At Least the Media Somewhere Gets It right!

“The New York Observer” reports that Russia mass media is inundated with vulgar, racist rhetoric directed against Obama.  A sampling if some of the comments are below.    
Russian Media Explodes With Vulgar and Racist Anti-Obama Rhetoric
‘Obama Schmoe,’ monkey comparisons and ‘chimney sweep’ used to disparage American president
By Mikhail Klikushin • 12/15/15 1:46pm

As in America, the Russian public is largely informed by TV shows and other media, which never miss an opportunity to remind viewers that the current occupant of the White House is the world’s biggest villain—but not one to be taken too seriously.

Putin is strong. Obama is weak. Putin is a doer. Obama is a talker. Putin fixes. Obama ruins. Putin is a leader. Obama isn’t.

Russian television has its own Bill O’Reilly. His name is Dmitry Kiselyov, and he is the host of his own weekly program News of the Week. This week’s heroes are Fox’s Ralph Peters and actress Stacey Dash, for the simple reason they “cursed” Mr. Obama last week. That’s good enough for Mr. Kiselyov.

“I am not going to clog your brains with the usual banalities by Obama,” was all Mr. Kiselyov said to his viewers last Sunday, after the U.S. President’s speech from the Oval office. Rather than reporting on the substance of the U.S. President’s policies, Russian media prefers stories on Mr. Obama making faces like ‘Grumpy Cat,’ or on his wife’s adoration of rap music or other easy-to-digest memes:

Barack Obama loves to act like a clown.

“U.S. President Barack Obama started to laugh when asked by The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart who the U.S. is bombing in the Middle East. It’s not his first appearance on the comedy show,” reported major Russian news agency RIA Novosti,

Barack Obama is lazy.

“During his presidency, Obama spent more than 1,100 hours on the golf course—or one-and-a-half months without breaks for sleep or food. He played golf 247 times during his presidency, breaking the record of Dwight Eisenhower who did it 210 times,” a major Russian tabloid reported.

Barack Obama is an idiot.

“Obama linked the spread of terrorism to climate change. At the same time, the American president expressed confidence that terrorism will be defeated.” Not having given any specifics on how to deal with the climate change, Mr. Obama cannot be trusted in the war against terrorism, concludes RIA Novosti.

Barack Obama is a liar.

“Together with [German Chancellor] Merkel and [Turkish President] Erdogan, Germans called Obama the liar of the year—39 percent called Merkel the biggest liar, 21 percent called Obama,” announced another Russian tabloid.

In other words, Russian media wants viewers to believe Mr. Obama is the anti-Putin. Mr. Putin is strong. Mr. Obama is weak. Mr. Putin is a doer. Mr. Obama is a talker. Mr. Putin fixes things. Mr. Obama ruins. Mr. Putin is a leader. Mr. Obama isn’t.

Mr. Putin is a macho alpha-male. Mr. Obama is a… what?

Instead, the answer is in the short and offensive motto: “Obama [is a] schmoe.”

In Russian, “schmoe” resembles the Yiddish “schmuck,” but with much stronger negative connotations.

“Obama schmoe” has recently become an all-pervading part of Russian pop-culture. There are “Obama schmoe” bumper stickers (in addition to others, like “Obama is bad” and “Obama is the devil”), and there are tee-shirts with pictures of Mr. Putin whispering into the ear of the embarrassed American President, “Obama, you are a schmoe.”
Last summer, during his trip to Russia, French Senator Yves Pozzo di Borgo was tricked into holding the tee-shirt, with which he was photographed, La Parisien reported.

There are satellite photographs of the slogan in white paint on the runway of the Russian air base in Syrian Latakia. There, it serves as a background for Russian warplanes.
The term is so popular that it made its way into Wikipedia (but was later deleted because of user complaints).

On the surface, the Kremlin avoids putting President Obama down, though the Russian government approves the trend and, from time to time, openly condones it.

 

When RT speaks to a mostly international audience, the anti-Obama message it spreads is only on the verge of being hostile and is never personal. When presented for domestic consumption, however, the attacks on the U.S. President—orchestrated by the Russian government—are straightforward.

 

Blatant racism has long accompanied attacks on the U.S. President’s image, but until recently never became a cause for concern among Russian authorities.

Last April, in the city of Samara, local company hung a poster in the middle of the street that read, “Shame on you, unwashed chimney sweep!” with a picture of Barack Obama’s face. The company received national notoriety and a great deal of new business, but was fined 10,000 rubles ($150) for breaking advertisement laws.

 

I figured I would supply some adjectives and descriptives that The New York Observer left out. Such as: accurate, keen judge of character, fact based and unbiased.  

Did you hear about the meeting between Putin and Obama at Camp David? The two leaders were walking in the forest when they came upon a sheep with its head caught in a fence.  Putin immediately went over, dropped his pants and had sex with the sheep.  When he was done, Putin turned to Obama and said, “Your turn!”  Obama agreed and went over and stuck his head in the fence.