Friday, April 16, 2010

Dänemark: Königin Margrethe wird 70

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Schon zehn Tage dauern die Festlichkeiten. Bild: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG: Die dänische Königin, so heißt es, sei die am besten ausgebildete Königin der Welt. Und: Sie sei der Idealtyp eines Monarchen. Und: Sie sei die kunstsinnigste Königin. Zwei Superlative jedenfalls stehen fest: Margrethe II. von Dänemark ist die erste Frau seit sechs Jahrhunderten an der Spitze der ältesten Monarchie Europas. Und Umfragen bescheinigen ihr, das populärste Staatsoberhaupt der Welt zu sein. Über mehr als 30 Jahre hinweg erhielt sie Zustimmungsraten von mehr als 90 Prozent. Erst neuerdings mischen sich kritische Töne in die Begeisterung. Angeblich hoffen sogar schon die meisten Dänen, dass sie zugunsten ihres Sohnes auf den Thron verzichtet. Sie selbst gibt sich da nüchtern: Sie erfülle einen Beruf, eine Stellung für das ganze Leben.

So wird die dänische Nation an diesem Freitag zusammen mit ihr, dem Prinzgemahl Henrik und ihren beiden Söhnen Frederik und Joachim ihren siebzigsten Geburtstag feiern. Schon seit zehn Tagen läuft sich das Land dafür warm, mit Ausstellungseröffnungen, Galaabenden und Fernsehgesprächen. Die zierliche und dennoch robuste Königin wird sich nach einer Aufführung im Königlichen Theater am Vorabend mit ihrer Familie auf dem Balkon von Amalienborg und später des Rathauses zeigen, mit ihrer Kutsche durch Kopenhagen fahren und Schulkinder mit Pantomime und Chorgesang erfreuen. Bei den Auftritten wird sich die Zustimmung an der Lautstärke des neunfachen Geburtstags-“Hurra“ bemessen.

Wegen der umfassenden Flugverbote infolge der Vulkanasche konnte gestern allerdings weder das norwegische noch das schwedische Königspaar wie geplant in das „Hurra“ miteinstimmen. König Harald von Norwegen und das schwedische Königspaar Carl Gustav und Silvia stiegen auf den Zug um, damit sie wenigstens heute zur Geburtstagsfeier da sein können. Margarete war nicht zur Thronfolge bestimmt >>> Von Robert von Lucius | Freitag, 16. April 2010
Tragic Flaw: Graft Feeds Greek Crisis

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: ATHENS—Behind the budget crisis roiling Greece lies a riddle: Why does the state spend so lavishly but collect taxes so poorly? Many Greeks say the answer needs only two words: fakelaki and rousfeti.

Fakelaki is the Greek for "little envelopes," the bribes that affect everyone from hospital patients to fishmongers. Rousfeti means expensive political favors, which pervade everything from hiring teachers to property deals with Greek Orthodox monks. Together, these traditions of corruption and cronyism have produced a state that is both bloated and malnourished, and a crisis of confidence that is shaking all of Europe.

A study to be published in coming weeks by the Washington-based Brookings Institution finds that bribery, patronage and other public corruption are major contributors to the country's ballooning debt, depriving the Greek state each year of the equivalent of at least 8% of its gross domestic product, or more than €20 billion (about $27 billion).

"Our basic problem is systemic corruption," Greece's Prime Minister George Papandreou said after he took office late last year, vowing to change a mentality that views the republic as a resource to plunder. He later berated the chief of public prosecutions, saying Greeks believe "there is impunity in this country." The chief prosecutor said that wasn't so.

Greece moved closer to a bailout Thursday, requesting aid talks with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. Many investors and economists say aid would buy Greece time, but wouldn't solve its underlying problems. >>> Marcus Walker | Thursday, April 15, 2010
Highlights From U.K.'s Great Debate

Analyzing the UK Political Debate

Travel Plans Go Up in Smoke

Snuffing Out Smokers in Japan

Sarah Palin's Flexible Straw Demand Makes Her a Classic Diva

THE TELEGRAPH: The ex-governor of Alaska has joined the exalted ranks of famous people who makes ridiculous demands to look important, says David Quantick.

