Two gift-gaffe days in a row for Obama administration
posted at 5:40 pm on March 6, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
Yesterday, we talked about the incredibly thoughtless snub from the Obamas to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the traditional gift exchange in Brown’s first visit to the Obama White House. Today, Hillary makes it a gaffetastic week by proving to the Russians that the State Department can’t translate worth a damn:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opened her first extended talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by giving him a present meant to symbolize the Obama administration’s vow to “press the reset button” on U.S.-Russia relations.
She handed a palm-sized box wrapped with a bow. Lavrov opened it and pulled out the gift: a red button on a black base with a Russian word peregruzka printed on top.
“We worked hard to get the right Russian word. Do you think we got it?” Clinton asked.
“You got it wrong,” Lavrov said.
Instead of “reset,” Lavrov said the word on the box meant “overcharge.”
Clinton and Lavrov laughed.
Yeah, I’m sure Lavrov laughed. Later, he probably told his deputy, “Tell the crypto guys they can take it easy.”
Some will say, Come on, it’s just a light moment, but let’s think about what Hillary was doing here. She was making fun of the previous administration’s diplomacy with her “reset” button, a rather nasty piece of work. I’ll bet the Bush administration and Condi Rice would have gotten the translation correct before making that joke — and I’d bet even more money they wouldn’t have thought to make fun of Hillary’s husband in that fashion in the first place.
Can we get a reset button?
Update: Tommy Christopher makes a point I neglected:
Anyone who remembers a time from the Reagan era on back would know that the last thing you want to give Russia is “the button,” no matter what’s written on it. Why not just give Vietnam a “tripwire of friendship?”
Update II: Closing Velocity notes that the Russians seem inordinately amused at Hillary’s expense. And the Czechs and the Poles aren’t exactly cheering at this development either.
Blowback
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Nice job Hillary.
getalife on Mar 6,2009 at 7:16PM.
getalife:
———
I can’t wait to see I’mWearingaDinnerJacketCrazyNut’s ear
to ear smirk,
when Hilrod goes to Iran,
and hands Achmed,a nice shiny new,
‘SWORD”,as a goodwill gesture,don’t cha think,eh!
canopfor on March 6, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Tee hee!
baldilocks on March 6, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Sorry for the duplicates.
baldilocks on March 6, 2009 at 7:26 PM
You do understand that there is difference between being ‘laughed at’ and ‘laughing with’?
thomasaur on March 6, 2009 at 7:27 PM
No yer not…you just wanted to carry the idea over to the new page. :-)
coldwarrior on March 6, 2009 at 7:27 PM
Don’t confuse him…it only encourages him to try try again.
coldwarrior on March 6, 2009 at 7:29 PM
-
Hill baby is use to it by now, no biggie.
-
RalphyBoy on March 6, 2009 at 7:29 PM
Roger that
thomasaur on March 6, 2009 at 7:30 PM
Well,Team O’s building all those damaged fences,
that the Liberal Party says needs to be rebuilt
from all the damage from the Bush Administration!
GACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ummm,so,all the fence mending,gets rebuilt,and the Lefty’s
F it up worse!
Me thinks,this could be ‘Historical’!!
canopfor on March 6, 2009 at 7:32 PM
You’re right, James, that most assuredly looks like Hillary is getting the finger. And wasn’t there a picture with Hillary and some Army guys in Iraq a while back where it also looked like she was the recipient of a finger?
Remember the Seinfeld episode when George was certain the waitress at the deli was giving him the finger while she waited on him and the other three kept telling him it was just his imagination? Turns out, she was. Hillary must engender that reaction in others, as well. I admit to a finger compulsion whenever I see her photograph.
ncjetsfan on March 6, 2009 at 7:32 PM
A change in direction from 8 years of incompetence and hope for a new future…..yeah right. They can’t even do a simple translation job. They have Russian/English dictionaries at the Department of State? Guess not.
Rightwingguy on March 6, 2009 at 7:33 PM
Her sheer stupid asshood upstages another fact here. The Russian was neither.
dhimwit on March 6, 2009 at 7:33 PM
Bozhe moi! *facepalm*
Anna on March 6, 2009 at 7:35 PM
Hillary and Obama act like children. The country is now being run by the cast of “High School Musical.”
vitaatcaritas on March 6, 2009 at 7:38 PM
More like Peewee’s Playhouse.
thomasaur on March 6, 2009 at 7:40 PM
Back when I was getting out, I had the opportunity to take a job at the State Dept. I laughed.
