The Obama Rainbow Tour -- Day 3 -- It All Plays Well At Home

There you are, I told you so
Makes no difference where she goes
The whole world over just the same
Just listen to them call her name
And who would underestimate the actress now? 
Evita - Rainbow Tour



Don Surber:

Times of London headline: “Iraqis underwhelmed by media circus for Barack Obama visit.”

Apparently, Iraqis care little about American presidential politics.

There is this from Reuters: “Iraqis say they like Obama, divided on his policies.”

He’s popular in part because they don’t believe him.

It quoted Munadhil al-Mayyahi, an independent politician in Basra: “What Obama said about pulling out U.S. forces is just for political gains. It is unrealistic.”

This story was filed after the more pro-Obama story that Reuters killed.

The Times of London’s Deborah Haynes found people in Baghdad don’t know him, and don’t care to learn.

“Who is Mr. Obama?” asked Muhammad Saed, 29, who owns a small supermarket in Baghdad. “I stopped reading the news after the invasion because it only talks about car bombs and people being killed.”

Sounds like we share something in common with Iraqis after all.

Hat tip: Lucianne.

 Times Of London, via Gateway Pundit:

Barack Obama will do the unthinkable in London this week.
Obama will hold a press conference outside Downing Street... alone.
He does not want Prime Minister Gordon Brown with him.
The unpopular Prime Minister might spoil it.

Lest there be any illusions about the desired target audience for Obama’s trip, the foreign media, including the BBC, have been left on the Tarmac. Only American reporters are on board “Obama One” as his plane heads from one country to the next.

He will have a 45-minute meeting on Saturday morning with Gordon Brown followed by a press conference, which Obama will conduct on his own outside Downing Street in a blatant departure from the usual protocol.

There will be no Brown at his side to spoil the No 10 backdrop for American voters, even though it would be unthinkable for a British prime minister to appear in the White House Rose Garden without the president.

Brown will say a few words later in the day, once Obama has gone.

Neal Boortz adds:

As you watch the mania being beamed back from Europe, I ask you to remember one important thing. Not too many months ago the Pew Research Center – and these are people with great expertise in European polling – said that 58% of all Europeans want to see the United States weakened. Now think about that for a minute. Do you want the United States to be weakened? It's not surprising that Europeans might want that. After all, a weaker United States might well mean a stronger Europe in international affairs and economic influence. That might be great for Europe, and we can understand Europeans wanting to bring this about. But when these Europeans start falling all over themselves during the Obama 2008 tour, try to remember what their goals really are. Are they slobbering all over Obama because they think he will be a wonderful and powerful world leader, or because they think that Barack Obama is the means to their desired end ... a weakened America.

Can it be that the future of this country is going to depend on millions of voters snapping out of it – escaping the cult – and actually sitting back for a little session of sober thought on the choices at hand?

From Hot Air:

The Barack Obama campaign wanted to make sure that the reporters traveling along with the presidential candidate on his foreign tour presented themselves properly. His staff distributed a memo that dictated a dress code, reminding the women in the media entourage of the need to keep from offending the natives.

Despite the debate:

Doesn't even bring up timetables with Iraqi Leader al-Maliki

DKK