When Pink Floyd sang, in Money, "I'm in the hi-fidelity first class travelling set, and I think I need a Learjet," they were thinking of themselves and their fellow rock stars. They were certainly not thinking of future ex-governors of Alaska. Yet Sarah Palin's leaked demands (including three deluxe hotel rooms, a private aircraft that "must be a Lear 60 or larger", and a "bendable" straw) have made her not only the envy of our former expense-claiming MPs, for whom a simple moat is now an unattainable dream, but also the peer of many rock stars.

Palin is already the butt of much mockery (when it was learned that she receives £162,000 an episode for an eight-part show on The Learning Channel, some critics wondered if she was being paid to watch it). Now, with her absurd demands – she also, rather quaintly, requested "a wooden lectern" – the former Housewife Super Governor has crossed the velvet rope into the land of diva-ishness. >>> David Quantick | Thursday, April 15, 2010

THE TELEGRAPH: Sarah Palin’s speaking demands: ‘bendable’ straws, three hotle rooms and a private jet >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Thursday, April 15, 2010

Robert Spencer: Separating Islam From Terrorism

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Photo: FrontPage Magazine

FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE: Barack Obama has removed all mention of Islam from the National Security Strategy document, which during the Bush Administration said: “The struggle against militant Islamic radicalism is the great ideological conflict of the early years of the 21st century.” Obama apparently agrees with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who said Monday: “Islam and terrorism cannot be mentioned together, because they are contradictory to each other.”

Erdogan, incidentally, also famously said this about “moderate Islam”: “These descriptions are very ugly, it is offensive and an insult to our religion. There is no moderate or immoderate Islam. Islam is Islam and that’s it.” And that statement itself demonstrates one of the key fallacies of the Obama Administration’s stance that Islam has nothing to do with, uh, Islamic terrorism.

Now that the idea that Islam and terrorism have anything to do with one another has been relegated to the dustbin of history, it’s worth asking why anyone got this idea in the first place. Was it sheer bigotry? Racism? Let’s see. Could it have been from Osama bin Laden, who once praised Allah for the Qur’an’s “Verse of the Sword” (9:5), which instructs Muslims to “slay the unbelievers wherever you find them”? Or maybe it was from Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, who once thundered: “Islam says: Kill in the service of Allah those who may want to kill you!…There are hundreds of other [Koranic] psalms and hadiths [sayings of the prophet] urging Muslims to value war and to fight. Does all that mean that Islam is a religion that prevents men from waging war? I spit upon those foolish souls who make such a claim.”

Maybe it was from the British Muslim Omar Brooks, who said in 2005 that it was imperative for Muslims to “instill terror into the hearts of the kuffar” and added: “I am a terrorist. As a Muslim of course I am a terrorist.” Or maybe it was from the Qur’an itself, which tells Muslims to “strike terror into the hearts of the enemies of Allah” (8:60). Maybe it was from the perpetrators of the 15,000-plus terror attacks committed in the name of Islam since 9/11. >>> Robert Spencer | Thursday, April 15, 2010
War Between Israel and Hizbollah 'Imminent', US Warned

THE TELEGRAPH: A war between Israel and Hizbollah that could spread across the Middle East is "imminent", King Abdullah of Jordan has warned the US.

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Jordan's King Abdullah II in Washington. Photograph: The Telegraph

The king, in Washington for President Barack Obama's nuclear summit, gave his warning after Israel claimed that Syria had handed over Scud missiles in its armoury to the Lebanon-based Hizbollah.

His comments, which were made to private meeting of the US Congressional Friends of Jordan caucus were said to be "sobering".

Syria yesterday denied the allegation that it has provided Hizbollah with long-range Scud missiles, which would allowing [sic] them to target Israel's cities. The country's foreign ministry said the claims would be used as a pretext by Israel to raise tension prior to a possible attack on Hizbollah.

"For some time now, Israel has been running a campaign claiming that Syria has been supplying Hizbollah with Scud missiles in Lebanon ," a foreign ministry statement released yesterday said.

"Syria strongly denies these allegations which are an attempt by Israel to raise tensions in the region."

However, the statement did not appear to rule out an alternative possibility being raised by defence sources, that Damascus has allowed Hizbollah control of or access to Scud missiles still currently in Syria. >>> Alex Spillius in Washington, Richard Spencer and Adrian Blomfield | Thursday, April 15, 2010
Nazi Fairy Tales Paint Hitler as Little Red Riding Hood's Saviour

THE TELEGRAPH: Few children would identify Adolf Hitler as the saviour of Little Red Riding Hood - or recall that Snow White's father wanted to invade Poland.

