EUROPE IS SO, SO UPSET;  DO YOU CARE? – President Obama, apparently not liking the scenery or something, is declining to attend a summit conference in Europe.  Europeans feel the pain:

PARIS — President Obama’s decision to skip a United States-European Union summit meeting scheduled for Madrid in May has predictably upset European officials, who suggested on Tuesday that the summit itself will now be postponed, possibly to the autumn. 

In addition to the palpable sense of insult among European officials, there was a growing concern that Europe is being taken for granted and losing importance in American eyes compared to the rise of a newly truculent China.

European Union officials found out about the decision through the news media late on Monday, senior European officials said Tuesday morning. The Obama decision was first reported on the Web site of The Wall Street Journal.

The Spanish prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who is scheduled to arrive in Washington this week on a visit, was described as angry and embarrassed, and European officials said there was a set of high-level diplomatic exchanges overnight.

COMMENT:  As FDR used to say, "I love it, I love it, I love it."  Weren't these the same suckers who, not many months ago, were bowing down to Obama, and welcoming him as the new deity?  Of course, they haven't done much for the old one lately, so maybe they were just in a shopping mood.

And Zapatero?  That America basher?  He's angry and embarrassed?  What, precisely, do we owe this frustrated matador, considered so immature that many in Spain call him "Bambi"?

The enchantment with The One has clearly worn off.  Who will Europeans boost next for president of the United States?  Well, the French like Jerry Lewis.  Sleep on that.

February 2,  2010