The Obama administration submitted a first-ever human rights report to the UN on the US that confessed shortcomings and said that “considerable progress is still needed.” Fortunately, though, Obama balanced this out with some tooting of his own horn. Maggie Gallagher explains:

To the American ear, long-schooled to recognize rights as individual freedoms guaranteed by government, not goodies subsidized by taxpayers, the oddest note is the long paean to Obamacare in the middle of this official report on alleged human rights:

“On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act into law. The Act makes great strides toward the goal that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care. … The law will also help our nation reduce disparities and discrimination in access to care that have contributed to poor health. For example, African Americans are 29 percent more likely to die from heart disease than non-Hispanic whites. Asian American men suffer from stomach cancer 114 percent more often than non-Hispanic white men. … The Act will reduce disparities like these through access to preventive services; investment in chronic disease control and prevention; enhanced data collection.”

So now we have the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of foreign policy. Hey, you got self-promotion in my apology tour!  No, you got apologies in my self-promotion tour! Great to know that Obama tossed the US under the bus while burnishing his own image at the United Nations.

Got an Obamateurism of the Day? If you see a foul-up by Barack Obama, e-mail it to me at [email protected] with the quote and the link to the Obamateurism. I’ll post the best Obamateurisms on a daily basis, depending on how many I receive. Include a link to your blog, and I’ll give some link love as well. And unlike Slate, I promise to end the feature when Barack Obama leaves office.

Illustrations by Chris Muir of Day by Day. Be sure to read the adventures of Sam, Zed, Damon, and Jan every day!