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WASHINGTON — Putting his prestige on the line, President Barack Obama will personally commit the U.S. to a goal of substantially cutting greenhouse gases at next month's Copenhagen climate summit. He will insist America is ready to tackle global warming despite resistance in Congress over higher costs for businesses and homeowners. Obama will attend the start of the conference Dec. 9, a week from next Wednesday, before heading to Oslo to accept the Nobel Peace Prize. He will "put on the table" a U.S. commitment to cut emissions by 17 percent over the next decade, on the way to reducing...

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One of SNL's all time best!!

Saturday Night Live, the comedy show that famously mocked Sarah Palin last year (ala Tina Fey) turned the tables last night on President Obama. Focusing on U.S. relations with China, as well as the absurdity of government spending, they performed a new skit that was both timely and humorous. Humor is of course in the funny-bone of the beholder so I've included the video for you to make that decision for yourself.

"Saturday Night Live" opened its show last night with a comedy sketch that scorched President Obama over his economic policies including health care, "Cash for Clunkers" and borrowing billions of dollars from China. The NBC program featured comic Fred Armisen portraying the commander in chief at a news conference with Chinese President Hu Jintao, played by Will Forte, who spoke through an interpreter, comic Nasim Pedrad. Jintao began by asking Obama about the success of his economic stimulus. "I'm curious. How many jobs has it created?" asked the Chinese leader. "None," answered Obama. "But our health-care reform plan, we're confident,...

Okay, I was planning on doing a special DUFU edition today about my recent trip to the island paradise of Culebra in the Caribbean. However, I will write that up in the near future because I have to SHARE with you one of the most HILARIOUS SNL episodes ever as you can see in this VIDEO.I can't get enough watching it. The skit portrays the press conference with Obama and Chinese President Hu (Hu's on first?). I must have seen it at least a dozen times today and still can't get enough of it. It is falling down laughing...

Barack Obama's first visit to Asia since his inauguration was one of the most disappointing trips by any U.S. president to the region in decades, especially given media-generated expectations that "Obamamania" would make it yet another triumphal progression. It was a journey of startlingly few concrete accomplishments, demonstrable proof that neither personal popularity nor media deference really means much in the hard world of international affairs. The contrast between Asia's reception for Obama and Europe's is significant. Although considered a global phenomenon, Obamamania's real center is Europe. There, Mr. Obama reigns as a "post-American" president, a multilateralist carbon copy of...

Not only timely and topical, but genuinely funny. And unlike the last time they hit him hard, this attack comes from the right. Who knew they had it in ‘em? Actually, spending is only a secondary concern here. The chief target is The One’s disintegrating credibility in selling his statist agenda. Never would I have guessed that the great orator’s inability to explain cost savings in ObamaCare would be the subject of late-night mockery this late in the game. No wonder his numbers are at new lows nationally and in the swing state that propelled him to the presidency.

Heads were certainly turned during Barack Obama's goodwill tour of China, as this cheeky sailor's expression reveals. The American leader was inspecting the country's naval forces yesterday when the sailor dropped his mask of indifference and openly gawped at the president. America and China emerged from hours of intense, closed-door talks yesterday after making little progress on the key issues that divide the two nations. Despite reaffirming the importance of greater U.S.-China co-operation to world peace and stability, President Obama and President Hu Jintao were unable to disguise the deep differences that separate their countries on trade, security, climate change...

Even his allies feel let down by the president’s lack of progress both in Asia and at home. even one previously friendly newspaper noted dismissively: “Obama goes to China, brings home a T-shirt.” Nor was the steady decline in the president’s approval ratings ... The real problem may be Obama’s friends — or rather, those among his formerly most enthusiastic supporters who are now having second thoughts. The doubters are suddenly stretching across a broad section of the Democratic party’s natural constituency. ... anti-war liberals depressed by the debate over troops for Afghanistan; and growing numbers of blue-collar workers who...

