a 'work in progress.'
A president dared to do this once -- Jimmy Carter. In 1979, the Democrat tried to persuade Americans to change their energy consumption. Americans didn't want to hear it. They mocked his defeatism and voted him out of office.
Ever since then, hardly any US politician has risked calling on people to make sacrifices...He hasn't initiated a serious debate about social inequality and he has said even less about the ludicrous creed that America's taxes shouldn't rise...
But America, this great country, always wanted to be more, to be a nation founded on a wonderful idea. America's founding fathers pledged that governing would be dictated by common sense. Today, citizens mercilessly punish every politician who tries to push through pragmatic yet unpopular policies. Even worse, it's enough if a candidate even mentions anything unpopular. Such as the truth, for example.
There are, unfortunately, very good reasons the French and Germans are taking over Europe...