Bob Woodward: World Doesn't See America As 'The Grown-up Nation' Anymore
Bob Woodward thinks the world doesn't hold the United States in very high regard anymore.
Appearing on the syndicated "Chris Matthews Show" this weekend, the Washington Post's most recognizable journalist said, "I’m not sure the United States has been looked at as the grown-up nation for a long time...You travel around the world a little bit, and, and there’s, there’s not even tough love for the United States" (video follows with transcript and commentary):
BOB WOODWARD, WASHINGTON POST: But on your question about grown-up, I’m not sure the United States has been looked at as the grown-up nation for a long time. I think, I think there’s a lot of negativity out there.
You travel around the world a little bit, and, and there’s, there’s not even tough love for the United States.
In the circles someone like Woodward travels in, is there ever a high regard for America?
Was there respect for this country amongst his peers when he was reporting on Watergate almost 40 years ago?
It really is nothing new that America's journalists hold her in such disregard. They've been doing it for decades.
But not all of them. The Chicago Tribune's Clarence Page wasn't necessarily willing to sell America short alongside Woodward:
CLARENCE PAGE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: And yet look how calm Wall Street has been. I mean, there, it’s, there’s a sense on Wall Street that there are a lot of theatrics going on here, but that the United States is not going to default.
Indeed.
Maybe one of the greatest measures of the respect the world has for a nation is their willingness to invest in its debt.
With all the financial distress and calamities that have befallen the globe in recent years, America's Treasury paper continues to be the universal safe haven of choice:
Above is a five year chart of our 10-year Treasury note. The vertical axis is interest rate, the horizontal one years.
For those unfamiliar, bonds and notes trade in an inverse relationship to interest rates. This means the lower the rate, the higher the price.
As is plainly evident, since the financial world turned on its ear in 2007, international investors have continually poured more and more money into our debt.
Contrary to Woodward's world view, this means that people with real money - maybe not the folks he hangs out with - do indeed see America as the grown-up.
If they didn't, they'd be piling out of our debt with both hands.
On the other hand, assuming the great-unwashed around the world aren't pleased with America, wasn't the election of Barack Obama going to change all that?
Didn't folks like Matthews and Woodward claim the junior senator from Illinois was going to radically improve our nation's level of respect across the globe?
Not at all surprisingly, this didn't come up during this discussion of the world not seeing America as the grown-up nation anymore.
Must be because that's George W. Bush's fault despite him being out of office for two and a half years.
Forgive me for even mentioning it.
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Comments
OK Bob, how about giving us
Submitted by killa37 on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 1:01am.
OK Bob, how about giving us an example of a 'grown up' nation..........and since you ARE an American, where do YOU fit in this category???
Really Bob?
Submitted by MightyMouth on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 1:04am.
What is the world going to do without the USA? As far as worldwide grownups is conserned, the Obama Admin is the most inept in generations. Mostly because the CIC is way above his pay grade.
The Thomas Friedman Elitist Method
Submitted by Chris Norman on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 1:24am.
Say crap like this and the liberals ooh and ah over your "worldly sophistication".
You mean all that bowing...
Submitted by bigdaddy on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 1:34am.
...and a$$ kissing that Barry Soetero Hussein Obama did with 2nd and 3rd world despots hasn't paid off? I'm Shocked!
WTF?
Submitted by Indie Dude on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 2:23am.
How does one man, or one group of Libs sum up the feelings for billions of people around the world about America? Really Mr. Woodward?
This kind of "journalism" lacks credibility. Only the numb would buy into what Mr. Woodward is saying.
These Libs, each day they are exposed in the new media (N.B.), the more we see just how stupid these people really are.
In Fairness Bob Woodward Is Absolutly Right.
Submitted by Avitar on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 2:57am.
Faced with an example of American like Bob Wodward would you believe he came from a mature contry. I also don't think that Bob Woodward would catch on when they explained to him that any mature country would execute a journalist who pulled what he did in Watergate.
Well he's right on one account
Submitted by gmaniac1 on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 4:29am.
Woody here I think inadvertently makes a point but not so much American society for the most part.
We have a child in man's clothing as a president. A bunch of liberal lackies that work for this child who act less mature than him or even a common fifth grader. The people that this child president associates himself with believe in solving their problems through bullying, violence, and screaming.
Oh and the Americans that voted for this child refuse to grow up and get a job, or at least a real job, are less "grown up." The blindness adulation they give this child is all the evidence anyone needs at this point. So thanks Woody for getting us conservatives to think even if you choose to generalize our country without provocation.
Woodward is clueless
Submitted by NL207 on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 4:37am.
