I see you point Catspaw49. It is a very good one. But a little less partisanship may make the difference. I remember the GOP and the press claiming that Clinton's actions against Iraq and bin Laden were to take the nation's mind off his personal problems. Imagine what a starving Iraqi or one of his neighbours would have thought upon seeing this on BBC World or CNN. These were America's so called leaders saying that Clinton's sex life was more important than their lives. The Zealotry of the GOP and Clinton's evasions BOTH made America lose faith in the eyes of the world.

The one bit of good I see coming from recent events, is that the government of the US is paying much mre attention to how the world perceives it. This can only be a good thing.