RESET BUTTON, THOUGH PUSHED, DIDN'T WORK – AT 9:39 A.M. ET:   Among Barack Obama's naive ideas when he came to office was the notion of a button that would reset our relations with Russia.  Apparently, The Gifted One felt he could do better than the evil BUSH (!!) or the more evil CHENEY (!!!!) in dealing with Moscow. 

Please take out a scrap of paper and list all the things we've gotten for pushing the reset button.  A postage stamp will do. If you don't have a stamp, one of those little bits from the shredder will also do.

This is what we've gotten.  From Fox: 

SELIGER, Russia -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday accused the United States of acting as a "parasite" on the world economy by accumulating massive debts that threaten the global financial system.

"The country is living in debt. It is not living within its means, shifting the weight of responsibility on other countries and in a way acting as a parasite," Putin told a group of pro-Kremlin youth in central Russia.

He also suggested that Washington may have been flirting with the idea of a default in order to weaken the dollar "and create better conditions for exporting their goods."

"But they had enough common sense and responsibility" to avoid a default, Russia's former president added.
Putin has repeatedly criticized the United States' recent foreign exchange policy and its tendency to cover budget deficits with treasury bills and bonds held by sovereign clients such as China and Russia.

The value of that paper will shrink if U.S. debt is downgraded by a major Western ratings agency and Putin was insistent Monday that the world should be seeking new reserve currencies for trade and savings.

"If the U.S. encounters a systemic malfunction, this affects everyone," Putin told the youth gathering. "There should be other reserve currencies."

COMMENT:  Thanks, Vladimir.  Spoken like a true friend.  In fact, there is no essential difference between Russia's attitude toward America under Bush and its attitude under Obama.  The reset button didn't light up anything.  It is the invention of a small-time Chicago politician with a golden voice who sits in the White House, doing batting practice and calling it the World Series.

August 2, 2011