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A man with a knife arrives as the saviour of Little Red Riding Hood. Photograph: The Telegraph

But these were the allegorical twists injected into classic fairy tales re-fashioned by Nazi propaganda chiefs to recruit German children to support the Third Reich.

In the Nazi film version of "Little Red Riding Hood", the child wears a swastika-emblazoned cloak as she skips through the woods and is saved from the Big Bad Wolf by a man wearing an SS uniform in a style favoured by the Führer.

Snow White's father, a minor character in the Brothers Grimm tale, is portrayed in the Nazi film as the leader of a mighty army advancing on the "eastern" enemy. The film's premier, in October 1939, came one month after Germany launched its attack on Poland.

Josef Goebbels, the propaganda genius of the regime, was quick to seize on the potential to promote Hitler to a hero and plant the seeds of racial superiority in the minds of German children, according to a new study "Red Riding Hood in the Third Reich: German fairy tale movies between 1933 and 1945".

"Every fairy tale is politically alignable without raping the poetry within," Hubert Schonger, a Nazi film producer, said in an interview in the 1930s.

But his boss, Goebbels, warned Mr Schonger and his colleagues not be too heavy handed. "Children will see through propaganda quicker than their parents ever could," he said. >>> Allan Hall in Berlin | Thursday, April 15, 2010
Barack and Michelle Obama Double Income in 2009 to $5.5m

THE TELEGRAPH: President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle earned $5.5 million (£3.5 million) in 2009, more than twice their income in 2008, despite the economic recession.

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According to the White House, the increase in earnings was due to the sales of Mr Obama's books. Photograph: The Telegraph

Mr Obama has managed to develop a political career far more lucrative than those of his predecessors.

After the first year of his first term, President George W. Bush earned $894,800 and in his last year $936,111.

In his final year in office, President Bill Clinton netted just $417,467.
The Obamas' tax return, released by the White House on Thursday - the day all Americans have to file their tax returns - showed that the Obamas earned $5.5 million last year and paid nearly $1.8 million (£1.16 million) in federal income tax.

In 2008, the Obamas made just under $2.5 million. The White House said that the increase was due to increased sales of Mr Obama's books. >>> Toby Harnden in Washington | Thursday, April 15, 2010
Couch Wars Erupt in France Over Sigmund Freud Claims

THE TELEGRAPH: Couch wars have broken out among France's leading psychiatrists after a top philosopher branded Sigmund Freud a perverse, anti-Semitic fraud who failed to cure a single patient.

It is stepping on hallowed ground to criticise Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, in a country where top analysts and philosophers are still treated as stars.

But Michel Onfray has accused the champion of the unconscious mind of lying about the success of his treatment and being a misogynist homophobe obsessed with sexual abuse.

He goes on to attack the whole exercise of psychoanalysis as the last untouchable religion revered by "stars and footballers."

"Who else would still have the time to pay in cash to lie on a couch twice a week before some guy who's half-asleep?," Mr Onfray said as his controversial book Twilight of an Idol, the Freudian Fabrication was published.

French psychoanalysts' response was immediate and fierce.

Leading the charge was Elisabeth Roudinesco, who blasted his book as "a rag stuffed full of errors and shot through with rumours".

Mr Onfray claims that Freud claims to have cured 18 patients as proof that his theories could be successfully applied. On closer inspection, however, documents prove this to be a total fallacy, he contends. >>> Henry Samuel in Paris | Thursday, April 15, 2010
Wende in Kirgistan nach Bakijews Abreise: Die Kollektiv-Führung steht vor weiteren Zerreissproben

NZZ ONLINE: Die Ausreise des entmachteten kirgisischen Präsidenten Bakijew nimmt der Übergangsregierung vorerst die grösste Sorge. Sie muss nun die Erwartungen des Volkes und der ausländischen Mächte sowie die Ambitionen ihrer Mitglieder ausbalancieren.

