When In Moscow, Talk About The Weather

The National Security Council may want to start hiring meteorologists, for the future of U.S. foreign policy is apparently written in the skies. First came the greeting between Russian President Dmitri Medvedev Monday, which I summarize in the lead of my Time.com story on the day’s events.

Barack Obama and Dmitri Medvedev, Presidents of the former Cold War rival empires, greeted each other like old friends on Monday, with a cheery chat about the clouds. “Even the weather favors such an intercourse between us,” the Russian leader said in a Kremlin sitting room, striking an optimistic tone on a drizzly day. Obama played along. “We might as well be inside today,” he said.

Then Tuesday morning, Obama again referred to the heavens upon meeting Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin for breakfast. Looking out the window with Putin at his resplendent dacha–pool table, giant LCD TV playing a black-and-white documentary about Stalin–Obama said, “Looks good. I also want to thank the Prime Minister for arranging very nice weather.” The vast powers of the former Soviet Union know no bounds.

The weather comments did not stop there. At about noon on Tuesday, Obama gave a combination commencement and foreign policy address to the New Economic School in Moscow. “As someone who was born in Hawaii, I’m glad to be here in July instead of January,” he joked at the beginning. Indeed.

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  • anon76

    A more mature man than I could resist the temptation to remark on ‘an intercourse between us’.

    Also, MS I think you meant either “… Soviet Union now knows few bounds” or “Soviet Union knows few bounds.”

  • Exiled_At_Home (formerly neo)

    I know its early morning there MS, perhaps more coffee is needed. Your last sentence needs revision.

  • Exiled_At_Home (formerly neo)

    Damn, you beat me to it, Anon. Well done.

  • http://twitter.com/michaelscherer Michael Scherer

    yes. four hours sleep. i know.

  • Exiled_At_Home (formerly neo)

    Sorry, MS. For what its worth I thought the article to which you linked was solid. I found Kasparov’s quote quite intriguing, in which he says ““Abandon the policy of double standards and call a spade a spade. Stop pretending that the current regime under Putin is democratic and thus give it a carte blanche for further abuses.” I was arguing this point on your “Obama and the Russian Bear” thread. Putin remains the power behind the man that is Medvedev and largely is the obstacle to progressive diplomacy as he remains in a Cold War mindset, even seeming to pursue a new bi-polar international system whereby Russia and China head an opposition bloc to perceived American hegemony. We may well be entering a parallel era to the Cold War, only with the stakes, both economically and militarily, far greater.

  • deconstructiva

    MS, you don’t need to worry about spell / check. We’ll take of that for you. I hope the Moscow stores were open for Obama family shopping, avoiding that Paris “scandal”.
    .
    It’s oh yes, so hard to avoid wordplay on ‘an intercourse between us’ for more intimate US – Russian relations. Keep up the solid reporting, MS. It’s good for us too. The media needs to stay on top of this and not get caught flat on their backs.

  • deconstructiva

    Add “care” to my second sentence, oops. Spell check is not my frend.

  • pintortwo

    Let’s hope that the apparent civility of this “intercourse” tones-down the bellicosity between these two nations and, ultimately, to abandoning the Polish Missile Defense System. It just seems to me to be unnecessary expense and provocation.

  • Emil

    Dear MS,
    It’s Vladimir Putin, not Vladamir. Small mistake, but understandable since you’re on four hours sleep.
    On another note, I commend you for a very insightful piece.

  • http://theblindspotsofgod.wordpress.com lawyermommy

    have been illegally wiretapped by Shay Riley of the “Black Female Interracial Marriage blog” and not ONE investigative journalist has had to the courage of ability to uncover these digital hoodlums, these cyber fiends, these crass online Psychopath, Shay Riley aka Evia Moore aka Halima Sal Andersen.

    Shay Riley of the “Black Female Interracial marriage blog” is a serial Predator who has illegally wiretapped my phone for years. This woman activates the microphone om my cell and home phones and uses it to listen to the conversations in my life. This woman runs very many interracial marriage sites pretending to be interracially married and using the lives of legitimately married women like me as fodder for her PREVARICATION.She is married to a BLACK NIGERIAN CROOK NAMED AKBAR SHABZZ of the “Project 21 site”-.

    Why should the ability of these FELONS to access hundreds of legitimate websites and alter information enable them stay free. They continue to elude law enforcement and commit felony after felony.

    This woman is a VILE PREDATOR who in all probability molests and abuses her own children. Why can this matter not be persistently and continuously investigated by an elite journalist and the truth found out???

    Screaming BLACK POWER and running many various black power blogs should not be cover for this vile REPROBATE.

    The FBI and the US Secret Service have not been able to route this woman. See her on ww.akbarshabazz.com. When people say they look ordinary, I say WHAT DO YOU EXPECT??? A sign on Shay Riley which reads, “I am a Felon and illegally wiretap and Send Trojans and spy ware to innocent law abiding citizens computers so that I can criminally stalk them, steal from them, co opt their lives experiences and oh, yes since I am a psychopath, I probably molest my children too.”!!! NO, she has to appear ordinary to lure and assault unassuming people online and elsewhere!