"(Japan Prime Minister) Hatoyama Vs.Obama -- The Scandal That Nobody Will Report" (由紀夫 vs オ�マ「書�れ�るスキャンダル�）Reporters at the weekly Shukan Bunshun news magazine here in Tokyo, Japan have written a rather caustic report about President Obama's 23 hours in Tokyo last week, from a frank Japanese perspective, exclusively in the Japanese language, and released to the newstands just now. In that sense this is more or less an *FR Exclusive*. A number of eye-opening claims, pieces of information and details emerge about Obama's brief stay in Japan as part of his disastrous Asian trip--over and above the very controversial, near-"dogeza"...

 Obama's Forty Third Week in OfficeLatest Additions to "The List""The List" for 11/20/20 Obama administration moves to block restitution from Iran for Beirut Marine barracks bombingFull list of taxes in Senate Obamacare billVIDEO: The National Football League has become an arm of the Obama administration with its partnership with Obama's "United We Serve" program.A video posted by the Obama administration to YouTube this week that is planned to air during broadcasts of the NFL's Thanksgiving Day games shows Barack Obama playing football on the White House lawnSenate Obamacare raises taxes on families with special needs childrenACORN got 200K worth of...

By Kerry Picket on Nov. 20, 2009 into Water CoolerEditSubscribe The American Spectator held its annual Robert L. Bartley dinner last night at the Capitol Hilton in Washington, DC. The dinner included speeches from the Spectator’s President Alfred S. Regnery, it’s Editor-in-Chief R. Emmet Tyrell, and Republican Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana. Pence rallied the crowd with a thoughtful address about the need to preserve the ideals of the American Revolution.

U.S. President Barack Obama says he took five minutes out of his busy overseas diplomatic schedule to meet a half-brother who lives in China. Mr. Obama told a U.S. television network that he met Mark Ndesandjo and his wife briefly Monday in Beijing, where the U.S. president held meetings with Chinese leaders this week. The president has the same Kenyan father as Ndesandjo, who recently published a book, Nairobi to Shenzhen, describing Barack Obama Sr. as abusive. President Obama said he does not know his half-brother very well. He said it was not a secret that his father was a...

EIJING — When President Barack Obama landed in Beijing on Monday on his first state visit to China, his first order of business was family business. Before he headed to a formal dinner with China's President Hu Jintao, he set aside time to see his half brother, Mark Ndesandjo, and Ndesandjo's wife, who had flown up from the southern boomtown of Shenzhen where they live. Describing the meeting Monday as "overwhelming" and "intense," Ndesandjo told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that he had long anticipated the chance to welcome his famous brother to China. "My big brother, you...

BEIJING — Something got lost in transit in US President Barack Obama's visit to China -- the charismatic rhetoric and dominance of mass communication that took him from nowhere to the White House. Obama built his political persona with soaring speeches on a grand stage and by reaching out to a vast grassroots network on the Internet. But in China, Obama's hosts successfully stifled those prodigious public talents, keeping his message from the people with media censorship and smothering it in staid diplo-speak.

By now you have most likely heard the news of President Barack Obama breaking protocol and bowing before the Japanese Emperor Akihito. This is something that U.S. Presidents do not do. It is something that Presidents, Prime Ministers, and Kings of other countries do not do. So why he did it remains a mystery. White house aides say Obama was simply following protocol; however, this is not protocol. It was not a simple bow to show respect, which would require a very slight tilt of the upper body. Instead, Barack Obama who stands 6' 2" practically bowed parallel to the...

Behind the communist curtain, this video and photograph show Obama bowing at a town hall meeting in Shanghai, China. The man he bowed before wasn't royalty. He was just a University official. Video and photo included.

Note: The following text is a quote: Home • Briefing Room • Statements & Releases The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release November 17, 2009 U.S.-China Joint Statement Beijing, China At the invitation of President Hu Jintao of the People’s Republic of China, President Barack Obama of the United States of America is paying a state visit to China from November 15–18, 2009. The Presidents held in-depth, productive and candid discussions on U.S.-China relations and other issues of mutual interest. They highlighted the substantial progress in U.S.-China relations over the past 30 years since the establishment...