Das Vorspiel zum Abschied hatte Kurmanbek Bakijew, Kirgistans entmachteter Präsident, am Dienstag an der Demonstration in Dschalalabad gegeben. Ein weiterer Akt hätte am Donnerstag in Osch, der «Hauptstadt» Südkirgistans, stattfinden sollen. Doch gegnerische Demonstranten liessen ihn nicht auftreten; Schüsse in die Luft zur Abschreckung fielen, Bakijew kehrte an seinen Familiensitz zurück.

Am Abend Lokalzeit hat er den vorerst letzten Akt gespielt. In einem kasachischen Flugzeug verliess er das Land. Kurze Zeit später meldete die Organisation für Sicherheit und Zusammenarbeit in Europa (OSZE), die derzeit von Kasachstan präsidiert wird, dank den gemeinsamen Anstrengungen der Präsidenten Kasachstans, Russlands und Amerikas und unter Vermittlung der OSZE hätten sich die Übergangsregierung und Bakijew auf die Ausreise geeinigt. Weiterhin Gesetzlosigkeit >>> Markus Ackeret | Donnerstag, 15. April 2010
«Hinrichtungen» im Gazastreifen: Hamas beschuldigt zwei Männer als Informanten Israels

NZZ ONLINE: Die radikal-islamische Hamas hat zwei Palästinenser «hingerichtet», die als Informanten Israels galten. Sie wurden in undurchsichtigen Prozessen von Militärtribunalen «verurteilt». Menschenrechtsgruppen protestieren.

Die radikale palästinensische Organisation Hamas hat am Donnerstag erstmals seit ihrer Machtübernahme im Gazastreifen vor drei Jahre zwei Männer «hingerichtet», die als Informanten für Israel tätig gewesen sein sollen. Beide wurden 2008 und 2009 von Militärtribunalen für schuldig befunden und als Verräter zum Tode verurteilt. Die von Kugeln durchsiebten Leichen wurden am Donnerstagmorgen zum wichtigsten Spital von Gaza gebracht, wie ein Klinikmitarbeiter erklärte. >>> (ddp)/awy. | Donnerstag, 15. April 2010

Rights Groups Slam Hamas Executions

YNET NEWS: Hours after execution of two Gaza Strip residents convicted of collaborating with Israel, rights groups criticize Islamist organization in joint statement

Human rights organizations in the Palestinian Authority issued a condemnation of Hamas on Thursday following the execution of two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip convicted of collaborating with Israel.

The groups protested the fact that the two did not receive a fair legal process and noted that the act "was against Palestinian law which prohibits the execution of a death sentence without the authorization of the Palestinian president." >>> Ali Waked | Thursday, April 15, 2010
Heilige Stadt – auf Korruptionssumpf gebaut: Ex-Bürgermeister von Jerusalem verhaftet

NZZ ONLINE: Israel hat einen neuen Korruptionsskandal. Für die Genehmigung eines Bauprojekts in Jerusalem sollen Bestechungsgelder bis zu 15 Millionen Dollar an Entscheidungsträger in der Stadtverwaltung gezahlt worden sein.

Die israelische Nachrichtenseite «ynet» beschrieb den Fall am Donnerstag als «grössten Korruptionsskandal in der Geschichte des Landes». Der ehemalige Jerusalemer Bürgermeister Uri Lupolianski wurde am Mittwochabend unter dem Verdacht verhaftet, mehr als drei Millionen Schekel (umgerechnet etwa 850'000 Franken) angenommen zu haben.

Er beschuldigte dann laut israelischen Medienberichten vom Donnerstag seinen Amtsvorgänger, den ehemaligen Ministerpräsidenten Ehud Olmert, die Verantwortung zu tragen. Die Polizei will Olmert zu den Vorwürfen befragen. Er steht bereits wegen Korruptionsvorwürfen in anderen Fällen vor Gericht. >>> sda/dpa | Donnerstag, 15. April 2010

Verbunden mit diesem Artikel / Related:

LE FIGARO: Scandale immobilier: Olmert suspect n°1 >>> AFP | Jeudi 15 Avril 2010

YNET NEWS: Olmert denies involvement in Holyland scandal: Real estate project at center of corruption affair modified after his term as Jerusalem mayor, Olmert says; former PM slams 'character assassination' attempts against him, says he was never offered or took bribe >>> Aviad Glickman | Thursday, April 15, 2010

Jews Ruining Jerusalem

YNET NEWS: Eyal Megged wants to entrust Jerusalem in Arab hands in wake of Holyland scandal

A liquidator should be appointed for Jerusalem. The city is tainted by corruption, and this corruption creates a stench all over the capital.

