We Are Alien Too

TW: Mr. Silver has traveled to Copenhagen this week for the climate summit. His brief observation reminds us the narrow and convoluted prisms through which we view the world and the world views us. Folks look at American somewhat cross-eyed and no doubt marred with bias and disinformation. And the U.S. for better or worse is huge and sufficiently important to receive concentrated attention. Our views of other countries are similarly biased and based upon limited information and further distorted by our attention being diffused across numerous allies, frenemies and foes.

From Nate Silver at 538.com:
"...I did have a good conversation with a couple of Brits while waiting in line for my NGO badge. They were very bright and keyed in -- they run a green taxi company in London -- but I was surprised at how confusing they found American politics to be. How can the Senate require 60 percent to pass something? How can Delaware have as many senators as New York? What's up with the whole electoral college thing? How can Obama go from 70 percent popularity to 50 percent in a half a year? Could Sarah Palin really become President someday? The Guardian, among others, has some very good Washington coverage, but I think there's an opportunity for one of the UK dailies to provide a Washington column that's specifically geared toward a British or European audience: we tend to take for granted how freakin' weird our politics can be to the rest of the world.
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/12/copenhagen-dispatch.html