In the string of amazing decisions made during the first year of the Obama administration, nothing seems more like sheer insanity than the decision to try foreign terrorists, who have committed acts of war against the United States, in federal court, as if they were American citizens accused of crimes. Terrorists are not even entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions, much less the Constitution of the United States. Terrorists have never observed, nor even claimed to have observed, the Geneva Conventions, nor are they among those covered by it. But over and above the utter inconsistency of what...

A little traveling, like a little learning, can be a dangerous thing. Barack Obama on the loose in a foreign land is enough to frighten protocol officers and embarrass the rest of us. He went off to Asia to tell the Chinese a thing or two about world trade, to prepare the world for a treaty to make the sun change its spots, and of course to pay his respects to assorted heads of state, with particular attention to any royal head (perhaps even including Miss Universe) who crosses his path. So far it's a memorable trip. He established a...

In the string of amazing decisions made during the first year of the Obama administration, nothing seems more like sheer insanity than the decision to try foreign terrorists who have committed acts of war against the United States in federal court, as if they were American citizens accused of crimes. Terrorists are not even entitled to the protection of the Geneva Conventions, much less the Constitution of the United States. Terrorists have never observed, nor even claimed to have observed, the Geneva Conventions, nor are they among those covered by them. But over and above the utter inconsistency of what...

From Article Some of the president's critics are giving him a hard time, and it's true that this president seems never to have studied much American history. Not bowing to foreign potentates was what 1776 was all about. His predecessors learned with no difficulty that the essence of America is that all men stand equal and are entitled to look even a king, maybe particularly a king, straight in the eye. Can anyone imagine George Washington, John Adams or Thomas Jefferson making a similar gesture of servile submission? Or Harry Truman? Or FDR, who famously served the lowly hot dog,...

Dick Cheney is blasting Barack Obama for plunging the presidency to a new low - by bowing to the Japanese emperor. The White House deemed the weekend gesture a sign of respect. But Cheney chided it was downright wimpy. "There is no reason for an American president to bow to anyone," Cheney complained to the Politico.com. "Our friends and allies don't expect it, and our enemies see it as a sign of weakness." Maybe Cheney would prefer if Obama and Emperor Akihito had simply walked hand-in-hand, as former President George W. Bush did with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in 2005...

Why Europe Feels Rejected by Obama By JOHN VINOCUR Why would an American president not come to a celebration marking the fall of the Berlin Wall, and with it, the triumphant end of the Cold War — one of the high points of the United States’ and Europe’s common 20th-century history? Whatever the exact answer — and it could be that a fatigued Barack Obama didn’t want the physical strain of a trans-Atlantic trip days before a weeklong tour of Asia — his absence from the Nov. 9 ceremonies in Germany has reinforced Europe’s fear that it has become an...

It probably works like this. Every morning when Obama rises he takes a deep and refreshing hot coffee high-colonic. During this meditative phase of his day he thinks, "Let's see... how can I show my contempt for America in a manner not previously thought possible? Last week I was giving the American flag my trademarked "crotch salute."** A day or so ago I was bending over for the Emperor of Japan. Humm, what's left? I know, I'll put on the biggest mass murderer of the 20th century's signature jacket for my photo-op. And some lip gloss! And pantyhose! F**k yeah!...

President Obama at a Shanghai town hall with students, as provided by the White House PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good afternoon. It is a great honor for me to be here in Shanghai, and to have this opportunity to speak with all of you. I'd like to thank Fudan University's President Yang for his hospitality and his gracious welcome. I'd also like to thank our outstanding Ambassador, Jon Huntsman, who exemplifies the deep ties and respect between our nations. I don't know what he said, but I hope it was good. (Laughter.) What I'd like to do is to make some opening...

U.S. President Barack Obama has held an unprecedented question and answer session with Chinese students in Shanghai - China's commercial capital. Mr. Obama pushed the importance of freedom of information, while at the same time calling for greater cooperation between Washington and Beijing. This was the first town hall meeting by a U.S. President in China. And it amounted to a delicate balancing act for Mr. Obama. He opened the session with university students by striking a professorial tone, talking about the history of relations between Washington and Beijing, and the importance of working together to tackle global challenges. Mr....