Speaking of DLI grads, there must really be gazillions of us, because I swear I bump into them everywhere (and I don’t even live near linguistic base hubs).
Anna on March 6, 2009 at 7:41 PM
Behold,
the Obama Foreign Policy,
‘The Bridge to Nowhere’!
Now whats needed,is some good ol’
fashion,artwork!
Like Hilrod dress up as ‘Rosie the Riverter’,
a la WW2,in blue overalls,button in hand,a nice
big smile,
bridge in the background,with the saying above,
‘Obamas Foreign Policy,Bridge to Nowhere’!
canopfor on March 6, 2009 at 7:42 PM
The arrogant warmongering is over.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 7:42 PM
Condi Rice studied the Soviet Union in college, and speaks fluent Russian. She could have translated the message herself, and gotten it right.
Obama did get something right. They did “overcharge” US for the porkulus bill!
But the State Department needs to be careful with translations…what if the next “Staples Easy Button” mistakenly reads “Nukes” in Russian?
No offense to Staples…
Steve Z on March 6, 2009 at 7:45 PM
And the obsequious warmongering has apparently begun.
coldwarrior on March 6, 2009 at 7:45 PM
Yes we have moved on to the uh uh uh uh just plain warmongering. (Iraq, Afghanistan)
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 7:46 PM
I thought Obama said a few years ago we should be out of Iraq. As we know(sarc) that it is an illegal war. Will Obama stand side by side with Bush in front of the World Court?
Oh yeh do not forget…. Afghanistan did not attack us.
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 7:47 PM
Words matter?
BacaDog on March 6, 2009 at 7:51 PM
Condi Rice speaks Russian. Maybe Hillary’s ego should have checked with her. But not to worry…Al Franken will soon be available to assist with the Administrations’s humor…and we all know how funny he is.
ztower on March 6, 2009 at 7:54 PM
Sure we can. But, unfortunately, those of us who have been correct about everything that the idiot messiah was about, and was going to do, have been subject to nothing but abuse and stupid commentary from many of you who have been too embarrassed by the idea of forcing the idiot messiah to prove his eligibility before a court. The fact is that any reasonable interpretation of the Founders’ natural-born clause would conclude that as soon as one obtains citizenship in any other country, his natural-born American status is automatically rendered invalid (just as it would be if he merely relinquished his American citizenship) and he becomes ineligible to ever become President.
Get some brains, folks, and realize that the SCOTUS has a serious job to do and that job includes identifying the fact that the Precedent is ineligible to hold the office of the Presidency – whether you people are embarrassed by that or not.
Let’s try and be sensible, people. How much more of this moronic cr#p can you watch without realizing the truly dangerous nature of this administration? Not funny dangerous, but truly dangerous.
progressoverpeace on March 6, 2009 at 7:58 PM
This is even funnier. This admin. is risible, especially coming from the ‘smartest woman in the world’.
Yet, the mesmerized morons in Europe cheer like cretins, not realizing what awaits them.
In the meanwhile Obama’s comrade eggs him on toward socialism.
Entelechy on March 6, 2009 at 8:01 PM
Maybe we can give Iran the gift of self acceptance. Send ‘em Stuart Smalley (in a gift box).
Laura in Maryland on March 6, 2009 at 8:02 PM
Let the era of groveling, bending, scraping and humiliation begin! Hallelujah! I am born again!
TheBigOldDog on March 6, 2009 at 8:04 PM
Just one accomplishment and she beats Condi.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 8:05 PM
is it just me or does clinton look like she “miraculously” got rid of many of her wrinkles?
Chiasmos on March 6, 2009 at 8:06 PM
Sheer poetry. How can you parody a real life parody?
ddrintn on March 6, 2009 at 8:06 PM
Hillary? She’s in negative territory already. It won’t get any better.
ddrintn on March 6, 2009 at 8:08 PM
US and Russia enjoying a laugh together.
When was the last time the world witnessed that?
Change.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 8:10 PM
bush was friendly with putin
Chiasmos on March 6, 2009 at 8:11 PM
“Laughing together” is one thing. Being a laughingstock is another. “Overcharge”. Beautiful.
ddrintn on March 6, 2009 at 8:12 PM
getalife
yes laughing together…. and the Soviet counterpart thinking” I have her ass and the Americans”… you are such an idiot.
