Laugh of the week plus an observation.

Busy times, but, I just cannot resist reporting on this one. Apparently, when asked as to why he declined to have dinner with French President Nicholas Sarkozy, President Obama responded: ""I would love nothing more than to have a leisurely week in Paris, stroll down the Seine, take my wife out to a nice meal, have a picnic in Luxembourg Gardens. Those days are over, for the moment." http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-obama-sarkozy7-2009jun07,0,6511298.story?track=rss Hmm, when I lived in France as an exchange student, the Seine was a river, not an avenue or road, like the Champs d'Elysee, down which one could stroll. One cannot stroll down the Seine River, although one can stroll along the river on the left and right banks of the Seine and can stroll down the Champs d'Elysee. I truly hope the President does not believe his own press and now thinks that he can, indeed, walk on water.

And, given that President Obama had yet another "date night" with his wife in Paris on Saturday night, it does seem to me he easily could have fit in dinner with President Sarkozy. When I asked my husband why we don't go on as many "date nights" as the Obamas do (New York City, Paris, France, and who knows where else), he responded "Because I don't receive taxpayer dollars with which to take you out." Perhaps a little more diplomacy and a little less familial extravagance is more appropriate at this time when so many American families can't afford to pay their mortgages or obtain health care.

So far, I am not seeing much "change", but I am seeing an awful lot of "Yes we can - spend billions of taxpayer dollars."