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.President Obama later explained to Russian oppositionleaders: "I think it's very important that I come before you with some humility.I think in the past there's been atendency for the United States to lecture rather than listen." A few months earlier, Secretary of State Hil aryClinton had famously presented Russian leaders with a button that she thought read "reset" in Russian (asin resetting our relationship with Moscow).Instead, the Russian word stamped on the button meant"overcharge." If President Bush's team had found themselves similarly lost in translation, they would stil behearing about it.* July 18, 2009: Secretary of State Clinton told India: "We acknowledge now with President Obama that wehave made mistakes in the United States, and we along with other developed countries have contributedmost significantly to the problem that we face with climate change."* November 13, 2009: Obama spoke in Japan of the importance of multilateral organizations in buildingsecurity and prosperity throughout the Asia-Pacific region.Referring to himself as America's "first Pacificpresident" (Isn't California on the Pacific? Wasn't Ronald Reagan governor of California?), PresidentObama said, "I know that the United States has been disengaged from these organizations in recentyears," but promised to do better if given a chance.THE DIARY OF PRESIDENT SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTONWASHINGTON, D.C.January 31, 2009Hel o, America! It's 3 a.m.Do you know who's answering the phone? An overinflated egomaniac who doesn'tknow the first thing about foreign policy, that's who.Yesterday, a team of us tried to educate the former senator from Il inois about the dangers we face in theworld.He had that same deer-in-the-headlights look I remember so wel from the debates--his eyes would glazeover whenever I would point out how his stance on foreign policy was going to weaken America.I thought it wasimportant for him to understand that there are bad people out there who do bad things.Of course, I know he won't listen to me.Bil once told me that no politician ever takes advice from someone hedefeated.And he's probably right.So Jim Jones and I summoned some of the "best and the brightest" types from NSA to brief him on the keycrisis points.I told them to keep it as simple as possible.They wanted to know whether the kinds of briefingsthey give me would suffice.Ha! I told them to imagine briefing someone who reaches for his BlackBerry duringyour introduction and wil be halfway through a game of Tetris by the time you've made your second point.Sure enough, almost as soon as we started, he glanced at his watch and pul ed out the BlackBerry, feet up onthe table.I was signaling to the NSA guys to speed things up and to simplify the data, but it was too late.Professor Gandhi cut us off with a predictable routine: "Calm down, Hil ary.Remember, we've got to drop thecombative language and build bridges.There are no enemy states, just world leaders who haven't met us yet.Let's al locate our inner peace and commit to spread that peace to al those we meet.Politics is about peopleand I have a way with people."We tried to stay on track and get the message across to him, but he pushed that stupid button on the desk heuses to cal Biden in to break up meetings.(He thinks this is a big state secret, which shows how wel heunderstands Washington.Bil used that same button to cal Podesta in to break up his meetings.) So we had toleave.Anyway, the whole thing was embarrassing, and there is no doubt that the man is in over his head.Does hereal y think the Europeans like him any more than they liked Bil ? Fat chance.And as for Michel e (his "secretdiplomatic weapon"), it's only a matter of time before she and Carla Bruni get into a diva smackdown Dynasty-style! It's so obvious that Michel e is jealous of me.She's probably already started picking her campaign staff foran Il inois Senate run.Copy cat.These other countries are going to rol her husband every chance they get.And I just know the right-wingerswil go nuts, and we'l get hammered in the elections.Oh, wel.Stupid Democrats.I tried to warn them.By the end of his first year in office, President Obama had gone out of his way to criticize former U.S.foreignpolicy in Western Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, Russia, and Asia.That pretty much covers the entireworld.Fortunately for President Obama, we are not in contact with life on other planets, or he would have had toapologize to them as wel.(I can hear him addressing the United Federation of Planets right now: "Too often, wehave viewed your precious and invaluable habitations as nothing more than a wasteland to be 'explored.' ")THE DIARY OF FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMATHE WHITE HOUSEApril 20, 2009So I've been reading the press accounts of Barack's foreign tour--what a bunch of nonsense! All this stuffabout how he's been "apologizing" to everyone! That's so wrong.In every speech, he includes a wholeparagraph about the greatness of America, and how we've helped the world, and so forth.That's an apology?I told him: You haven't apologized enough! This country needs a president who will apologize.We have alot to atone for.Makes you wonder if he was listening when Reverend Jeremiah was preaching.What aprophetic voice."U.S.of KKK"."God damn America".Amen, amen.Being the supportive wife that I am, I shared with him some of the things I learned about American historywhile I was at Princeton--things that aren't normally taught in America.well, they're taught at good schoolslike Princeton, but they're not taught to enough regular Americans.But he didn't seem all that interested--heacted as though he had heard it all before.Whatever.He's never been serious about his studies.But I wouldn't let him off that easily.I explained that we should use our high office to tell the truth about allthe bad things this country has done.He started giving me a list of excuses about domestic politics, andwhining about how the Republicans would criticize him.I said, "Barack, you need to be asking yourself what'sthe right thing to do." He started to say something about polling, parroting Axelrod's advice, and how Hillarywasn't on board with his apology strategy.But I wasn't going to let him turn a moral argument into a discussionabout political tactics.Plus, Hillary is just jealous of me anyway.Just when I had Barack cornered, Bidencrashed in and said they had to run off to another meeting.Who does that old fool think he is, waltzing intothe Oval uninvited when a wife is talking to her husband? When I'm president a senator, I won't put up withsuch nonsense.The apologies continued in 2010.Most recently, President Obama held an embarrassing summit withPresident Felipe Calderon of Mexico in which he and other Democrats cheered Calderon's attacks on Arizona'snew immigration law--a law that is overwhelmingly popular in the United States.Now leaders from othercountries feel free to come here and denounce our laws.But why shouldn't they denounce us? They are merelyfol owing the president's example [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]