He sees foreigners erecting statues glorifying Ronald Reagan. He sees that foreigners hold America in little regard. He concludes America is not a mature country.
Woodward's logic escapes me. Perhaps he would do well to ask of Obama's Presidency has anything to do with America's poor reputation overseas.
Yeah and he sees
Submitted by gmaniac1 on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 8:48am.
that the country of Georgia has named one of their main freeways after who?
You guessed it "George W. Bush."
So he knows more than he's leading on but you're on the money about his warped logic, clueless for sure;)
Obama's Ambassador to GB didn't deign to attend
Submitted by Blonde on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 9:21am.
I'm still chapped over that one.
If anything is to blame for our "loss of esteem" worldwide it is the Obama administration's abysmal bungling of our foreign policy.
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
I wonder if that was a slap
Submitted by Gat New York on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 9:54am.
I wonder if that was a slap at Obama. It depends on what he means by "long time."
I agree that within 6 months after Obama came to office the world view of the USA changed dramatically and we are not respected. Allies have come to the conclusion that under Obama the USA cannot be relied on at all.
I never got a sense that Woodward was an unapologetic tool of the left wing like that no-talent second-fiddle partner he once had - Carl Bernstein.
Woodward is a liar and probably a racist!
Submitted by Galvanic on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 11:04am.
We've been told by our State Department and the MSM that President Obama has restored international respect for the United States of America.
They've told us that through intelligent , science-based/fact-based policies, the winner of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize has mended the frayed ties with our allies, reached out to the Third Word, and improved relations with the Islamic world.
Obama has repaired our "brand" -- so severely damaged by the Cowboy Bush-43 -- as he leads us into a new age of global Hope & Change.
So, Woodward is obviously wrong, and his dismissal of the President's great accomplishments is biased and probably racist.
Bet this makes Obama's hemorrhoids flair
Submitted by Boudin on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 11:33am.
Albanian town celebrates Bush
Notice who published the story, certainly NOT an American news agency
Spread the news
Submitted by Franksam on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 6:06am.
Perhaps his comments will discourage the poor fools from all over the world who want to not only live here, but want to be American. You would think that immigrants would know how poorly minorities are treated here, and stay as far away as possible.
Bob deserves a mature environment, like a nursing home.
Gotta really object to this plot
Submitted by TheHistorian on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 6:44am.
In late 2010 and 2011, the Fed bought a lot of our Treasury debt http://dailyreckoning.com/files/2010/11/DRUS11-15-10-1.gif. You cannot rely on this being market stability when for the last year the Fed has bought a huge percentage of our debt.
Look at which group (liberals and conservatives) behave as grown-ups in the US. By far, the more mature behavior is from the conservatives.
The rest of the world (Europe especially) are a bunch of children. Who cares who they think are adults. You look at the emerging countries, like Poland. They like and admire Americans until BHO sold them down the river on missile defense as his "legacy".
Dennis Prager
Say it ain't so, Bob!
Submitted by motherbelt on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 6:56am.
I thought The One was going to restore our standing in the world!
I wonder why it hasn't happened....
Woodward....
Submitted by adamsmith on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 7:50am.
Just another America Hater from the Left. I thought Comrade Obamalinsky was going to make us loved by the world again, after Cowboy George made them all hate us. Under Bush we had allies in Israel, the UK, Poland, Czech Republic, and I don't know whom else he has tossed under the bus. Our enemies laugh at how stupid he is, weakening the country that elected him. I think you could rightfully conclude that the Left lives in their own little imaginary world.
When Bush was in office unemployment was around 4%( basically full employment) the entire eight years, we had 54 straight quarters of economic growth after his leadership got us moving forward from the Stock Market collapse under Clintoon, and businesses did not fear the government for their survival. AND Bush was a Progressive Republican who spent way too damn much trying to keep the Left happy. I can only imagine having a President who is business friendly and Pro American. We'd be unstoppable with a guy or gal like that.Right about now I have Archie and Edith Bunker's voices singing "Those were the Days" in my head. America has been upside down since Gore failed to concede. The Commies have been on fire ever since....
...And Bob Woodward is an expert because?
Submitted by Red Jeep on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 8:49am.
Who cares what the rest of the "world" thinks?
Without this country and its freedoms, Bob and the rest of the world would not be communicating via computers, cell phones, and all the other communication gadgets out there.
Without this country perhaps Bob and certainly millions of other people would not be as healthy as they are due to medical advancements made in this country.
Basically without the existence of this country, most of the world might be "governed by Nazi's and the Communists.
