Obamas win big on G-20 tour
As far as I can see, these big summit meetings rarely produce anything of substance. They're more about parties than policy. A venue for the world leaders to see and be seen. By that metric, I have to agree with Pearlstein. All in all, a pretty successful opening-night performance for President Obama on the international economic stage. He achieved most of what he wanted while allowing others to claim victory and allowing the United States to shed its Bush-era reputation for inflexibility and heavy-handedness. And by the standards of past summits, this one was full of accomplishment.Obama's low key approach is winning them over on the other side of the pond and just as importantly, on this side of the globe. His reach out to Lula was brilliant. I would have loved to have seen more of that conversation. Obama called the Brazilian President the "most popular politician on earth" and joked it was because of "his good looks." Adding that he "loves this guy." Smart politics. The Latin American bloc is only just realizing their power and overcoming their distaste for the previous administration and their distrust of US motives will serve us well. [h/t Comrade Black]
Obama's town hall meeting in France appears to have been equally well received by the crowd. And I read somewhere today that he received a standing ovation from the foreign journalists at a press conference. Haven't found a link to that one.
Meanwhile, Michelle Obama is the new Jackie Kennedy. The people love her even more than her husband. This story about her appearance at a British school made me as teary as she was in the video. The kids adored her. As one schoolchild said, "She said to us 'I do hugs' and just hugged us. It was amazing." She's the supermom that everybody wanted to have.
And yes, I'm shallow, so I'm a bit grumpy about not being able to find a good photo gallery of her wardrobe. This article has the best array of shots I've found so far. A big part of Michelle's charm, I think, is her easy-going attitude about fashion. She dresses like regular people. And I haven't seen it mentioned much, but I'm struck by her willingness to wear the same clothes more than once -- on the same trip even. I don't believe I've ever seen that happen and I've sort of followed fashion all my life.
Against all odds, we managed to pick a winning first couple. They've done a great job in erasing the ugly memories of the Bush years in just a couple of days. [AFP photo]
[More posts daily at The Detroit News]
Labels: Michelle Obama, President Obama, World politics
posted by Libby Spencer at 1:28 PM
8 Comments:
Libby, I couldn’t be more pleased with the change is tone as demonstrated by our new President and First Lady.
However, all is NOT good in the blogosphere. The trolls are out in force … and it shocks me that some of our progressive friends seem to relish the attention.
Here is an example of what I mean.
In fact I'm getting so disgusted with the barrage of trolls leaving comments that would seem idiotic to someone with a 45 IQ.
It seems hard to believe it's a coincidence when so many of them leave the same message "How's the hope an change working out for you, moron?" As though it's some kind of ironic snarkery to observe that decades of crooks, idiotic economic policies, pointless and interminable wars and deliberate vandalism haven' been corrected in two months.
I'm tired of living in a world with such people and I've begun to wish that they were in power again so they could all go down with the ship.
Eh, trolls. I just ignore them or learn to live them at DetNews. And of course there's the enormously handy delete function. Very satisfying to just erase their stupid comments.
Hi Libby. I don't think it's the slightest bit shallow to focus on Michelle's visit or have been moved by it. Her message to those kids was inspiring, and it says a lot about her that she would go out of her way to devote an hours-long visit to a school for low income families. It had a lot of important symbolic value, and in case you hadn't noticed she & her husband have already started to restore some of our country's prestige. Nothing shallow about that.
Now if she could just get her husband to release those torture memos...
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Let's hope this goes some way toward erasing the "old Europe" meme that Rummy and his sycophants in the press engraved in the minds of the average righttard.
Our future is right where it always was, in the geologic past: We're a bridge between Europe, Asia and Africa, culturally, economically, politically and philosophically. We can never let the no-nothing no-necks destroy that with their moronic Elks Club bar-room worldview.
It's our greatest strength, the ability to engage with everyone, and to be trusted and respected as an honest broker by all. I never thought eight years of Dubya could be undone in an afternoon, but maybe I was wrong.
Whatever he does or doesn't do here at home, he's already doing good things abroad. That includes Hillary, whom I hate.
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Dan, I was talking about wanting to see the clothes. It seems a little frivolous but I do have a life long interest in fashion, even if it's not apparent by my wardrobe.
Cosa, The more I read about the trip, the more impressed I am by what they've done here. I get the same sense from it. That somehow in one day, they've almost erased eight years of bad will. I've always thought one of the most important functions of the prez is statesmanship and we got a twofer with the Obamas.
Libby, I’m big into fashion. I just love it. I think Michelle will come into her own and be like a Jackie Kennedy. I’m sure my fellow conservatives will chide me for THAT! But I have to say what I believe… I have to stay true to myself. I found a web-site that you might find interesting
Michelle Obama Watch
A lot to admire about Michelle. Thanks for the link Pamela.
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