The Russian national bird?
A great deal has been made of the incident recorded below, in which Russian anchor Tatyana Limanova appears to "flip the bird" at her own mention of President Obama's name.
Wait a minute! I thought foreigners loved The One!
I rather enjoyed Jonah Goldberg's take on the incident at National Review Online: "Hey, I like criticism of Barack Obama as much as the next guy. But I like American criticism. We're the only ones who should be able to flip our president the bird."
I have to agree. Like Mr. Goldberg, I am not a fan of POTUS. But I draw the line at foreigners being rude to OUR president. As somebody has observed, it's kind of like the line from Animal House, in which Delta chapter president Robert Hoover indignantly asserts that only Delta members have the right to mistreat Delta pledges.
As it happens, it is being claimed that the gesture was not aimed at Mr. Obama, but at the childish antics of male technicians who were trying to get Ms. Limanova to lose her composure on the air. So maybe this isn't a breach of journalistic professionalism after all.
Maybe it's just a matter of boys being boys, and Ms. Limanova having had enough of it.
I hope so. Only Americans have the right to be rude to American presidents!
Wait a minute! I thought foreigners loved The One!
I rather enjoyed Jonah Goldberg's take on the incident at National Review Online: "Hey, I like criticism of Barack Obama as much as the next guy. But I like American criticism. We're the only ones who should be able to flip our president the bird."
I have to agree. Like Mr. Goldberg, I am not a fan of POTUS. But I draw the line at foreigners being rude to OUR president. As somebody has observed, it's kind of like the line from Animal House, in which Delta chapter president Robert Hoover indignantly asserts that only Delta members have the right to mistreat Delta pledges.
As it happens, it is being claimed that the gesture was not aimed at Mr. Obama, but at the childish antics of male technicians who were trying to get Ms. Limanova to lose her composure on the air. So maybe this isn't a breach of journalistic professionalism after all.
Maybe it's just a matter of boys being boys, and Ms. Limanova having had enough of it.
I hope so. Only Americans have the right to be rude to American presidents!
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