Posted on 09/02/2013 3:53:20 PM PDT by Libloather
President Obama will meet with several LGBT groups during his trip later this week to St. Petersburg, a move likely to ruffle Russian President Vladimir Putin after the recent passage of a series of anti-gay laws.
The president will meet with human rights activists Lev Ponomarev and Lyudmila Alexeyeva, legal aid NGO director Pavel Chikov, and Coming Out, a St. Petersburg-based LGBT organization, according to a report in BuzzFeed.
The decision to meet with the activists in not unprecedented Obama also met with human rights leaders in 2009 but comes amid a period of heightened tension with the Kremlin.
During his address on Syria from the Rose Garden on Saturday, Obama blasted the United Nations Security Council as "completely paralyzed and unwilling to hold [Syrian president Bashar] Assad accountable" a clear swipe at Russia, which has threatened to block any resolution condemning the alleged sarin attack in the Damascus suburbs.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called Secretary of State John Kerry's presentation on the attack "absolutely unconvincing" in a press conference on Monday, according to the Associated Press. He said the U.S. intelligence report included "nothing specific there, no geographic coordinates, no names, no proof that the tests were carried out by the professionals."
And Putin indicated he may send a delegation of Russian lawmakers to lobby the U.S. Congress against any military action in Syria, the Interfax news agency reported.
The skirmish over Syria comes after a summer dominated by a tussle with Putin over Edward Snowden, the former defense contractor responsible for leaking details of top-secret National Security Agency surveillance programs. After more than a month in the Moscow airport, the Kremlin offered Snowden temporary asylum despite protests from the White House.
Russia has also contended with a growing movement to boycott the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi over the new anti-gay laws, which threaten fines and imprisonment for those who stage gay pride rallies or events.
Earlier this summer, Obama said he did not "think it's appropriate to boycott the Olympics" but said he hoped gay American athletes would win medals and change minds.
"One of the things I'm really looking forward to is maybe some gay and lesbian athletes bringing home the gold or silver or bronze, which I think would go a long way in rejecting the kind of attitudes that we're seeing there," he said.
Obama seems to be doing a whole lot to rile other countries.
He riles, Americans pay the price for his idiocy.
You didn't know? Sheesh, everybody knows!
Are you referring to "Barack - Master Of The World"?
That Obama?
What if Putin visited the USA and made a big deal about meeting with and supporting the Church leaders who are suing the federal government over the Obamacare abortion and birth control mandates?
I can assure you that will happen in the Men's Figure Skating competition.
obozo can sure prioritize what is important, can’t he?
I certainly believe it would be prudent for him to bring his tasters with him. I would also think he may want to keep his Secret Service agents from enjoying too much tasty Russian vodka.
Putin just might go out and find the most flamboyant flamers in the country to meet with Obama,and provide plenty of media coverage for the meeting. Obama is too dumb to realize what a propaganda victory this will be for Russia.
Ya think the hockey team has a chance this year?
You think Obama will order a "Black Russian" over there?
Soooo,
Will those russian fags obammy meets with eat some dastardly nuclear concoction?
Or will they all just be shipped to Siberia?
With all those hot women in Russia, whod want to be gay?
Here is a person with the answer.
And what about their susceptibility to blackmail? Who would you rather be able to blackmail, in terms of real power, Mark Zuckerberg, the owner of facebook, or John McCain?
Who exerts more real power and influence, Google’s Larry Page or Hillary Clinton?
Facebook and Google (especially Google) have enormous potential political power, because of their access in information about hundreds of millions of voters and their preferences. If Google used its algorithms and information about users to influence the past election, as I have heard, it may well have made the difference in electing President Obama to a second term.
If Obendover does this, have him arrested for violating your laws against the promotion of Homosexuality and see to it that a proper sentence is assigned. Just because he ignores American laws doesn't mean he can ignore yours.
Toodles,
America
Whats wrong with you? He will order an african-american russian. LOL
Putin may be too subtle/devious for such a move. He may prefer as one response to simply arrest some of the participants after the event.
As for O, the move seems unnecessarily reckless. History tell us the quality of life quickly goes downhill for those who confront or defy Russian rulers. Wonder what the KGB has (or can develop) on O?
Obama is laughable. Is this his ‘getting back’ at Putin? The middle east ready to explode, nothing else going on back home except degradation, increasing racial tensions, a tottering economy, and he thinks the world is UC Berkley.
That’s enough right there to make Putin attack us. I hope and pray he releases the info he has on obama.
Он - гомосексуалист, I suppose...
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I hope that he takes many of his supporters with him. It only makes sense.
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