It didn’t take too long for the Left to defend Barack Obama’s bow to Emperor Akihito yesterday by claiming that the President was merely showing cultural sensitivity to the Japanese emperor by deeply bowing. There’s a couple of problems with that argument. First, American Presidents do not bow to monarchs, or at least they didn’t through the first 43 Presidents and the 220 years they served as the US head of state. Perhaps a few of them might have done so out of cultural sensitivity when traveling to foreign nations as private citizens, either before or after their terms in...

NOVEMBER 16, 2009 China's Blunt Talk for Obama Regulator Says U.S. Policy Puts Global Recovery at Risk as President Arrives in Beijing BY AARON BACK BEIJING -- China's top banking regulator issued a sharp critique of U.S. financial management only hours before President Barack Obama commenced his first visit to the Asian giant, highlighting economic and trade tensions that threaten to overshadow the trip. Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said that a weak U.S. dollar and low U.S. interest rates had led to "massive speculation" that was inflating asset bubbles around the world. It has created...

Barack Obama Assures Asia that US Borrowing Will Not Spiral Out of Control President Barack Obama has promised Asia's creditor nations that Washington will not let US borrowing spiral out of control, vowing a major drive to cut the budget deficit and restore global confidence in the US dollar. By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard 15 Nov 2009 "As the economy recovers, I intend to take serious steps to reduce America's long-term deficit," he told the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum in Singapore. "Debt-driven growth cannot fuel America's long-term prosperity." The assurance comes amid growing doubts across the world over the wisdom of...

Americans shouldn’t worry. Although, the economy is diminishing, jobs are dwindling, soldiers are dying, and a new health care plan might just restructure the nation and cost the taxpayers billions of dollars, our Commander-in-Chief is looking out for us. In fact, he’s in China right now—improving our relations and receiving a hero’s welcome. But, does he deserve it? After a rocky rating month, President Obama’s presidential approval rating has stabilized, states Rasmussen Reports. 28% of American voters strongly approve of his performance, and 38% strongly disapprove. However, 48%, the highest number this year, give Obama poor rankings in the way...

So much of an idiot, in fact, that according to Tapper’s source, at least one Japanese paper isn’t running the photo out of embarrassment. This tool actually groveled himself into a minor international incident. The good news for O-bots? It wasn’t unprecedented. Nixon evidently made a modest bow to Hirohito in the early 70s. The bad news? “Obama’s handshake/forward lurch was so jarring and inappropriate it recalls Bush’s back-rub of Merkel. “Kyodo News is running his appropriate and reciprocated nod and shake with the Empress, certainly to show the president as dignified, and not in the form of a first...

“I think that those who try to politicize those things are just way, way, way off base" the official said.....OK, now we got it, Obama was observing protocol, and we are politicizing it....Well there you have it...(Story from Politico)

Politico: A senior administration official said President Barack Obama was simply observing protocol when he bowed to Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko upon arriving at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Saturday.

One of President Obama's major campaign promises was to improve the United States reputation abroad. I wonder if he meant that he was going to make America the butt of the World's Jokes. Yesterday the POTUS had another Protocol faux pas by bowing down to Japanese Emperor Akihito, the second time he bowed down to a world leader (King Fahd of Saudi Arabia was the first). By subordinating himself to other world leaders the President has damaged the prestige of the office he holds and of the country. The press in other countries are now running stories with headlines calling...

President Obama has been branded the ‘Groveller-in-Chief’ after giving an exaggerated bow to Japan’s emperor Akihito - the son of the ruler who authorised the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Coming so soon after Remembrance Day, the deep bow caused an outcry in the U.S. While it was seen as a sign of respect in Japan, Mr Obama was attacked in America for ‘bowing and scraping’ to a foreign leader, particularly a Japanese one. Wartime scars are still raw for many Americans. The 6ft 2in President’s mark of deference to the 5ft 5in emperor in Japan on Saturday dominated discussion...