As is the case in other areas, every phenomenon that becomes typical to our model state is taken to the extreme in the eternal city of Jerusalem. Only the people who live here and see how it’s being constantly sold to contractors who constantly change its face can grasp the extent of this phenomenon.

Anyone with eyes in their head realizes that without big money changing hands it wouldn’t have been possible to make the city so ugly in such manner. Only dirty money can do it.

In Rehavia, for example, the old and beautiful neighborhood is being eliminated. Every second home is being demolished, to make room for larger and more glittering homes. We should be stopping the bulldozers and cranes today, and find out whether the abysses created in place of the historic homes do not hide tomorrow’s scandals. I’m sure that’s the case. Nation of greedy contractors >>> Eyal Megged | Thursday, April 15, 2010
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Les drapeaux grâce aux Google Images.

Rencontre Israël – Paris : Sarkozy et Peres créent une nouvelle maison de l'amitié Europe-Israël

LE POINT: Le président Nicolas Sarkozy et son homologue israélien Shimon Peres ont lancé jeudi à l'Élysée une "maison commune Europe-Israël" qui réunit des fondations et associations d'amitié de l'État hébreu et dix pays européens afin de "rapprocher leurs sociétés civiles". Lancée à l'initiative de la fondation France-Israël, cette "maison commune" a pour vocation de "rapprocher nos envies, nos moyens, nos ressources et de réaliser ensemble un certain nombre de projets", selon la présidente de la fondation, l'ex-ministre Nicole Guedj. >>> AFP | Jeudi 15 Avril 2010

YNET NEWS: Sarkozy to Peres: What's your secret? : Israeli president meets French counterpart; two leaders discuss Iran, peace process >>> Gilad Halpern | Thursday, April 15, 2010
Église : Scandales de pédophilie : Benoît XVI appelle les chrétiens à "faire pénitence"

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Benoît XVI affiche une nouvelle fois sa fermeté contre la pédophilie des prêtres. Photo : Le Point

LE POINT: Le pape Benoît XVI a appelé jeudi les chrétiens à "faire pénitence" et "donc à reconnaître les erreurs commises dans (leur) vie" en faisant référence à la tourmente des scandales de pédophilie au sein du clergé. "Face aux attaques du monde qui nous parlent de nos péchés, nous voyons (...) qu'il est nécessaire de faire pénitence et donc de reconnaître les erreurs commises dans notre vie", a déclaré le pape lors d'une messe au Vatican. "La douleur de la pénitence, c'est-à-dire de la purification et de la transformation, cette douleur est une grâce parce que c'est un renouvellement", a poursuivi le pape. >>> AFP | Jeudi 15 Avril 2010
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Threatens US Over Mid East Peace Plans

THE TELEGRAPH: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran has warned he could scupper American policy across the Middle East if the Washington continues to confront his government over its nuclear ambitions.

Mr Ahmadinejad used a television interview on Tuesday night to draw a direct link between pressure on Iran's nuclear programme and its support for "resistance" - a codeword for Islamic militant groups such as Hizbollah and Hamas, and anti-American Shia forces in Iraq.

"They (the US) have security problems in the world and their influence in Iraq and Afghanistan is vanishing," he said. "They see that waves of hope, justice-seeking and resistance are rising all over the world inspired by Iran. They want to dominate the world, but Iran doesn't let them."

Mr Ahmadinejad's interview with state media was his first personal response to President Barack Obama's nuclear summit in Washington earlier this week. Iran has already issued a formal complaint to the United Nations over Mr Obama's assertion that his promise not to use nuclear weapons on non-nuclear states did not apply to Iran.

Mr Ahmadinejad said that Iran's nuclear programme was past the point of no return.

"We have progressed in nuclear technology so much that we are at an irreversible point," he said. "The US has two options. Either to continue this wrong policy, or to cooperate with Iran."

He added the real issue was not Iran's nuclear programme but its ability to stand in the way of American policy in the Middle East.

