Russian newspapers on Wednesday focussed on Obama's breakfast meeting with strongman Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and on the US president's speech on US-Russian relations the day before.

"The order to be friends has been given," the Kommersant daily said in its front-page headline, commenting on the meeting with Putin, the former president who is still widely regarded as holding the real power in Russia.

"The second day of Obama's visit, like the first, proved that Russian-US relations have genuinely begun changing for the better," wrote official government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

"In the voice of the US guests, no longer is there is a tone of mentoring, nor is there a desire to talk down to their Russian colleagues," said the newspaper, commenting on Obama's speech.

In his address, which was billed as a major foreign policy address building upon previous speeches in Cairo and Prague, Obama reached out to Russians distrustful of the United States.

"America wants a strong, peaceful, and prosperous Russia," Obama told an audience of graduating students from an elite Moscow economics school.

He acknowledged the difficulties in forming a lasting partnership between the two former Cold War enemies, but said Russia and the United States now shared common interests on the main issues of the 21st century.

But Obama also praised democratic freedoms -- a sensitive topic for Putin and Medvedev, who have been criticised for being undemocratic -- and said that Russia had to respect the sovereignty of its neighbours Georgia and Ukraine.

US-Russian relations were badly strained under the administration of Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush, amid disputes over the missile shield and last summer's war between Russia and Georgia.

Obama had vowed to "reset" those relations after his inauguration in January.

 [ send green star]

Ivan Eland | July 08, 2009

The Iraq War has been long forgotten and treated as a "mission abolished" after the new president pledged to withdraw U.S. forces and the American media, public, and Congress turned their attention back to a war even liberals could love (or at least support) -- Afghanistan. Liberals wanted to refocus on the real war on terror -- even though it's not chic to call it that under the new Democratic administration.

But what about poor Iraq? As baseball great Yogi Berra once said, "It ain't over, till it's over." And the underlying indicators seem to indicate that the worst is yet to come.

Although even the starry-eyed Bush administration eventually seemed to figure out -- and the Obama team is much more realistic than they were -- that a unified, democratic Iraq was unlikely, the reduced violence has again lulled politicians into unrealistic expectations.

The only way Iraq can overcome its many ethno-sectarian and tribal divisions and remain unified is if a massive and prolonged civil war occurs, and the winning faction holds the fractured country together by force. Otherwise, the artificial country is likely to break up into warring city-states, each with its own militia.

There are multiple signs that Iraq is broken beyond repair. Here are some examples:

http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,194416,00.html?ESRC=iraq.RSS

 [ send green star]

Patience may be wearing thin for President Obama's economic initiatives to produce results -- at least in Ohio -- as a new poll shows the president's popularity plunging in that critical swing state. The president's approval ratings from Ohio voters dropped from 62 percent in May to 49 percent this month in a new Quinnipiac University poll, making it the first state in which Obama's job approval has dipped below 50 percent. Unemployment in Ohio, at 10.8 percent, is well above the national average, and that appears to be having an impact on Buckeye residents. "Early in the election period, people were very excited about the prospect of dramatic change and I think they were desperate for something different," said Karina Horton. "But now we are in the midst of this change -- it's a little more scary than they were ready for and I sense a noticeable shift with friends and co-workers' opinions about President Obama." Others suggest that the Obama administration's actions don't match its words. "Seeing a lot of words come out, lot of promises and I'm trying to do this or trying to do that but I'm not actually seeing it happen," Kathy Hartman said. But some voters aren't ready to give up on the president just yet. "Progress isn't fast. It's slow," Michael Gehrig said. "It could take two, three years. People are impatient." Click here for a FOX New Live Shots blog about the poll. "I'm not losing no patience," said Eddie Brock. "I'm going to keep plugging away and plugging away because I have to, because no one is going to do it for me." Still, some suggest Obama will need to continue selling his policies. "There's a lot of spending happening and not much growth to show for it at this point," Horton said. Across town, Vice President Biden was the giving the administration's sale pitch, urging Ohio residents to be patient. Biden's message is that money from the $787 billion stimulus package is being spent in the state, and there's more work to be done. "Remember, we're only 140 days into this deal," he said. "It is supposed to take 18 months." But the political reality for the Obama administration is that Ohio is a microcosm for middle America. Republicans, like House Minority Leader John Boehner, who is from Ohio, have attacked the administration's policies as "job killers." "People want their jobs," Boehner said. "They want to see the economy moving again and they don't see anything happening." Another concern expressed by Ohio voters was the price tag of government spending right now and who will ultimately pay the bill. "Not very optimistic at this point," Hartman said.

 [ send green star]

 Only They & Blacks Experience Discrimination

By Debbie Schlussel

Oy. I never thought I'd long for the days of Bill Clinton's "I feel your pain." At least he stopped there. Barack Obama tells the NAACP, "I feel the Muslims' pain [perhaps because he is one], and so should you."

At his speech yesterday to the NAACP, here's just a tiny gem:

But Obama said "the pain of discrimination is still felt in America" among African-Americans, Latinos and Muslim-Americans.

Translation: Muslims and Latinos are "down with the struggle." And discrimination against Jews and others (including Whites) no longer exists.

Reader MP says that, with this, Obama threw Jews under the bus. But he did that long ago. Why wouldn't he? Three quarters of my blind fellow co-religionists voted for him and support him no matter what. MP continues:

This just made me sick to my stomach.

Never mind the fact that anti-Semitism is on the rise worldwide, in large part due to unrestrained Muslim immigration policies. But, according to Obama, I guess Jews no longer feel "the pain of discrimination", nor do Asians, or any other minority which managed elevate themselves in terms of America's socio-economic status, despite all of the discrimination they have faced, and continue to face today.

Just sickening.

Yup. I warned of this during the campaign and so did many others. But I got roundly attacked, including from dummies on the right.

Here's the whole speech, for your vomiting, er . . . viewing, pleasure:

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/archives/2009/07/obama_to_naacp.html

 [ send green star]