Obama Behaving Like “ugly American” Tourist in Russia ?

O2 Lounge at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. Located within sight of the Kremlin

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Condé Nast Traveler explores the super-luxe Ritz-Carlton Moscow including its restaurant, Jeroboam, and O2 Lounge, a rooftop bar with sweeping views of Red Square.

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Family Night for Obamas Miffs Some in Moscow
NY Times
MOSCOW — If Paris is for lovers, it looks like Moscow is for families.
After passing on dinner with the French president to go on a date in the City of Light with his wife last month, President Obama took leave of his Russian hosts on Tuesday night to seclude himself in his Moscow hotel with his wife, Michelle, and their daughters.
The first family enjoyed a relaxed evening at the O2 Lounge, the super-chic, super-pricey rooftop club at the new Ritz-Carlton, although no doubt the Secret Service first cleared the place of most if not all of the swaggering tycoons and leggy models who flock to such Moscow venues.
They could not ask for a more scenic vista. The glass-enclosed O2 offers a panoramic view of Moscow, including Red Square and the Kremlin, all the more striking as the lingering summer sun sets after 10 p.m. The club is “a place to see and be seen,” as its Web site says — that is, unless you are a visiting president who after a day and a half of blinis, beluga and bilats (the diplo term for “bilateral meetings”) just wants to hang out with the clan.
The decision to brush off the Russians on one of his two nights here miffed some in the Moscow government who did not understand why he would not devote the scarce time to his hosts. Mr. Obama had dinner with President Dmitri A. Medvedev on Monday and lunch with him on Tuesday. But with the second dinner slot unavailable, he ended up having breakfast Tuesday with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, a known night owl not given to American-style early morning business meals.
The Obamas, though, wanted some downtime before getting back on Air Force One to head to Italy for three days of meetings at the Group of 8 summit meeting and, from there, to Ghana for a one-day visit.
Mr. Obama has seemed tired here, several times fumbling the pronunciation of Mr. Medvedev’s name and Mr. Putin’s title. Beginning a speech here, he mistakenly said he first met his wife in school instead of at the law firm where they actually met. And he misstated his younger daughter’s age.
He was quick on his feet, however, while addressing graduates of the New Economic School. In praising Russian culture, Mr. Obama cited painters, composers, dancers — and a hockey player, The Associated Press reported.

“As a resident of Washington, I continue to benefit from the contributions of Russians — specifically, from Alexander Ovechkin,” he said. Mr. Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals was the National Hockey League’s most valuable player.

And while Mr. Obama was tending to business, the first lady and the girls kept a separate schedule. Mrs. Obama visited an orphanage and then escorted the orphans to a special dance performance at a Moscow theater. Malia, 11, and Sasha, 8, did not accompany her, remaining instead with Mrs. Obama’s mother, Marian Robinson.

“They came with me to Russia,” the first lady told the Russian orphans. “They’re with their grandmother. I think they’re making dolls.”

Much attention here focused on the fact that the Obamas named their younger daughter Natasha, or Sasha for short. (In Russia, Sasha is actually a nickname for Alexandra, not Natasha.) The president told ABC News that he laughed at the sight of his younger daughter walking through the halls of the Kremlin with a trench coat on and her hands in the pockets.

Mr. Obama jokingly called her “Agent 99,” after the “Get Smart” character. “She just looked like she knew where she was going,” he said. “I thought she was going to pull out her shoe phone.”

Wild Thing’s comment…….
Great instead of sending a world class leader of an industrialized nation to speak to the Russians, we send the Griswald family from National Lampoon’s European Vacation.
I can understand the sentiment of wanting to go off and have dinner with his family but a president has responsibilities and from othis trip and the one to France Obama treats them more like he is a tourist.
My Father had an international business and one cardinal rule is that whether you feel like it or not, if you are invited out by your hosts you go.
Top that off with it was NOT to have a quiet night with family. That quiet night was at a super trendy, super expensive, club to party. That is not what I call a quiet night with family.
He is being an “ugly American” tourist when he travels on our dime. We can’t afford this kind of self-centered amateurism.
“Mr. Obama has seemed tired here, several times fumbling the pronunciation of Mr. Medvedev’s name and Mr. Putin’s title. Beginning a speech here, he mistakenly said he first met his wife in school instead of at the law firm where they actually met. And he misstated his younger daughter’s age.”
Ever notice how this guy always seems “tired”? When he was making gaffes left and right during the campaign, it was blown off as being “tired”….far as I know, George W. Bush was NEVER “tired” (although, as President, he was probably exhausted at times). Even Bill Clinton was never “tired”. And during the campaign, John McCain, at age 73, never used the excuse of being tired.