News you can abuse

Found this on MSNBC.com this morning


...because they plan to conspire with Iran to circumvent any sanctions anyway.

It Couldn't Last

It seems my optimism was premature. Obama sent a letter to former French President Jacques Chirac expressing his certainty that the two of them will be able to work together in the coming four years. Why he is eager to work with the former French president and not the current one, Nicolas Sarkozy, I don't quite understand.

The Volokh Conspiracy is more charitable, suggesting that we should look at how the letter was addressed. He may have been writing to Chirac about his new foundation; The Jacques Chirac Foundation for Sustainable Development and Cultural Dialogue.

Reuters indicates that Obama's contact with former heads of state prior to engaging the current ones is not new.

In any case, this is not encouraging after the embarassment of the Gordon Brown visit--which keeps getting worse. The DVD set Obama gave him was for the wrong region.

Obama's Diplomacy Gets Low Marks In Britain

Ouch. There's not much more than can be said.

We get the point, sunshine: we're just one of many allies and you want fancy new friends. Well, the next time you need something doing, something which impinges on your national security, then try calling the French, or the Japanese, or best of all the Germans. The French will be able to offer you first rate support from their catering corps but beyond that you'll be on your own.

Madeline Albright on the Diplomatic Environment

(via Huffington Post) Madeline Albright has posted her thoughts on the challenges Obama faces on the international scene. Interesting reading.