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March 13, 2009

Restoring Our Place In The World

After last week's brilliant and suave handling of Gordon Brown, the Most Competent Administration Evah now welcomes Brazil in their own unique style

RIO DE JANEIRO -- His meet and greet with the U.S. president was bumped to Saturday, and when the White House announced his official visit, they misspelled his name.

But when Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva becomes the first Latin American leader to sit down with President Barack Obama this weekend, he brings undisputed clout.

...Brazil has become a major U.S. trading partner, with cautious economic policies that have helped it weather the crisis better than almost all other major economies. With huge new offshore oil finds and abundant ethanol, Brazil could be key to helping wean the U.S. off Venezuelan crude and shift to cleaner energies.

Still, the White House made several moves interpreted as snubs by the Brazilian media.

Silva aides said the trip was pushed forward from Tuesday because of the St. Patrick's Day holiday - making Latin America once again look like an afterthought. Then, the White House announcement misspelled his name as "Luis Ignacio" and put "Lula" - a nickname that decades ago became a legal part of the Brazilian leader's name - in quotes.

The White House quickly corrected the mistake.

Gosh, I really sleep like a baby* at night knowing that our country is in such competent hands.

(h/t HotAir)

*meaning I wake up crying every two hours and reach for a bottle...

Posted by Mr. Bingley at March 13, 2009 03:24 PM

Comments

I guess "repairing our image around the world" somehow means making friendly countries hate us as much as our enemies. Y'know, for balance.

Posted by: Gunslinger at March 13, 2009 05:09 PM

I wonder if it's too late to move to Australia. Do they hate us there yet?

Posted by: Eric at March 13, 2009 06:25 PM

Here's another example of Obama's campaign to restore foreign diplomacy....

It took John Kennedy more than a year to precipitate a military standoff with the Soviet Union over Cuba in the 1962 missile crisis. It’s taken the Obama Amateur Hour less than two months.

I recall the 1962 crisis.....and I was only 5 years old. It scared the bejesus out of my parents, and Dad was a WWII fighter pilot.

Thanks, Obama, for all that Hope 'n' Change™.

Posted by: JeffS at March 14, 2009 10:16 AM

Tim Blair has plenty of room on his couch, Eric.

I hope.

Posted by: Mr. Bingley at March 14, 2009 11:02 AM

I wonder if my house could secede from the Union. What I save in property taxes should cover the extra cost to deliver utilities services across foreign lines.

Posted by: nightfly at March 16, 2009 02:04 PM