Bush heads to Europe

Bush has a lot on his plate for his Eurotrip , yet I have my doubts about the amount of progress that will be made in trans-Atlantic relations. I especially have my doubts about this statement by Bush:

"We do not accept a false caricature that divides the Western world between an idealistic United States and a cynical Europe. America and Europe are the pillars of the free world," he said. "We share the same belief in freedom and the rights of every individual, and we are working together across the globe to advance our common interest and common values."

Of course, we all know the president has to say those kinds of things, but as far as I can tell, Europe has indeed been pretty cynical of late over matters pertaining to global security threats and the like. Also, that last part about "common interests and common values" is quite far-fetched. If anything, our interests and values have grown further apart over these last years. Europe clearly embraces a very secular, humanistic outlook on life, whereas the Bush administration takes a very hard-line approach to world politics, a viewpoint rooted in conservative Christianity (in other words, seeing things as black and white, right and wrong). Both viewpoints get you in trouble at times, I certainly do not mean to advocate for one over the other. However, when you're dealing with such serious threats as Iran or North Korea, or this new thing over democracy in Russia (or lack thereof rather), it is probably best not to wax and wane too much. We definitely don't want the "evil ones" to be walking all over us. But then again, that's just my opinion.