Rift With Germany Is Next on Diplomatic Agenda | Gainesville.com | The Gainesville Sun | Gainesville, FLGermany doesn't provide us with oil. There's no real threat there. Obama can blow 'em off at leisure. (It'd be a dumb thing to do - but it'd be typical.)DRESDEN, Germany - After mending fences with the Muslim world in Cairo on Thursday, President Obama might want to keep his diplomatic tools handy for his stopover here, to repair his increasingly strained relationship with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
A rift has quietly opened up between Germany and the United States, marked by official statements of harmony and private grumbling. It is not an outright crisis in relations, but there are underlying tensions and disagreements on matters ranging from the global economic crisis to the future of inmates held at Guantánamo Bay.
And he's already started ignoring France.
Barack and Michelle Obama decline dinner with the Sarkozys - Times OnlineAh - well, who cares about France anyway? They don't have oil, and they're not an Islamic state (yet) - so they can be blown off without real consequence also...The Obamas turn up in Paris this evening, but have declined a dinner invitation from the couple next door: the Sarkozys.
President Obama's reluctance to spend more than minimum time with the French leader on his visit for the D-Day anniversary has come as an embarrassment to the Elysée Palace.America's First Family will not be dining with President Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni, even though they are staying at the residence of the US Ambassador, yards from the Elysée apartments where the Sarkozys spend their weekends.
Must be more of that magical Obama 'diplomatic expertise' in action. Ignore your friends, grovel to enemies. Yeah, that'll work real well long term...
J.