AM I READING THIS RIGHT? – AT 8:03 A.M. ET:  Readers, tell me if you think this is as nutty as I do.  The reporter for The Politico, Carol E. Lee (as opposed to Robert E. Lee), reports on her hero's latest escapade, as follows:

PRAGUE — Ronald Reagan had Reykjavik. Barack Obama has Prague.

Right.  And Bogart and Bergman had Paris.  You can see where this is going.   

Both presidents staked out neutral soil on which to try to make progress in moving beyond the Cold War.

Oh please.  Is the reporter comparing Reagan and Obama?  To start, Reagan proceeded from strength, and a belief in his own country.  Obama proceeds from weakness, and a belief in....we don't know, do we?

And, Earth to Carol Lee:  The Reagan administration ended 21 years ago, as did the real Cold War. 

For Reagan, Reykjavik, Iceland, was the place where he had a breakthrough in negotiations with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that eventually led to a pact to reduce each nation’s nuclear arsenals.

Bit of an exaggeration.  The key point about Reykjavik is that Reagan would not agree to any compromise on missile defense, ending the conference.  Gorbachev saw, and felt, Reagan's determination, backed up by a massive defense buildup. 

For Obama, the enchanting capital of the Czech Republic is where he outlined his vision of a world without nuclear weapons — a proclamation that opened him up to criticism that he is a naive dreamer. His return to Prague on Thursday, a year later, to sign a new nuclear arms treaty with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was a modest victory lap and a bit of a homecoming...

...Just as Reagan’s efforts to reach an agreement with Gorbachev on nuclear weapons became synonymous with Reykjavik, Prague is now very much an Obama administration destination.

COMMENT:  This reporter should be writing romantic comedies, not diplomatic reports.  Comparing Barack Obama to Ronald Reagan is like comparing an average hitter in the Little League to Joe DiMaggio. 

April 12, 2010