It would be interesting to chart the decline in the international image of the US. I suggest that it started slowly with the aggressive support for Israel and the Vietnam war. However, most of us then knew little about globalization, big oil, the corporatocracy and corporate influence in the legislative process. Since 2000, web sits such as InformationClearingHouse.info, Alternet.org and DemocracyNow.org are providing an authoritative view of events and issues that never reach Australian media. The loss of civil rights, the abandonment of habeas corpus, Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and the whole squalid mess of rendition and the justification of obscene tortures mean that we can never again view the US through the same rose coloured glasses. The thought that 42 percent of the population (including the President) believe in the “end days” of Revelation and the eventual “rapture” of the born again makes me very frightened when I contemplate the power in the madmen who have abandoned reason for “faith”. Ambrose Bierce define faith as “believing what you know not to be true”. Describes the invasion of Iraq very well.

America may be no paradise, and they never sold it as such. They sold it with bright lights, scantly clad high kinking dancers, fast cars, fast times, big, loud and free, with room to grow. America has held it's arms open to the world for 250 odd years and took all comers. This year they hit the 300 million mark.
They're some of the nicest, kindest people as a whole I ever met. Of course you can get knifed, shot, robbed and pick up just about any disease going. Or you can stay in Australia where nothing like that would ever happen.
If Australia had the biggest armed force in the world would it be hunkered down behind the great barrier or out in the world trying to make it a better place for all.

Perhaps I am too young to have ever viewed the US through rose-coloured glasses. I am naturally suspicious of any super-power, particularly one that acts purely in its own best interests and tries to convince the rest of the world of purity of intent through bad propaganda. Actually you could hardly call the promotion of the war in Iraq as propaganda, as few outside the US seemed to belive it.

I would have thought that the decline in support for the US started in WW2. Friends of that generation still mutter about the "over-paid, over-sexed and over here" yanks.

What scares me about the power of the US is the fervour of belief, not just of the politicians, but of the general populace. Dont know if anyone reading knows of the Dixie Chicks (US country rock band). They received death threats for making the comment "we're ashamed that the president of the USA is from texas" (forgive me, I may not have the quote "exact", but the word ashamed was used). HELLO! What do you think the reaction would have been in Australia if one of our bands had made a similar comment about Howard (or any other politician for that matter)? There's be a general laugh, and someone from the audience would yell out "bloody pollies". At worst, the media might tick them off for a couple of days. These women had their fan base cut in half, were threatened with being shot on stage, radio DJ's that played their music were fired, radio's advertised areas outside of the stations where previous fans could come to burn their CD's. This sort of behaviour is scary! And this is just over a comment made by a group of three female muso's.

The US is not a benign dictator. It actively pursues its own interests and damn anyone who stands in the way.

I've never been there but I imagine that Americans are not that much different from people anywhere else. They do have a big, loud, brassy cultural style, but just like Australia there'll be some real saints, some real toads, and a majority who fit somewhere in the middle.

Most of the stuff we tend to object to is either foreign policy, which changes with administrations, and their frightening version of capitalism, which is doing ordinary Americans as much harm as it is Australians. American companies started moving operations offshore and putting people out of work before Australian ones did.

We don't complain about their movies, TV shows, fast food, clothes, music or communications technology. Without them we wouldn't be here on this forum.

It may not be a very nice place right now, but we shouldn't think that's permanent, we shouldn't forget the good things, and we shouldn't forget that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

Don't know why I said any of that, because basically I agree with the article.

Its easy to be as nice as pie when you're at the pretty end of the consumer-capitalism pipe. The US started with a huge and bejewelled landmass that for a few centuries provided abundant resources. Those days are gone, so are alot of the resources (eg. US 48states oil production peaked in 1971) and now the US is stuck using its guns to convince other countries to swap their resources for trillions of small green pieces of paper. Playing 'lil buddy' to the planets biggest extortionist as it goes into lack-of-stuff withdrawals is going to hurt

American history is similar to ours, a bit older perhaps but still the story of pioneers, hard work, hard lives that now is the focus for immigrants who want to live the 'good life' .
For those who hate America, one could ask why hate a place that is a bit dumb but is still a democracy.
My own feelings towards the US is as a cousin who is grateful for what the Yanks did, died and sacrificed in WW2 and who help keep us safe.
The Bush years will go down in US history as a black memory, after a period of reflection I hope America retakes her shining place in the pantheon of nations.