Monday, April 20, 2009

Another one day overseas photo op

"President Barack Obama scored high marks in his first meeting with Latin American and Caribbean leaders, but the 34-country Summit of the Americas was largely inconsequential, and its final resolution a joke. . . .
Obama won near unanimous praise from hemispheric leaders for Zen-like willingness to listen, and reach out to U.S. critics. . . .
As for the 97-article final declaration of the Trinidad summit, it is so ridiculously long and full of contradictory statements or meaningless agreements -- ''we are determined to intensify our fight against poverty,'' reads a typical one -- that I came across almost no senior official who was taking it seriously. . . .
All we have is a new U.S. president who has made a good impression in Latin America -- which can be a good thing if it leads to more ambitious regional agreements in the future, and pretty meaningless if it doesn't."

http://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/columnists/story/1007901.html

That says it all so far . . . we have a new U.S. president who makes a good impression, but accomplishes little else. Maybe next time, he can send his secretary of state, stay home, and get something done besides mugging for the cameras.

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