Obama Slams Putin: "He's Like a Bored Kid at the Back of the Classroom"

[KoKo]

What is going on with this? It's like some kind of Bully the Boy thing? Why is our President doing this kind of stuff? It's totally out of character for him.

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By Steve Holland and Margaret Chadbourn...REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Friday denied he has poor relations with Vladimir Putin after canceling their Moscow talks, but said the Russian president can sometimes appear "like a bored kid in the back of the classroom."

U.S.-Russian relations plunged to one of their lowest points since the Cold War this week after Russia granted temporary asylum to fugitive former U.S. spy contractor Edward Snowden. Obama retaliated by abruptly canceling a Moscow summit with Putin planned for early next month.

At a White House news conference on Friday, Obama insisted that he does not have bad personal relations with Putin. The two men had a testy meeting in June in Northern Ireland and from the photos of them at the time, it looked as if they would both rather have been somewhere else.

"I know the press likes to focus on body language, and he's got that kind of slouch, looking like the bored kid in the back of the classroom. But the truth is that when we're in conversations together, oftentimes it's very productive," Obama said.

Putin's sending of a telegram wishing former President George W. Bush well after a heart procedure this week was viewed by some Kremlin watchers as a sign that Putin was sending an implicit message to Obama.

The White House says Obama pulled out of the Moscow summit not just because of the Russian decision to grant asylum to Snowden, who is wanted in the United States to face espionage charges.

U.S. differences with Russia have piled up recently over Moscow's support for the Syrian government in that country's civil war, as well as human rights concerns and other grievances.

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-says-u-reassessing-relationship-russia-195513418.html

[hlthe2b]

1. I agree with you... He seems to have "lost it" over this whole Snowden thing..

But this certainly can't help...

[truebluegreen]

7. Agree.

He's being petty...I've disagreed with a lot of his policies and people, but respected him as a person. Not so much now though.

[morningfog]

2. I think Snowden really pissed him off, he drew a line in the sand to get him

and is even more pissed when Russia and South America gave him the finger over it.

[LittleBlue]

3. Putin is probably pissing himself laughing

He can so easily provoke Obama into a tactless display like this.

It fits perfectly with why he gave Snowden asylum in the first place: it suits his domestic policy. He will become more popular by telling the evil USA to fuck off, and more popular still when Obama reacts in this way.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

4. Not another Cold War!

[Blue Owl]

5. He's got nothing better to do than rear his head in Palin's airspace

n/t

[DerekG]

6. I love watching presidents get rattled

Democrat or Republican, it's bloody good entertainment.

[JaneyVee]

8. Obama is spot on with his assessment.

[BeyondGeography]

9. Let's bash Obama over a BS headline

The full quote is balanced; it's in the OP...not difficult to figure out, people. But ZOMG, so much more exciting to pretend he's LOSING it over Snowden...

[ProSense]

10. But you've got to

love the touch:

"Why is our President doing this kind of stuff? It's totally out of character for him. "

[BeyondGeography]

12. Putin treated Kerry like his personal fire hydrant before anyone knew Snowden's name

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/kerry-advises-russian-co-operation-on-syria-despite-frosty-putin-meeting-1.1385409

That little incident has a lot to do with Obama's decision to blow off Vlad, imo, and it wouldn't surprise me if it has been discreetly communicated as such, while the press swings and misses.

[JaneyVee]

13. Seriously, the full context actually shows a VERY calm and collected Obama.

Not only isn't he "losing it", he doesn't even seem to be losing sleep over it.

[Cali_Democrat]

15. Yep

[Lugal Zaggesi]

11. Those dyslexic kids in the back of the class...

... usually excel in other areas.