Apparently, hattip to Gateway Pundit, our President isn’t sure who the President of France is since he sent a note to former French President Chirac, and Sumo I do hope you are fully recovered, with this sentiment in it: ‘I am certain that we will be able to work together, in the coming four years, in a spirit of peace and friendship to build a safer world.’ The current President of France is not amused.
For the benefit of any Obama staffer who may come across this, the current President of France is Sarkozy. Your boss has had his picture taken with him. He has a supermodel new wife. There are no poodle bite mark scars on him. There, never let it be said that I am unwilling to help the new administration!
Donald,
Can you say with certitude that Sarkozy possesses no poodle bite scars? Didn’t think so.
/
You got me there Daledog!
“You’ve seen one Frenchman, you seen ’em all.
So the photo is of……… two Frenchmen? 😉
“You’ve seen one Frenchman, you’ve seen them all.”
So your photo is of……….two Frenchmen? 😉
Oh my. First hunch is to question the veracity of the story because while I can believe Obama is that inept, I can’t believe that there wasn’t someone along the line who didn’t know better. I mean, even if the presidential staff is sub-par, someone had to know who the president of France is. If they did know and it was a calculated move to snub the sitting president and give props to a fellow traveler, it would not only be a stupid thing to do, but a frightening insight into the “new kind of diplomacy”.
Hmmm, I’m wondering if it is the latter. There are examples of the far left in this country abusing common sense and violating diplomatic protocol in order to favor their foreign comrades. i.e. Kerry and Harkin coddling Ortega. Teddy Kennedy offering to assist the Soviets by politically opposing the President and essentially being a publicist for them.
This wouldn’t rise to that level, but it is a huge blunder regardless of the circumstances.
“So your photo is of……….two Frenchmen”
Ah Don, if only it were so!
Rick, in regard to your comment I would actually prefer that it be a simple act of incompetence. If not, I hope Obama can find an advisor who can define “diplomacy” for him. A liberal Democrat President who can manage to get a President of France mad at him obviously needs lots of help in this area.
I have to admit I’m a bit disappointed. It appears there is another more likely explanation – Obama was writing in response to a letter from Chirac regarding Chirac’s new foundation. This is the supposed word in the French press, but then, given the current state of under reporting throughout the “news” world, who knows what really happened…
http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/03/23/obama-writes-letter-to-chirac-blogosphere-goes-crazy/
http://www.examiner.com/x-2086-NY-Foreign-Policy-Examiner~y2009m3d23-Foreign-Policy-why-is-Obama-writing-to-Jacques-Chirac
There are more if you simply Google the matter. It might not be a brilliant political move, but it doesn’t seem to have been as completely idiotic as we might prefer to think.
I think you are right Cheryl, although the letter does still strike me as odd in its wording. Either the staff work was sloppy, or Obama was trying to get a dig in at Sarkozy, since he and Chirac have hated each other since 1995 when Sarkozy backed a rival of Chirac’s for President of France.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3673102.stm