"less powerful nation in the court of world public opinion."

[madfloridian]

From Howard Dean's column this week:
SNIP..."instead of making America a stronger nation by exercising American military power unilaterally, the president has made us a less powerful nation in the court of world public opinion, and that matters a lot in the long run...."

http://www.sitnews.us/HowardDean/071204_dean.html

SNIP..."The British conference participants lauded Prime Minister Tony Blair's political skills, despite acknowledging the political trouble he's in for support of the Iraq war. There were no such kind words for President Bush. Every day, these American business people face hostility in the workplace and in their lives, simply because they are American and live abroad. One American businessman told me he felt obliged to begin every conversation with the statement that he was an American, but that he very much disliked the president. That was, he said, a great icebreaker, and after that he could discuss business in a friendly environment. It is not that Europeans are ungrateful for all we have done to help them over the past seventy years - rather, our traditional allies feel that they have been treated with public contempt by this president and his cabinet members....."