Main focus of Monday, August 30, 2010

Conservative drum rattling against Obama

Tens of thousands of supporters of the conservative Tea Party movement demonstrated in Washington on Saturday in the name of "Restoring Honor". The press labels the protest cheap propaganda against US President Barack Obama and finds this populism worrying.

Público - Portugal

The conservatives at the major demonstration in Washington are under an illusion, writes the daily Público: "The disinherited have come together to dream of a return to the past: a dangerous illusion. This was the same place where Martin Luther King announced 47 years ago that he had a dream for the future. ... Back then he called on God to build an America of all races. Yesterday God was asked to restore a white, imperialist America which no longer exists. What was said yesterday at the Lincoln Memorial is worrying for the future of the US. It shows how the crisis has reinforced an identity-seeking and fundamentalist populism that challenges even the traditions of the Republicans. But the world of which they dream won't return. ... This is what makes the illusion that feeds the Tea Party movement so dangerous." (29/08/2010)

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Il Sole 24 Ore - Italy

The protests of the US Tea Party movement could lead to the return of protectionism and sealing off the country from the outside world, writes the business paper Il Sole 24 Ore: "With the Tea Party phenomenon ... the US Conservatives are taking on new, liberalist guerrilla dimensions. The phenomenon affects everyone, starting with Barack Obama. The president doesn't seem to have found the right approach or tone for uniting the country, boosting the economy and guaranteeing the citizens' social security. ... Obama is wedged in between Tea Party supporters who accuse him of having turned the US into a socialist country and the radical Left, which is beginning to ask itself whether the White House has sold itself off to Wall Street. ... A belligerent troop of senators and congressmen sponsored by the Tea Parties threatens to drive America back in the direction of economic protectionism and isolationism in foreign policy." (29/08/2010)

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The Observer - United Kingdom

The negative mood against US President Barack Obama will not hold out on the long term, writes the left-liberal Sunday paper The Observer with an eye to the manoeuvrings of the Tea Partyists: "Midterm, the prognosis does not look at all good for Obama and his party. In the longer term, the outlook is more encouraging. The Tea Partyists are destroying moderate Republicans or forcing Republicans previously considered to be centrists - John McCain is the best known example - to move to the right in order to save their skins. The Republicans will ultimately suffer from being dragged further away from the centre. The economy will not stay this way forever. All bets are off in the event of a double-dip, but if a reasonable level of prosperity has returned by the time the next presidential election is held, Americans will be feeling better about themselves. That will put them in more of a mood to appreciate a generally impressive president whom the world regards as a credit to their country." (30/08/2010)

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