From Russia with love (with apologies to Ian Fleming and Sean Connery)

It didn’t take long for Barack Obama to misspeak during his appearance in Russia.

Obama described Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as president.

Putin surrendered the presidency to protege (and puppet) Dmitry Medvedev last May to take the lesser post of prime minister.

Until Obama’s visit, world leaders have been able to deal with the dual leadership in Russia with little difficulty.

At a news conference Obama gave a carefully worded reply about the effectiveness of the leadership tandem when a U.S. journalist bluntly asked "who is really in charge here in Russia?"

But minutes later, speaking about Medvedev's objections to a controversial missile defense system planned for central Europe, Obama slipped: "I suspect when I speak to President..eh.. Prime Minister Putin tomorrow, he will say the same thing."

Mr. Obama would be well advised to stick to the script written for him and projected on his teleprompters.

Mr. Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to seek a new agreement on reducing their respective nuclear arsenals. While the American media will spin this as watershed diplomacy, reality reminds us that this is a repeat of what was done decades ago.

And the United States president also announced that he reads the poetry of Pushkin. Really? If he were in Athens would he say he reads Zorba the Greek?

Mr. Obama seems more and more to be a combination of Al Gore's grandiosity and Jimmy Carter's cluelessness.


We were given advance warning when the Temple of Obama (pictured) was set up in the Broncos football stadium for his victory speech at the Democratic National Convention.