MNDavenotPC on March 6, 2009 at 8:14 PM
This is even funnier..
Entelechy on Mar 6,2009 at 8:01PM.
Entelechy: Good evening Entelechy:)
The article was titled,’Tongue-tied Hillary’!
Finally,we now know what the problem was,for
Bill,to get serviced by Monica the mechanic,ahem!hehe:)
canopfor on March 6, 2009 at 8:15 PM
There truly is a dupe and tool among us.
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 8:15 PM
I would settle for a “stop making an @ss out of us in front of the entire world button”. I don’t mind looking mean, intrusive, oppressive, overbearing and the like. But looking stupid rubs me the wrong way….
Hog Wild on March 6, 2009 at 8:15 PM
And yet, somewhere in England, Gordon Brown is still probably wishing he could trade Lavrov for that set of unplayable DVDs!
RD on March 6, 2009 at 8:17 PM
As long as she does not rub Putin’s shoulders, try to open a locked door in China or puke in the PM of Japan’s lap she is doing well.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 8:18 PM
It says we are a narcissistic culture. As we’d have to be, in order to elect a pathological narcissist like Obama.
RD on March 6, 2009 at 8:19 PM
Reminds me of Coupon – The Movie.
“Warm… and Mandatory.”
RD on March 6, 2009 at 8:21 PM
It certainly is funnier. She’s not only the “smartest woman in the world”, but she’s representing the smartest administration evah.
Don’t misinterpret European cheers, though. There is a large element of anti-Americanism in Europe, of course; many of them would love nothing better than to see us taken down several pegs. Having a bunch of morons in charge here is an excellent start, in their view.
ddrintn on March 6, 2009 at 8:21 PM
Fascinating would be to see the KGB after-action reports and/or long-running psychological profiles of Mr. Obama and Ms. Clinton.
RD on March 6, 2009 at 8:22 PM
Putin would probably judo-slam her if she tried.
ddrintn on March 6, 2009 at 8:25 PM
HAve you checked your family tree??? I have a feeling you’ll find you are a descendant of Neville “Peace in our time” Chamberlain.. You know, the A$$hole of a brit prime minister who got a peice of paper from the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler, ‘guaranteeing’ ‘peace in our time’.
We all know what a success that was… Europe in ruins, millions dead, Jews almost wiped out… Yep, great end to the war mongering.
si vis pacem, para bellum
bullseye on March 6, 2009 at 8:25 PM
ever notice how the troll holds on to a an idea or lame joke like a little child?
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 8:25 PM
Have compassion. That’s the extent of liberal “thought”, really. How Obama got elected.
ddrintn on March 6, 2009 at 8:27 PM
The botched translation isn’t the story; the unmitigated gall of this Administration in general, and Hillary’s unprofessional, unethical and untimely attempt at humor in particular.
A tacky move from a tacky Saul Alinsky disciple. Just like her boss.
hillbillyjim on March 6, 2009 at 8:27 PM
oops.
Fixilated it for me.
hillbillyjim on March 6, 2009 at 8:29 PM
Hillary does her homework.
I bet this was intentional to show the world we are not arrogant, evil warmongers , can make mistakes like WMD’s in Iraq and work with an old enemy.
An icebreaker to show change.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 8:29 PM
Anyone ever notice how a troll thinks they can spin shi* into gold?
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 8:32 PM
How about the “IED of Dialogue and Civility” for Iran…….?
Seven Percent Solution on March 6, 2009 at 8:34 PM
The Obama Administration=the not-yet-ready-for-prime-time-players
DrStock on March 6, 2009 at 8:36 PM
Just when I think that you have demonstrated the absolute depths of your gullibility, you astound me.
DrStock on March 6, 2009 at 8:38 PM
You don’t get it do you?? This isn’t a bunch of college kids getting together for Latte’s at starbucks.. This is the real world.
Take a look at pictures of dresden during WWII. THAT is what happens when leaders F-Up.
Take a look at the rape of Nanking with soldiers throwing babies up in the air and catching them on their bayonetts. That is what happens when your country can’t defend itself.
Look at pictures of the survivors and dead at the Nazi Concentration camps. That is what happens when the rest of the world is slow to react to tyranny.
