What's long fascinated me about this is how our mainstream media echoes the current Serious People view of foreign countries and leaders. One understands why the executive branch, and to a lesser extent Congress, might pick good guys and bad guys even if their justifications for doing so aren't exactly valid or consistent. But the mainstream press echoes such views almost perfectly.
Though, frankly, the major difference between how countries are treated doesn't depend on them being "pro" or "anti" American, it's whether they're right or left wing.