    WHY SHOULD THIS WOMAN who runs hundreds of websites under numerous aliases, a fiend who listens to and records my calls even activating my microphones to follow my life and uses Trojans/spyware for my computers BE FREE?????

    Must a crime INVOLVE A CELEBRITY FOR IT TO BE RIGOROUSLY AND CONTINUOUSLY INVESTIGATED???? WHat happened to truth in journalism. Can these CYBER Bots Shay Riley, her husband Akbar SHabazz and their accomplices be capable of deceiving the slew of so called ELITE TECHNOLOGY AND CRIME INVESTIGATORS???

  • tanboontee

    Having exchanged and shared ideas, both leaders decide only to reduce the stockpile of nuclear war heads. This is as good as not reducing. After all, whatever remaining would be more than enough to wipe off our civilization if not obliterate the entire mankind.

    I have expected that much. What an incredible showmanship! What a political stunt!
    (tanboontee)

  • http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2009/07/08/president-obamas-morning-in-italy-another-day-another-palace/ President Obama’s Morning In Italy: Another Day, Another Palace – Swampland – TIME.com

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  • James, Los Angeles

    Testing out blockquote:

    BROOKS: You know, all three of us spend a lot of time covering politicians and I don’t know about you guys, but in my view, they’re all emotional freaks of one sort or another. They’re guaranteed to invade your personal space, touch you. I sat next to a Republican senator once at dinner and he had his hand on my inner thigh the whole time. I was like, ehh, get me out of here.

    Source: Think Progress » Home Page

  • James, Los Angeles

    Testing out two-paragraph blockquote:

    Earlier this week, New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote about how “the dignity code” has been “completely obliterated” in Washington, DC. Discussing the concept on MSNBC today, Brooks recalled how he “sat next to a Republican senator once at dinner and he had his hand on my inner thigh the whole time”:

    BROOKS: You know, all three of us spend a lot of time covering politicians and I don’t know about you guys, but in my view, they’re all emotional freaks of one sort or another. They’re guaranteed to invade your personal space, touch you. I sat next to a Republican senator once at dinner and he had his hand on my inner thigh the whole time. I was like, ehh, get me out of here.

    Source: Think Progress » Home Page

  • James, Los Angeles

    Testing out various link schemes.

    boldThink Progress » Home Page

    underlineThink Progress » Home Page

    underline inside Think Progress » Home Page

  • jordancfan

    Efforts Of Past And Present Russian Leaders To Affect Global Climatic Changes.

    By: Jordan C. Fan, Prophet of Environment.

    Obam’s relation with current and past Russian leaders. The following are some extremely intelligent ideas dreamed up by Ex-Soviet Dictator Mikhail Gorbachev which should also be implemented by Medvedev: Russian President Medvedev should come up with smart ideas similar to those of Ex-Soviet Dictator Mikhal Gorbachev and use them against Obama.

    (1) Gorbachev chooses beans as his favorite diet in an effort to increase his own gases therefore also the over all quantities of global “Green House Gases” to accelerate the effect of Global Warming. The result is the warming of the Silberian and Russian North Poles whereby transforming them into productive farmlands.

    (2) Gorbachev invited Barack Obama to swim with him at his Black Sea resort so that no one could see or rescue Obama when he was drowning.

    (3) Make sure his name sake Michael Jackson could receive address in Russia so that Mikhail can regain his power and live in that address.

    (4) Tatooed his own forehead with the map of the Philippines Islands thinking that could make that nation unite with the Soviet Union.

    (5) Gorbachev invited Osama bin Laden to his Opium smoking party in Afghanistan because he thought whoever has a name starting with an “O” could increase his opium production there.

    (6) Didn’t believe in the possible success of Reaganomic because Gorbachev thought Reagan was just acting.

    (7) “Tear down that (Berlin) Wall!” so that Russian tanks could roll into West Berlin.

    (8) Gorbachev thought China were only cups and dishes for drinking and eating. He was perfectly comfortable when China was rising and even enjoyed it thinking it was an act in the “Mary Poppins” movie.

    (9) Supported Soviet boycott of the Los Angeles Olympic anticipating earthquakes would destroy California. It would certainly save him money by not using nuclear missiles.

    (10) Replace Russian Black Market with his own “Free Market” to put African-American spy network in the Soviet Union out of business. Or is it really a “Flea Market”?

    (11) Endorsed the SALT Treaty thinking it was just a requisition for condiments. As a result all his nuclear missiles were destroyed.

    (12) He released nuclear radiation from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant to kill off pests roaming in the surrounding cities. Too high a dose of radiation have caused increase mutations to those pests. Their bodies have increased 1000 times in size. As a result, local residents were all being devoured by giant cock roaches and Mikhail Mouse.

    (13) Put Boris Yeltsin on top of his military tanks thinking that could make (Bor)is Yelt(sin) confessed to his (sin)s and a(bor)t his Revolution.

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