I am getting sick and tired of you liberal morons. You just don’t get it. Hillary showed weakness to the Russians… A country headed by a former KGB colonel. You need to get away from the Beta male idiots you are hanging around with and learn what the world is really like.
And by the way genius… Iraq had WMDs and used them against the kurds murdering men women and children wholesale. There is also ample evidence that nuclear components were smuggled to syria prior to our invasion.
Tell me one thing.. How many times have you ever been in a true life or death situation?? One where you were faced with the imminent possibility of killing another human being or having you or your family killed?? This isn’t a freaking academic exercise. Idiocy like what we are seeing from the bozos in this administration has the potential to cause tens of millions of deaths.
GET A CLUE…
bullseye on March 6, 2009 at 8:38 PM
Change as in “from frying pan to fire”.
ddrintn on March 6, 2009 at 8:40 PM
“We tried really hard” but Hillary should have let the answering machine take the message to that 3 a.m. phone call.
Hillary and her misinterformation.
maverick muse on March 6, 2009 at 8:40 PM
LOL! getalife, get a life.
maverick muse on March 6, 2009 at 8:41 PM
And her first accomplishment to beat Condi:
Clinton predicts new arms treaty with Russia:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jiyDzWt6bcYiU4B_0XWtbXaq74awD96OOH1G0
Awesome, it worked.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 8:42 PM
Ok Einstein.. Can you tell us how well the Washington Naval Treaty worked??? thought not…
bullseye on March 6, 2009 at 8:45 PM
That was a fascinating comment. Truly. And funny!
And, like Lavrov, I’m laughing with you.
RD on March 6, 2009 at 8:46 PM
Hahahahahaha!!!
baldilocks on March 6, 2009 at 8:47 PM
Do we need to talk about all the mistakes by Condi in Iraq?
Hell, she even admitted some.
Thousands.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 8:47 PM
Her: I tried really hard to get the right word. Did I do right?
Him: No, you got it wrong.
So pantsuit Hillary is purposely being foolish as if feminine in order to prove she’s no feminist by playing the nice girl with the big Russian boys? get.a.life
maverick muse on March 6, 2009 at 8:47 PM
Let me rephrase: “Putin rolls Team Obama. And us.”
ddrintn on March 6, 2009 at 8:48 PM
Clinton predicts it ….so it must be true…gotcha
sarc
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 8:48 PM
It is a great picture.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 8:49 PM
get-a-life, not a straw-woman.
maverick muse on March 6, 2009 at 8:49 PM
Obama selects his cabinet members who have no clue.
Ergo, what clue has Obama?
maverick muse on March 6, 2009 at 8:51 PM
Look dude, if you keep posting, you are going to miss your Mensa meeting. You bettter get mommy to put your jacket on and show you the door.
OTOH, I suppose you yearn for the good old days under Saddam, you know
- Rape rooms
- Throwing opponents in vats of acid
- Throwing opponents feet first or head first into tree shredders
- Gassing men women and children
- Using WMDs against the iranians
- His homicidal kids feeding people to lions and tigers
Yep, it was a baaaaaad thing that we ended his reign
Sic Semper Tyranus.
bullseye on March 6, 2009 at 8:51 PM
The DVDs and this. Hilarious.
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 8:51 PM
bullseye on March 6, 2009 at 8:51 PM
you think the troll cares?
;)
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 8:52 PM
Actually I don’t think he has the intelligence to care.
I consider it kind of like plinking. There are a couple of other reasons I do this
1. Target practice or sparring. One of my wife’s friends was over today who is a liberal democrat. We started a friendly go around over PresZero. Between the two of us, we had her on the ropes. It helps to have responses ready for the liberal talking points.
2. For undecideds stumbling into hotair. I’m convinced that at least some of the trolls are on Axerods payroll to infest sites like hotair to make sure that there is liberal dilution of the discourse.
Anyway, I know getalife’s life revolves around snarky one liners. At least Death to Mediahacks puts some substance out there. Albiet substance that a drunken giraffe could discredit…
bullseye on March 6, 2009 at 8:57 PM
The US Secretary of State with her staff and VAST INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE fail to translate one simple word correctly from English to Russian.
One small (mis)step for America. One giant leap for Russia.
Diplomacy, negotiations, INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY all in the crapper with Hillary.
