Sometimes real relationships are built over the most inconsequential circumstances.  A good ole American lunch seems to me the best way to forge something real.  I am not suggesting that our relationship with the Russian President is somehow now perfected, but having such a relaxed atmosphere, that actually precludes anything BUT regular chit chat ,seems ideal.  

President Obama paid for lunch, apparently, Hells Kitchen, was the same burger joint he and VP Biden at lunch at last year.  The Russian President is here trying to improve relations with the United States.

33 Thoughts to “High Stakes Meeting, US and Russia….Over Burgers and Shared Fries!”

  1. CAPTION CONTEST!

    So, President Obama, lets have an agreement. I tell you how to plug that leak and you buy Russian windmills……….you know, windmills invented by Mother Russia. Is true.
    Now, drink vodka!

  2. Elena

    I love it Cargo! What is the prize????

  3. Emma

    Burgers and fries, and wife Michelle has chosen childhood obesity as her pet First Lady project. Good thing she isn’t trying to establish a credible anti-smoking campaign.

  4. RingDangDoo

    @cargosquid

    >>> CAPTION CONTEST!

    Medvedev: Shouldn’t you be eating CHICKEN?

  5. RingDangDoo

    Medvedev: Well, you just made me buy another whopper!

  6. RingDangDoo

    >>> President Obama paid for lunch, apparently, Hells Kitchen,

    Actually, ’twas Ray’s Hell Burger in Arlington. Given the location and todays clientele, it’s appropriately named.

  7. hello

    Ah, isn’t that sooo cute! You know where Obama wasn’t at? He wasn’t at the privately funded NICoE opening (National Intrepid Center of Excellence) today. Don’t mean to harp on the guy but would have rather had him show up to this instead of a photo-op eating burgers.

    “The National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), a privately-funded facility designed to treat service members with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and psychological health issues, opens today at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland.”

    http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/National-Intrepid-Center-Excellence-NICoE-Opens-National-Naval-Medical-Center-Bethesda-1281427.htm

    Did I mention that this new facility is also a LEEDS certified Silver Certification building? Saw the speech by the founder on Fox 5 earlier, their not too happy that no only did Obama not show up but neither did a single member or rep from the White House. Nice…

  8. TWINAD

    lol…like Bush or Palin would have been there. Nice try. Sorry the leader of the free world’s agenda didn’t meet You Lie’s expectations. I’m sure Obama is kicking himself for not thinking of that himself.

  9. hello

    The point, TWINAD, is that not a SINGLE member or rep from his administration even went to it. Na-da, zero, zilch…

    This was a privately funded project. Ill bet you any amount of money that if this building was built with ‘stimulus’ money he would have been there, Biden would have been there, shoot… you name the Dem and they would have been there.

    He would have given a 30 minute speech about how great stimulus was and something somthing, lie, something, lie, lie… unprecedented… now let me be clear… systemic… previous administration… lie, lie, cap and trade… lie, something, something and god bless America.

  10. Elena

    RingDangDoo :@cargosquid
    >>> CAPTION CONTEST!
    Medvedev: Shouldn’t you be eating CHICKEN?

    What are you implying here? If it is what I think, you may have crossed the line.

  11. Elena

    Obama is only human, he cannot be in two places at one time.

  12. Elena

    “hello”,
    what are you implying? That this president and his staff don’t care about injured soldiers? Low, pretty low.

  13. TWINAD

    Does a member of the administration attend every function in the DC area that happens to have some sort of meaning to every person in the Metro area? Give me a break.

  14. The prize is that all important one: Bragging rights!

    Medvedev: Shouldn’t you be eating CHICKEN?
    Obama: Shouldn’t you be DRUNK? And more communist than me?

    Stereotypes! Can’t use ’em, can’t admit they’re funny! Oh, wait…..

  15. Pat.Herve

    hello/you lie, and if he, or a member of the administration, was at a privately funded facility, you would be here saying that he was trying to get all the glory for something he did not create.

    Caption – If the deficit continues to grow, next time it will be the dollar menu.

  16. Swooping Buzzard

    @hello
    Sounds like an awesome facility and much needed.

  17. Swooping Buzzard

    From the article: “The National Intrepid Center of Excellence at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda aims to destigmatize psychological and neurological problems among war veterans and instead cast their mental ailments as badges of honor, said New York real-estate magnate Arnold Fisher. His Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund raised the money to build and equip the curvy, two-story, glass-and-concrete structure.”

    I am all for removing stigma, but calling a brain injury or any illness a badge of honor is a sick kind of propaganda IMO.

    Otherwise, the facility is a good idea and I am glad it’s there.

  18. punchak

    Agree with Pat.Herve 100% (abt getting credit for something he did not create)

  19. Several congressmen were there. Yes someone should have gone. I believe the Prez was supposed to go. Perhaps those in attendance missed what else was going on in the country.

  20. It wasn’t funded by DoD because sadly, recognizing Traumatic Brain Injury as the signature injury of these two useless wars has yet to come up on DoD’s radar scope. Much like they didn’t recognize the effects of Agent Orange until the evidence was overwhelming. TBI does not necessarily mean bashed in heads–many suffer TBI and may or may not have many outward signs initially. They get written off as malingering or some other diagnosis that implies they are playing the system. Headaches, muscle weakness, short term memory loss, visual problems, auditory problems all can fall within the scope of TBI.