As well as being the main financial and military backer of Hamas and Hizbollah, Iran has strong links to anti-American Shia groups in Iraq, and has also been accused of supplying the Taliban in Afghanistan with weapons.

It has been attempting to put together a pro-Iran coalition in Iraq since elections last month which produced no clear winner. Even Ayad Allawi, the pro-American leader of the biggest single group in the election has sent a delegation to Tehran for talks.

"US policies in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan have come to a dead end," Mr Ahmadinejad said in the interview. "Obama has only one way to remain in power and be successful. This way is Iran." >>> Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Video Of Cops Beating Student Shocks America

YAHOO! NEWS: Footage of police beating an innocent basketball fan unconscious as he was celebrating a win by his college team has sent shockwaves through America.

University of Maryland student John McKenna was attacked after their victory over arch rivals Duke.

CCTV pictures show him skipping down the street waving his arms in joy.

He is then approached by police on horseback who stand over him before other cops in riot gear swoop and start hitting him with their batons.

Police initially claimed Mr McKenna had attacked their officers and horses, causing them "minor injuries", as they responded to reports of trouble after the game.

But the footage clearly shows he never struck out - and even tried to back away when confronted.

The FBI is now investigating the incident which left the 21-year-old needing eight staples to repair a head wound.

He was also allegedly told by officers in Maryland not to make a fuss about his injuries because they would have to fill out more paperwork. Read on (with video) >>> Sky News | Thursday, April 15, 2010
The Right-Wing Revolutionaries: Tea Party Movement Mirrors a Deeply Divided America

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Photograph: Spiegel Online International

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: US President Barack Obama came to power promising to unite the nation. Now he has divided it even more than his predecessor George W. Bush. The burgeoning conservative Tea Party movement is calling for Obama to be removed from office.

The auditorium in Tulsa, Oklahoma is silent for a moment, as the Walkers, a happy couple in their mid-50s, walk onto the stage. They manage an electronics store in the area, and they say that after being married for decades, they still love each other just as much as they did on the first day. They are here to demonstrate that love to the audience -- with a passionate kiss.

It's meant to be an homage to the old, forgotten America, the land of high-school sweethearts and beauty queens, where honesty, decency and loyalty still meant something. A land where the promise of the American dream -- that anyone could make it to the top -- still reigned supreme. There are 5,000 people -- ordinary people -- in the audience, including Democrats, Republicans and independents.

The Walkers are seated on two folding chairs, placed a respectable distance apart -- the old America was a chaste place, after all. They kiss a few times to the sound of country music. Then, suddenly, it gets very loud in the room.

Radio and TV talk-show host Glenn Beck is standing on the stage. He has just arrived from the Doom Room, which is what he calls the studio where he records his broadcasts. From there, he spreads a message of fear and dread of a new America, a place that no longer has anything in common with the land that the Walkers know and love. It is a country of poverty, deprivation and an omnipotent government, a cross between the Soviet Union and Hitler's Nazi Germany.

'I'm a Guy Just Like You'

People believe what Beck says. Beck is their hero, savior and guru. He has made millions by capitalizing on people's fears of the future. "Tulsa," he shouts into the cheering, grateful crowd, "I'm a guy just like you."

He now has two shows, a weekly radio show that airs on more than 300 stations nationwide, and a television show on Fox News, "Glenn Beck," which has 3 million viewers. He weeps, raves and yells on these shows. Every day, he warns his listeners and viewers that America has moved yet another step along the road to becoming a socialist dictatorship. His enemies are the "progressives," or the American left, who see Europe as their role model, says Beck.

The Europe he means is currently celebrating the reinvigorated US president, who achieved two historic victories in the space of a few days. After the controversial healthcare reform bill, which President Barack Obama recently managed to push through Congress, he signed a treaty to reduce strategic nuclear weapons in Prague last Thursday, a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) signed in 1991. It was a step that its signatories pledged would make the world a safer place.

It is a double triumph for Obama, in both domestic and foreign policy, and yet he has met with more hostility in his own country than almost any other president in history. According to a Gallup poll conducted in late March, Obama's Democrats have dropped to their lowest approval rating in almost two decades. Some 60 percent of Americans believe that America is on the wrong path and is headed for decline. What unites the world is dividing the country. America's Choice >>> Marc Hujer and Thomas Schulz | Wednesday, April 14, 2010