He may not be held in esteem by other nations as a whole or at least by those national leaders. We’ve already heard that Pres. Sarkozy of France considers him naive and inexperienced (and I’m being charitable, Sarkozy’s remarks were mouch more pointed) but he is loved by all those people around the world who look at the USA with hatred and jealousy in their hearts. What they seee is the leader of the free world agreeing with THEM. They hear him saying the same things they’ve been saying for years and they cannot help but feel vindicated.

Obama lives up to certain stereotypes of Americans as bumbling fools. Obama is certainly forging new ground in demonstrating how inept and clueless he is.