    Not funded by DoD–no reason to attend I suppose was the thinking.

  21. RingDangDoo

    @Elena

    >>>>>>Medvedev: Shouldn’t you be eating CHICKEN?

    >>> What are you implying here?

    I was implying that he’s chicken, a wuss, scaredy-cat, wimp, pussy, primo girly-man, etc.

    I would have never thought about the other connotation until you responded to my comment. I’m actually amazed that I got called on this, but, in hindsight, I can see how someone who is on guard for any perceived slight against [insert-oppressed-class-of-people-here] would interpret my comment in the wrong way.

    Not my problem.

    >>>If it is what I think, you may have crossed the line.

    Enjoy your throne.

  22. Elena

    @RingDangDoo
    I apologize for assuming, I am definately on the defensive. You know what happens when you assume!

    However, Obama is not a chicken, not even sure what he has done to suggest to you he is. Maybe you could enlighten me.

  23. Wolverine

    Pity that poor Russian interpreter. He is trying so hard to translate what President Obama is saying through that cheeseburger. And the interpreter probably didn’t even get to eat on top of it all!!!

  24. George, thanks for filling us in on TBI and other such types of injuries and ailments not recognized by DoD. My husband’s uncle served under Patton and came back with rather delibitating neurological impairments.

    After watching Pacific a couple months ago, I wondered how any of those men came back with a functioning brain after all of that. No wonder so many of them just pulled the rug over their psychological wounds and tried to move on. Today, those types of traumas get a great deal more sympathy than they did back then. I can remember hearing things as a kid. It was sort of along the lines of real men don’t develope post traumatic stress syndrome…How sad.

  25. George S. Harris

    @Elena
    Elena, I don’t think I would let RingDangDo off so easily.

    RDD got caught making a racist remark and now is trying duck and cover. Racist and/or bigot are ugly words but they might just be the right ones here. I wonder if RDD is willing to try one on for size?

  26. George S. Harris

    Moon–you are exactly right. I don’t know how the people returning from WWII did it except to say that they had gone through perhaps one of the worst depressions in history and so adversity was somewhat of a norm for them. They truely were citizen soldiers who put down their plowshares and picked up their swords. When it was all over, they came back home and with the help of some wonderful women, beat those swords back into plowshares. As you well know, the roll of women in the world changed forever–except those in certain countries ruled by repressive religious groups.

    Sadly, any type of things wrong with your head–traumatic or psychological are still viewed through very predjudicial eyes. Remember Senator Thomas Eagleton? Well, that sort of predjudice exists today for young service personnel who suffer from a traumatic injury or from a psychological injury–they are viewed with great suspicion as being less than a “normal” person. The military has gone to some lengths to reeducate people, but the veneer is very thin. The day that a returning warrior with a big divot out of his/her skull is promoted to general or admiral and becomes a leader of that particular service will be the day things turn around. It was years before many service personnel with service incurred disabilities (loss of an arm or leg) were permitted to remain in the service. The reason ws the same–they were viewed as less than a whole person. I had a Navy Hospital Corps friend years ago who lost a leg in Korea while serving with the Marines. The Navy was going to put him out. He fought like crazy and told them that being a sailor was the only thing he knew and that he still had a lot of value and could serve. He was allowed to stay and became what was then the top level for an enlited sailor–a Chief Petty Officer. A few years later, a Marine at Camp Pendleton lost a leg during a parachute drop when he swung into a high tension power line. Again, he fought to stay and was allowed to do so, but he had to prove that he could keep up as if nothing had ever happened. There was a Naval Aviator who lost a leg in WWII who managed to stay on active duty and I believe he did become an admiral–his name is lost to me in the fog being an older sailor. Now more and more service personnel who lose limbs manage to stay, but those with traumatic or psychological brain injuries are not so luck. Perhaps one of these days someone will fill their bucket.

  27. As I recall, some Republicans, I won’t tarnish all with this story, practically killed Max Cleland. And he was only missing a few arms and legs. Shame, shame shame. That’s when its hard to look in the mirror if one has been part of that.

  28. Actually, Ring, I think it might be time for you to review the terms of engagement here. You have nothing but criticism for people and ideas here. Why is that?

  29. You’re right about Cleland and they did the same thing to John McCain a few years ago. The Party of God seems to have some holes in its morality.

  30. Max Cleland wrote about his 2 year bout with depression after all that. What does the term some gave all mean to some of these people? When one is left with one limb, that is about as ‘all’ as a person should be asked to give.

    And yes, people made fun of John McCain and said he was exploiting his time as a POW in the Hanoi Hilton. A curse on their house. I don’t care what John McCain does or doesn’t do…I will never be disrespectful of his war time service. 5 years in a hell hole? Again, getting too close to ‘all’ to suit me.

    George, you are totally correct. There are some holes in the morality. I guess those un-partied, unprincipled dogs like myself just are missing something.

  31. George S. Harris

    Somehow Moon, you may be the lucky one–your life may be richer for not belonging to a party–I’ve told the story when at age 7 (1940) I told my Mother I would be glad when I grew up so I wouldn’t have to obey anybody but God and Roosevelt. Pretty long run as a Dem although I was apolitical for some 39 years while in the service. Still have been known to cross the aisle on some things but wouldn’t do it today for anything.

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