|
Adventures in Diplomacy
Another Golden Moment in the Obama Adminstration.GENEVA--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. What's it mean? Surrender? No, but read on... "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." Oh, well. I'm sure there's no Russian language experts at the State Department... Clinton and Lavrov laughed. Ha ha ha. Johnson, find out who did this. And have them killed. Right away, Madame Secretary... "We won't let you do that to us," she said. Trying to recover, Clinton said the new administration was serious about improving relations with Moscow. "We mean it, and we're looking forward to it." Humina humina humina... Lavrov said he would put the button on his desk and he and Clinton pushed the button together, before sitting down for their meeting. How do you say "What kinda goofy shit is this" in Russian? Don't ask the guy at State who inscribed the gift ... A State Department official said the misspelling on the button was being corrected, in time for the post-meeting news conference. They'll add that to the stimulus package... Posted by: tu3031 2009-03-06 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=264332 |