Sarkozy: “Why thank you, Mr. Obama. And I see neither Malia nor Sasha inherited your or Mrs. Obama’s brains, so their futures are indeed bright.”

Will someone please explain why anyone ever thought Obama would be good at foreign policy and diplomacy?

He lived abroad. In one country. As a child. Do all foreigners look alike now? Does my holiday in Hungary give me unparalleled insight into Central European (and world) politics?

And if he’s so smart and cosmopolitan and urbane and well travelled, then why is he a monoglot?

Well, OK, but c’mon!  The dude’s wife is, like, a supermodel!  This is the standard way to compliment a guy’s wife and kid.

I mean, God help me for defending the SCOAMF, but I, for one, will not stand idly by as French cultural imperialism mocks the Leader from Behind of the Free World!

“This is the standard way to compliment a guy’s wife and kid.”

In the US, maybe, between friends who actually know each other.

But that’s clearly not how things are done in France, or most of Europe. As far as they are concerned, he just insulted their President and, by extension, the French people.

Obama represents the American people. The fact that he seems completely unable to understand the *existence* of cultural differences – let alone adapting to them - or the seriousness of his role, is disturbing and embarassing.
Humour does not travel. End of. 

Yeah, that’s one theme that might actually give me a smidgen of sympathy for SCOAMF . . . French snobbery. Also, given what the progressive transnationalists usually mean by “diplomacy,” maybe SCOAMF’s doing us a favor.

Fortnunately, Liz pulled me back from my moment of softness. The SCOAMF and his handlers largely built his candidacy around how sophisticated, educated, competent, international, cultivated, cool, etc. this clown was supposed to be – as compared to ”cowboy diplomacy” from the dunce, etc. 
  

All of you guys are forgetting something.

You’re forgetting Sarkozy’s comment about Obama a year and half or so back, when Sarkozy spoke about real leaders can’t exist in a “virtual world,” but have to govern in the real one. 

That barb stung and stuck the super, thin-skinned metrosexual with the brutal looking wife, {who was selected so he could appear to be “keeping it real”}.

This was Obama’s passive-aggressive and very public payback.  On the surface he and his flacks can deny it all; but underneath the public appearance, this was Obama’s way of trying to pay back Sarkozy.

This is exactly President Obama’s equivalent to then candidate Obama slipping the middle finger to Hillary and McCain, while being able to deny he really did it.

This guy is just a low class jerk, who because of affirmative action, was lifted into educational institutions way beyond his ability or ken.

I don’t think Obama is smart enough for this to be a payback.

I believe it is one more example of the arrogance of Obama.  We have whole sections of the diplomatic corps who brief the President before meeting with foreigners.  They go over this sort of stuff to avoid such incidents.

Obama famously has a short attention span for anything he’s not interested in – and he isn’t interested in much.  He even leaves national security briefings early.  I bet he just blew off the briefings with a wave of his hand.

Off topic, but did you know Obama waving in those group shots isn’t him saying “Hi” to anyone – it’s his way of letting the photographer know this is the last picture, he’s done with posing.  For pictures, that is.

As big a they are he still has no listening ears.

Yes, I totally agree.  I’ll have to remember to add sarcasm tags more frequently. 

I’d even go so far that it might be acceptable in a private setting between the two, but not for public consumption.