To think never again can Americans badge themselves as the good guys

Yes, they do. They will always be viewed with suspicion. Rightly so, with the swing to the far right in German politics currently.

Indeed. Most of the world hss never thought of America as the good guys. Just the sanctimonious ones.

What Gaza was bombed yesterday with 400 people dead and 600 injured. Netanyahu says that he will not stop until Hamas is destroyed which means everyone in Gaza is dead and the 6% of the buildings left standing are destroyed.

overnight Russia attacked power plants and civilians.

How Is this ending the war? How is carving up Ukraine with Russia without any input from Ukraine stopping the war?

history will show that this was the start of the rise of fascism in the US and it’s creep into irrelevance. However in it’s death throes. May cause repercussions around the world. The Europeans can provide a buffer against the excesses of the US but there are so many people trying to spoil this buffer like Le Pen, Farage, Orban and Meloni.

As the west slides into irrelevance the East and Africa will rise and they will do it without the pugilistic aggressive colonial expansionism that characterised the rise of the West.

Why would you think that Americans care what you think? They think America is the world. Very few Americans ever leave the country, their education on anything outside America is poor. They don't care what you think.

Countries aren't good guys, in general. They do what they think they need to.

There is a whole new world paradigm and power axis emerging at the moment, and I think it will look ugly from many perspectives. This is both an economic and military realignment. Much of Europe and countries like Canada are becoming less relevant and are starting to see, now, that they have put themselves in a situation where they can't seem to influence what is going on. It's been projected for decades that power is going to move East and the Americans seem determined to situate themselves within that new set of power players, as well as realigning their economy in a really significant way.

Will it work, who knows, but I find the "good guys/bad guys" stuff pretty tedious and naive. It's only our own fault that we are so impotent now, and the fact is that we have relied on American military power and - along with the rest of the world - the power of the American dollar to keep the global economy moving. And the people who control the infrastructure are always the people who have the ability to affect things, and those that don't, don't.

The Democrats and the left more generally, as far as I can see, have been totally complicit in all of this. Outside of the US the left has been the most active in preventing investment in the military, for example. And within the US, it almost seems like they have been trying to make themselves unelectable - many Trump voters were also people who voted for Obama, and backed Sanders. It's hard to know if th Democrats were somehow colluding to get Trump elected, or if they are just that fucking stupid.

I think if you know their actual history - which many in USA don't seem to - you know that them being the good guys was never true and the perception was always due to their propaganda and projected soft power.

This covers it - as well as some of their other problems by looking at collapse of previous empires from history.

As everyone else said, the USA has never been the good guy.

Although, nobody is the good guy. All nations act in their own interests. Politicians talk about good and evil in order to justify harmful acts.

As for Trump, his previous administration was responsible for fewer deaths than Obama's. And as far as Ukraine is concerned, the damage there was done under Biden, driving closer ties between NATO and a Minsk Agreement country.

You know of the Tolerance Paradox?

I wonder how history will show this period.

On the one hand the Musk/Trump double act is terrifying with lots of obvious parallels to 1930s Germany.

On the other, they do seem to be getting things done. If they can end the conflicts in Israel and Ukraine, which they seem to be closer to than anyone else has been...?

Don't get me wrong I think their methods are appalling and it's beyond me why anyone voted for Trump or why Musk has been allowed so much power, but it's is all very interesting.

Are talking about OP and those agreeing with her? Because that’s where I am seeing the sanctimoniousness. Also the intolerant and vicious vengefulness of wishing of harm on those with different political views.

And no I don’t support Trump. I also don’t support the rank hypocrisy and intolerance that I see in people like OP.

I think they got that from us! (the UK. Well, England, really.)

There are millions supporting Reform based on FB, X, The Express and the Mail. They are mislead and lack some critical reasoning and thinking skills as well as a good dose of empathy. Hopefully, seeing how Trump is destroying democracy and heralding chaos and a fascist state will make people change their minds in countries such as the UK, France, Germany and Hungary. But maybe not, knowing human nature that ensures that people do not want to think that they are wrong.

America is greedy. They always have been. Murderous land and resource grabbing greedy feckers.

Agreeing with many others. USA have been the baddies for decades. They gloss it over with their amazing music and films and glamour and beautiful holiday destinations of every kind. But they are war mongers.

Look at what they did to civilians in Afghanistan and Iraq, a lot of the world haven’t seen them as good guys for a long long time.

God will forgive them of all their sins 😉

It might be a good idea for you (in fact everybody) to watch extracts of episode 2234 of Joe Rogan where he interviews a tech billionaire called Mark Andreessen. Like Musk, both of these people were avid democrat supporters a decade ago. So what changed?

Listen in particular to his comments on AI startups, Debanking, and PEPs (politically exposed people) and how the Obama and Biden administrations implemented this. It's probably one of the best interviews I've ever seen in my life.

On a wider note, I've come across a great analogy recently regarding what the mainstream media reports and the actual reality. Someone said it's a bit like the Narnia story, you can be in the spare room and see the wardrobe, and you can be in that room all your life without opening the wardrobe door, like many people are. But as soon as you open the door there is no going back, you can't unsee things.

YANBU. I really feel for all the decent, moderate, intelligent Americans out there who must be utterly despairing.

The Democrats needs to urgently focus on a good candidate for the next GE. Somebody male, charismatic and likeable.

'Badge themselves' ?

They never were

When did anyone other than Americans think this?

Totally agree OP.
No more of their endless dramas either where the US is portrayed as valour’s minion.
They can all fuck off as far as I’m concerned.
The only thing which would restore a shred of respect from me would be if they oust trump and maga, which I think would mean civil war which of course putin would love just as much as the current debacle.

Cambodia anyone? How that fucker Kissinger got the Noble Peace Prize fuck only knows.
They put Saddam Hussien in control of Iraq, thinking they could control him, they would get all the oil, he then went rogue...

People (quite rightly) don't think of Germany as the bad guys due to WW2, do they?