The US used to have a moral standing in the world. How could one overweight old man destroy it so quickly?

Any question I ask you are always welcome to answer honestly, openly and completely. Whether you are American, Brit, Aussie or from Timbuctoo makes no difference to me.  I honestly get some of the most thoughtful and informed answers from those who live in other countries. You have EVERY RIGHT to say what you think. Anyone who says otherwise is full of sh** and you can quote me on that! So let 'er rip! Thank you for your reply Addb. I hope I made myself very clear here! ((hugs))

I am delighted to say TOUCHE! Junk in junk out, right? Thank you for your spot-on reply tj! :)

Wait a doggone minute! You do know it was REPUBLICAN thugs who committed the crime and a Republican prez who tried to cover it up don't you?  So why would you taint all of us? He was going to be impeached but  resigned. Now it is true that some folks thought he was heroic and wonderful and have always stuck by him. I can't help how skewed/pretzelized some people's  "moral" values are Sbf. Just remember that the MAJORITY of Americans rejected Trump and can't stand him. it's not our fault that misguided souls picked him to play the role of prez. He is not a good actor. He is not doing justice to the role.  Why are you disparaging MY moral standing and how in the he** does that relate to tricky dicky?  You didn't like Obama at all..not even a little bit? Very truly yours. :(

I was referring to the US in general, not you personally. You used a generality "The US used to have a moral standing ...", I responded in kind. The idea that America was looked up to by the rest of the world as a moral paragon is spread-eagleist chauvinism of the rankest sort. Never happened - only Switzerland ever got close to that.

I stand by the generality. FIRMLY. It was a group of Republican thugs and the prez and all the president's men who were guilty and morally bankrupt. How many of them were there compared to how many Americans at that time Sbf? To say an entire country is culpable for the bad actions of the few is ridiculous. You may feel that way of course. That's your right. How is that different from saying ALL GERMANS are hateful because of the Nazis?   Do you believe that? There were many more Nazis than there were Republican bad guys. And what the Nazis did is far more reprehensible than committing some dumbhead political act.  Should all South Africans be blamed for Apartheid or only those who participated in it? What about lynching. Does the entire country get blamed for the acts of racist KKK members? So I don't understand your view at all but it yours and I asked. Thank you for you re reply. I total disagree with thee emphatically/ entirely/absolutely. :( H owever now that I reread your reply I get where you're coming from. You never really thought much of America or Americans. It shows in your response. "Paragon of virtue"? Really? I am so disappointed.  Amazing how you can chat with someone for so long and not really know who he/she is. Isn't it?  :(:(:(:( S "Spread-eagle chauvisnism?"  That's a lot of resentment ya got there. Sadly.

Your question implied that prior to Trump, the US was considered to be morally superior in some way by the rest of the world. That's an America-centric viewpoint, part of everybody being the centre of their own universe as I've stated in many answers in the past. I'm living in "the rest of the world" and can categorically state that it wasn't.

I'm not saying that the US is actually any worse than the rest of the world, either, just that it hasn't been seen as any better. Never was - 1945 blew that right up, the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was totally unnecessary (the USSR was planning to invade Japan from the west on 15th August and Truman KNEW it). Nixon's unilateral smashing of the gold standard,  and then being caught dirty on Watergate, further besmirched the "moral standing" of the world's view of the US. Individually, Americans are just folks. So are Germans, so are Brits, so are Aussies. Neither more moral or less than anybody else.