President Bush Has Serious Image Problem in the World
LIN: Well, some call it the ugly American syndrome. Others just put it down to envy. Whatever the case, it's evident President Bush has a serious image problem in the world. Now at best, his critics see him as arrogant, aloof and distant and at worst, they see him as a dangerous fool. In our hot topic tonight, CNN's Bill Schneider reports.</s>WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): In 1958, Vice President Richard Nixon went to Venezuela and was confronted with rampaging protesters. This month, President Bush went to Chile and found the same thing. The ugly American syndrome is back. The rest of the world just doesn't get President Bush, not even America's closest ally, the British. Look at the London newspaper headlines after Bush won reelection? How can 59 million people be so dumb? Oh, God. Polls taken in 23 countries this fall found Kerry favored over Bush in 22 of them, usually by overwhelming margins. Bush was narrowly ahead in Poland. Next week, President Bush will be making an official visit to Canada, a country that's supposed to understand the</s>U.S. GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Looking forward to bringing the greetings of my great country to your great country.</s>SCHNEIDER: But do they?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we've got a lot of issues to discuss in terms of North America and also in terms of the world.</s>SCHNEIDER: Two thirds of Canadians say their opinion of the U.S. has worsened over the past four years. Two years ago, a top aide to former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien resigned after she was overheard calling President Bush a moron. Chretien was forced to state that President Bush is quote, a friend of mine. He's not a moron at all. This year, Canadian member of parliament Carolyn Parish had this to say about President Bush's missile defense plan.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are not joining the coalition of the idiots. This month, Parish was shown on the news stomping on a G.W. Bush action figure. Prime Minister Paul Martin threw her out of the liberal party caucus. The U.S./Canadian relationship clearly needs repair. What kind of reception might President Bush get in Ottawa? President Ronald Reagan addressed the parliament there in 1987. He got heckled.</s>FMR. PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN: In Nicaragua, we see such a campaign on our own shores. Is there an echo in here?</s>SCHNEIDER: Some Canadian political activists are debating whether President Bush could be indicted under Canada's war crimes act. If so, the president could be facing arrest the minute he sets foot on Canadian soil.</s>SCHNEIDER: What the polls have been measuring in countries all over the world is anti-Bush sentiment, not anti-American sentiment. People overseas have always insisted that they're critical of Bush, but not necessarily anti-American, although now that a majority of Americans have voted to re-elect President Bush, that distinction may get harder to maintain. Carol.</s>LIN: You make a very interesting point in your piece. I mean you don't really expect that President Bush would ever be arrested in Canada, do you?</s>SCHNEIDER: He will not be arrested in Canada. The government wouldn't dare do such a thing and in any case, lawyers say that if he is the official representative of another government, on an official state visit, he is immune from prosecution. But the view among many experts is, if he tries to go to Canada six years from now on say a fishing trip, he may be in trouble.</s>LIN: Really? Wouldn't that be a story? All right. What was that doll stomping episode? I mean did she really do that with the intent to cause political damage?</s>SCHNEIDER: No, she did it as part of a satirical Canadian television show, an hour and 22 minutes, but it was released to the news media and broadcast on the news media before the satire was ever shown and that got her in trouble and thrown out of the party caucus before this satirical show got on the air.</s>LIN: So Bill, do you think Americans have good reason to be concerned about the president's image abroad?</s>SCHNEIDER: Well, yes, his image abroad is not good and he's not a popular figure in much of the world and there is repair work to be done. Much of the world doesn't trust him and the answer can be in a single word, unilateralism. They think the United States has turned unilateralist under President Bush. He acts alone without really enough consultation with other countries, unlike his father in the Gulf war, unlike most other presidents and many other countries resent that.</s>LIN: But some Americans might say, well, you know what, so what, that America goes it alone. We pay most of the bills anyway internationally, so why not fight our war the way we want to fight our war?</s>SCHNEIDER: And you know what, it obviously didn't bother Americans too much that Bush is not a popular figure abroad.</s>LIN: All right. Bill Schneider, thank you very much. That leads us to our last call tonight folks. We want to ask you, are you concerned about the president's image abroad? Give us a call at 1 800 807-2620. And Julia Roberts. Well, she's resting tonight after giving birth to twins earlier today. We've got the details coming up. And the debate over using marijuana for medical purpose hits the Supreme Court this week. We've got details straight ahead in wrap sheet.