Her stupidity aside, is she trying to get fired from her job? Has she decided that she just can’t take working for Obama?
maverick muse on March 6, 2009 at 8:58 PM
The picture you are thinking of is (I think) where Hillary was shaking hands with a soldier and he was making the crossed-fingers sign at his side where she could not see it. The crossed fingers is a sign to indicate that whatever is being done or said is under coercion – as in a propaganda photo the enemy might take of a captured American. It was a beautiful picture, because she had that tradmark lookit-how-everybody-loves-me smirk on her face, and she was being pwned!
drunyan8315 on March 6, 2009 at 8:59 PM
I wonder if that was before or after the artillary and mortar barrage and human wave attacks directed against her by ‘the enemy’
bullseye on March 6, 2009 at 9:01 PM
Maybe the first time they go visit Iran they can bring a gift of a cadmium control rod to symbolize we want to be less reactive?
Thanos on March 6, 2009 at 9:01 PM
And there I was thinking that the interpreters hired by the State Department were actual professionals and not a bunch of loons who use babelfish.
Penguin on March 6, 2009 at 9:02 PM
Let me see. Hillary blows something this simple and Obama thinks Afghanistan needs more arabic translators……
we are in trouble.
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Let’s pray to God that we never have to use the hotline
RUSSIAN “We need to calm things down. We will call on our forces to immediately disengage. Please consider doing the same.”
AS TRANSLATED BY A TEAM OBAMA FLUNKY “F You Americanski pigs. We are commencing full scale nuclear strikes now. Die you dogs.”
bullseye on March 6, 2009 at 9:06 PM
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 9:03 PM
True, none trained in the last 7 years to translate their language in that region.
Hillary inherited a broken State Department which is just like all the other agencies.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 9:08 PM
So, why dont you learn Pashtu and enlist??? I’m sure you won’t have to worry about anyone making you walk point.. Nope.
bullseye on March 6, 2009 at 9:09 PM
And we all know how much the Russian language has changed in the last 7 years… NOT. (Or what was your point, exactly?)
RD on March 6, 2009 at 9:09 PM
An Icebreaker to show change.
getalife on Mar 6,2009 at 8:29PM.
getalife:
———
Tell me why,there needs to be change!
The Liberal Party hasn’t changed,its worse!
North Korea,Iran,Chavez,Syria,Gaza Goon’s,
and even the USSR will not change!
So,why is it up to America to change,or is it pure
Liberal logic,to act and think there has been a change,
even tho,in your utopian brain,its pure lip service,
and all along its always been just a hip style of a
slogan,never to be beleived———————-
and then whoosh——————————your off
to the next election!
What say you,eh!!!!!!!
canopfor on March 6, 2009 at 9:10 PM
bullseye on March 6, 2009 at 9:09 PM
Pashtu, that was the language.
Thanks.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 9:11 PM
Wait a minute… what language, and what region, are you referring to?
RD on March 6, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Got it – never mind.
RD on March 6, 2009 at 9:12 PM
You’re like a friggin’ game of ‘Whack-A-Mole’.
thomasaur on March 6, 2009 at 9:13 PM
Our troops do not have translators speaking Pashtu in seven years.
Whose fault is that?
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 9:14 PM
Prove it. Back it up with at least an attempt to find a reference.
Or are you just making it up as you go along?
coldwarrior on March 6, 2009 at 9:14 PM
Unadulterated bovine excrement.
coldwarrior on March 6, 2009 at 9:15 PM
coldwarrior on March 6, 2009 at 9:14 PM
It was on CNN.
Another Condi mistake.
A big one.
getalife on March 6, 2009 at 9:16 PM
Ed, thats all you got? Man’ that was lame. Did you get giddy? Are the gop fortune’s so low THIS makes you happy?You’ve got a full news day and this is the best you got? unbelievable. Its no wonder the gop is out of power, they have lost all touch with reality. But you people are relevant because you keep telling each other so. Enjoy the wilderness.
athensboy on March 6, 2009 at 9:17 PM
CNN? OK…guess that’s as authoritative as they come. /s
coldwarrior on March 6, 2009 at 9:18 PM
Getalife they do not speak Arabic in Afghanistan… your are about as ignorant as your leader
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/05/obama-gaffes-on.html
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 9:19 PM
T
Getalife your ignorance is glaring
Jamson64 on March 6, 2009 at 9:20 PM
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