President Barack Obama played grand tourist to Rio de Janeiro's vivid extremes on Sunday, motorcading from brilliant beaches to a notorious slum even as he monitored U.S. military strikes in faraway Libya.The president shed his coat and tie, rolled up his sleeves and dribbled one-on-one soccer with one surprised boy. Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia got involved, too, kicking a ball around with the kids.
Then the president walked out into the streets and waved to throngs of residents who cheered him from rooftops and balconies. Dozens of young children pressed up against a chainlink fence trying to get a look.
On the metal roofs of the poor shantybuildings armed guards stood by. It was a short visit but the president got a glimpse of the poverty of the slum, visceral scenes of jumbled dwellings, and people lining the streets.
Meanwhile, seemingly a world away U.S. warplanes launched a coordinated assault against Moammar Gadhafi's defenses a day after the president authorized the military action to enforce an internationally authorized no-fly zone to protect Libyan civilians. The president had been on a conference call with his top advisers earlier Sunday to get briefed on the effort as juggled his touristing and economic outreach in Latin America with the unceasing demands of being commander-in-chief.
In other words, little Barry needed an ego boost because no one likes him anymore. This president is a pathetic ego leech. To satisfy his own desires to be worshipped, he will take off at the drop of a hat for any part of the world that he thinks he can get some love from. Meanwhile, unemployment stagnates, the economy burps and farts its way to nothing, and our soldiers face weird rules of engagement with questions of what the objectives of our various missions really are.