So Bob, WHO CARES what the rest of the world thinks? Without the U.S.A. life would be very unpleasant for the inhabitants of this world.
Respect
Submitted by Radical1979 on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 9:11am.
I don't have a lot of respect for other nations, so why would I care what they think of us? They may not lime us but they are certainly quick to take our money or our military protection to cover their a$$es. Only when that ends would I consider worrying about their opinions.
Some truth there....
Submitted by Slyrr on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 10:34am.
It's hard to say he's wrong when he says American isn't the grown-up anymore. Could that be because....
a) The current occupant of the White House is a snivelling, arrogant man-child with no real world experience?
b) The current party running the show (Democrats) are all a bunch of aging hippies who never grew up?
c) The media are nothing but a bunch of lying turkeys, gobbling back and forth at each other and doing nothing worthwhile?
d) Hollywood (the primary image makers in America) is dominated by hedonistic perverts, given over to drugs, booze, whoredoms, vulgarity and the indulgence of their personal pleasures?
If we want to be grown-ups again in America, we must act like grown-ups. We must stop living like children, and more importantly, we must STOP electing childish people to positions of power.
'Shake thyself from the dust; arise and sit down in dignity O, Jerusalem. Loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, o captive daughter of Zion.' - Isaiah 52:2
not to worry Bob....
Submitted by Paarl on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 11:03am.
I havent thought of the Washington Post as a grown up fount of journalism f0r decades but as a mouthpiece of the left wing establishment..
Paarl of Rhodesia
Woodward is to 'woody'
Submitted by jmigyanka@msn.com on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 11:20am.
As obama id to "d***"
Actually...
Submitted by retrocon on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 11:20am.
i don't care whether the world loves us or hates us...
As long as they respect our power, strength, and...
Oh, Obama is still in office?
Nevermind.
I love how these guys work...
Submitted by krendler on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 11:21am.
The tactic is: Attempt to give a negative opinion about the country or conservatives more credibility or import by packaging that opinion - not as YOUR opinion - but rather as the opinion of people "around the world."
Is that so, Bob? And how many people from around the world did you actually talk to about this? And what was their political orientation?
My guess is he talked or corresponded with some liberal pal in the UK and the guy bashed the U.S. Woodward liked what he heard and proceeds to talk like he's some big world traveler, just returning to the U.S. after taking the pulse of the rest of the planet.
Tired, old-looking, he should know
Submitted by StarAZ on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 11:56am.
Isn't tough love for kids--so if we don't get it, ergo...
Oh, never mind. Another gray eminence heard from.
Wow -- Only took 2 1/2 years !
Submitted by Gary Hall on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 12:04pm.
Wow -- Only took 2 1/2 years !
(;~/ gary
Gee and why might the world not view the US as grownups?
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 2:09pm.
Could it be that we spend when we don't have? Or perhaps, it's the admin demonizing those they don't agree with and crying when someone doesn't agree with the administration?
You know, like: "You're a racist", "You're a TeaBagger", "You're a right wing extremist", "You are putting a pistol to the American peoples' heads for not wanting to spend what you don't have".
The world doesn't see us as a
Submitted by AngryInOhio on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 5:23pm.
The world doesn't see us as a "grown up nation" because we don't have a grown up in the White House.
I imagine Woodhead's travels
Submitted by Dan Diego on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 5:57pm.
I imagine Woodhead's travels are similar to Joe Wilson's fact finding trips. Hang out at high priced exclusive hotels, suck down drinks on the expense acct., talk with like minded elitists and seek the answers you want to "report".
"...there’s not even tough
Submitted by celator on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 7:24pm.
"...there’s not even tough love for the United States"
This is a good example of the yellow journalism crap Woodward has been pushing his entire life. (remember his "interview with the dead former CIA director Bill Casey?). How does he know this? Where's the solid data? There's NO love for the US anywhere in the world? Nobody?
Probably not in the lefty radical literary salons in NYC and Washington.
The world doesn't even think in those terms, Woody
Submitted by SaguaroJack on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 7:29pm.
Bob Woodward is another Lefty bien-pensant, far above us riff raff. If he traveled in the lower spheres we nobodies travel in, he would find that most of the world still dreams of someday living in the USA. You'll not hear such folks talking about nations as "grown-up" or "infantile." Life for them is serious business, and America is one of the few places where a serious person can still prosper -- though Obama and Woodward and their high-flying acts are doing their best to change that.
Woodward: Another anit-American Liberal
Submitted by rono on Sun, 07/10/2011 - 11:45pm.
What's new here? This guy hates this country, just like Barry and the DNC. I wish he'd just leave and move to Canada. He'd be happier and so would we.