You're supposed to infer that the President is either a gaff-prone buffoon or that he's just not up to being President. If you're really cynical, you're supposed to infer that it's good that President Uppity Black Man got knocked down a few pegs, proving he's mortal after all.After passing on dinner with the French president to go on a date in the City of Light with his wife last month, President Obama took leave of his Russian hosts on Tuesday night to seclude himself in his Moscow hotel with his wife, Michelle, and their daughters.
The first family enjoyed a relaxed evening at the O2 Lounge, the super-chic, super-pricey rooftop club at the new Ritz-Carlton, although no doubt the Secret Service first cleared the place of most if not all of the swaggering tycoons and leggy models who flock to such Moscow venues.
They could not ask for a more scenic vista. The glass-enclosed O2 offers a panoramic view of Moscow, including Red Square and the Kremlin, all the more striking as the lingering summer sun sets after 10 p.m. The club is “a place to see and be seen,” as its Web site says — that is, unless you are a visiting president who after a day and a half of blinis, beluga and bilats (the diplo term for “bilateral meetings”) just wants to hang out with the clan.
The decision to brush off the Russians on one of his two nights here miffed some in the Moscow government who did not understand why he would not devote the scarce time to his hosts. Mr. Obama had dinner with President Dmitri A. Medvedev on Monday and lunch with him on Tuesday. But with the second dinner slot unavailable, he ended up having breakfast Tuesday with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, a known night owl not given to American-style early morning business meals.
The Obamas, though, wanted some downtime before getting back on Air Force One to head to Italy for three days of meetings at the Group of 8 summit meeting and, from there, to Ghana for a one-day visit.
Mr. Obama has seemed tired here, several times fumbling the pronunciation of Mr. Medvedev’s name and Mr. Putin’s title. Beginning a speech here, he mistakenly said he first met his wife in school instead of at the law firm where they actually met. And he misstated his younger daughter’s age.
If you're like me however, you're supposed to infer that the Village media is full of idiots.
The pattern is set:
ReplyDeleteThe village media obsesses over his six-pack abs, his smoking habits, his choice of restaurant, his wife's arms...and then they wonder why Obama uses new media to circumvent their clique of nattering nincompoops.
Seeing this as a threat their exclusive right to provide filtering service for his message, the village media manufactures outrage over his use of new media: Nico Pitney and YouTube town hall questions are but the opening of their new campaign.
From now on they will catalog his gaffes, play up minor foibles, and otherwise avenge themselves on him for not recognizing their aristocratic privileges.
This will provide the wingnut media with fresh opportunities to stovepipe their crazy into the mainstream.
From henceforth, whenever I read about another major newspaper dying of its own irrelevance, I shall cheer.
Well said, Matt. Well said.
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