BEIJING - As President Barack Obama prepares for his first visit to China, leaders of the unapproved churches there are condemning his administration for indifference to the increasing persecution they are facing. The latest example of that persecution came Sunday as followers of an unapproved church in Beijing were again forced by the government to find a new place to worship. Worship in China, governed by the officially atheist Communist Party, is allowed only in state-approved churches, but millions of people belong to unregistered churches that often face official harassment.

Surprise, Surprise, none of the major US dailies carry the embarrassing pic of an American President bending in half and stooping so low to a foreign potentate.

Obama bowed to emperor as 'protocol' By: Mike Allen November 14, 2009 11:08 PM EST SINGAPORE – A senior administration official said President Barack Obama was simply observing protocol when he bowed to Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko upon arriving at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Saturday. “I think that those who try to politicize those things are just way, way, way off base,” the official said. “He observes protocol. But I don’t think anybody who was in Japan – who saw his speech and the reaction to it, certainly those who witnesses his bilateral meetings there –...

(UPDATES: 12:22 p.m. A brief news video has been added below, showing the greeting in this photograph. Contrary to some claims, the video shows no reciprocal bow by the emperor, who traditionally bows to no one. And we've added a file photo from 2007 of Vice President Dick Cheney greeting the Japanese Emperor at the same residence in a different fashion.) How low will the new American president go for the world's royalty? This photo will get Democrat President Obama a lot of approving nods in Japan this weekend, especially among the older generation of Japanese who still pay attention...

The China-based brother of U.S. President Barack Obama is about to pubU.S. President Barack Obama's half-brother, Mark Ndesandjo, says he plans to publish an autobiography in a few months' time giving more details about their relationship. "In a few months I hope to produce an autobiography which I think will answer some of the questions," Ndesandjo said in an interview on the eve of Obama's first state visit to China. lish his own memoir.

US President Barack Obama will meet his half-brother Mark Ndesandjo and his sister-in-law during his first official visit to China. Ndesandjo and his Chinese wife set off for Beijing on Friday from their home in Shenzhen - a southern city neighbouring Hong Kong - to prepare for Obama's arrival, a spokeswoman for AmCham in South China said. "It will be the first time for Mark to introduce his wife to President Obama," the spokeswoman said. Ndesandjo told China's state-run Xinhua news agency that he wanted his wife, who is from the central eastern province of Henan, to meet the US...

President Barack Obama has bowed to royalty, with a greeting for the Japanese emperor that erases any doubts about what the president's posture was -- remember that bow to the Saudi king that was not really a bow? And some people are falling over backwards today. Our colleague, Andrew Malcolm, at Top of the Ticket, muses on the president's meeting with Japanese Emperor Akihito today, and suffice it to say that the article will light a brush fire of commentary stoked by the hot winds of the Drudge Report's headline. See the Ticket's report there or read it here: (And...

BEIJING (AP) - The Chinese have learned English from his speeches and celebrated the way he rolls up his sleeves. Now President Barack Obama is finally coming, and he's being greeted with "Oba Mao" T-shirts and a statue of him that bursts into flames. Sunday's arrival of a U.S. president admired for his charisma is already a source of profit and brief fame for some Chinese. Strangest is the burning Obama, tucked away in a Beijing warehouse. Artist Liu Bolin hopes Obama can take time from his visit to drop by. "He's so hot right now, so I wanted to...

Bad enough that Obama bowed down to another head of state yesterday. Even worse, he did not bother to learn how one bows in Japan, and just winged it. I agree with Scott Johnson, Steve Gilbert, Andrew Malcom, and many others that the President of the United States should not be bowing before any head of state. But unlike these astute observers, I actually know a little something about the art of the bow in Japan, having lived in Japan four different times on a resident visa, taught East Asian Studies at Harvard, and counseled many hundreds of American, European,...

Barack Obama: you can dress him up, but you can't take him out. Every time he goes abroad, he embarrasses himself and sells out his country. In Japan today, Obama gave a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama. He was asked this question, for which he was unaccountably unprepared: "And to President Obama, you are a proponent of a nuclear-free world, and you've stated, first of all, you would like to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki while in office. Do you have this desire? And what is your understanding of the historical meaning of the A-bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki?...