Bush is hated around the world – so long as its largest democracy doesn’t count

One of the more annoying things I hear from the lefties is their insistence that President Bush is hated across the globe, and has dragged down pro-Americanism with him.  The trouble is, they’re not really talking about the rest of the world; their talking about Europe and (if you can believe the polling, which I don’t in any dictatorship) the Middle East.  There’s only one problem with that – it completely ignores the largest democracy on the planet: India, and whaddya know, President Bush is very will liked there (Beverly Kirk, Politico, emphasis added):

But in interviews during my recent trip to India, it became apparent that Bush retains a healthy dose of popularity, at least in this significant corner of the globe, the world’s most populous democracy. Polls have shown similar results: A 2006 Pew Global Attitudes Survey found 56 percent of Indians have a favorable view of the U.S., with the same percentage saying they have confidence in Bush’s leadership.

To give an idea as to the importance of this, India’s population is over 1.1 billion people (yes, that’s a “b” – CIA), which is more than the entire European continent plus Russia (Internet World Stats), yet no one seems to notice that Bush is just about the most popular American in India.

Now, in part, this is the typical lefty refusal to accept good news, but Americans in general tend to ignore India.  This is not wise, especially given havoc in Pakistan these days.  Lest anyone forget, a nuclear-armed Pakistan under jihadist control will be a much bigger threat to India than to us, and the Indian people will become an indispensable ally should that day ever come.  In fact, I would humbly submit they’re indispensable now – and I’d say that even if they didn’t like the President so much.