USELESS, USELESS – AT 7:45 A.M. ET:  Is there a day that goes by without news of still one more "outreach" to the Muslim world?  Now, with all that reachin' out by a guy named Barack Hussein Obama Jr., you'd think there'd be some impact.  Well, think again.  From the L.A. Times:

A poll of global attitudes finds support strong in most nations, but approval has dipped in Muslim countries, due in part to Obama's handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Detractors also take a dim view of U.S. international decisions.

Reporting from Washington — Confidence in President Obama among the world's Muslims is slipping, according to a poll of global attitudes that also found widespread concern that the United States remained a go-it-alone nation even under the new administration.

The survey, by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project, found support for Obama had remained strong in most nations even while his approval rating at home had slipped. But in five of seven Muslim nations that were polled, he was regarded with approval by about one-third or less of respondents, and his popularity had slid over the last year.

The finding is likely to be of concern to the White House, which has worked hard to improve the American image abroad, particularly in the Muslim world.

COMMENT:  When will we learn the following?  People don't get their news directly from the event, but through media and governments.  In the Muslim world both media and governments are near-hopeless.  These people cannot be satisfied unless we hand them total victory in every respect.  They are professional victims, constantly nursing grievances and accomplishing nothing. 

The findings shouldn't bother any mature, rational White House.  Government can't simply be an international popularity contest.  I don't think the Obamans understand that.

And another thing:  Our standing throughout the world is also affected by international leftist movements that simply want to bring down the United States, in order to destroy capitalism.  They're not terribly impressed by any temporary president. 

We were endlessly told that the Bush administration had destroyed our international standing, even though a careful observer would have clearly seen dramatic gains in our relations with some key countries, like India, Japan, and the nations of Eastern Europe.  We've now had almost a year and a half of Obama.  Notice the great improvement?  I hope we've learned.

June 17, 2010