Duck Soup

Via Neoneocon, comes this very funny "fly on the wall" tale from the Copenhagen climate summit. I make no claims whether this is true, but I think you will agree that it contains a comedic meta-truth: "Then He Packed His Bags and Went Home"

According to rumors in the Bella Center, US President Barack Obama at about 11 PM, had impatiently asked to speak with Wen Jiabao in order to advance the discussion. But Obama had to wait. Wen, who, it was rumored, had rarely left his hotel room, could not be found. Finally, the US delegation located him in a room set aside for negotiations. A visibly furious Obama, according to reports, stormed into the room. "Are you now ready to talk with me, Premier Wen?" he was reported to have shouted. "Are you now ready? Premier Wen, are you now ready to talk with me?" What a scene for a US president.

Wen was not alone in the room at the time when Obama quite literally burst into the room, according to participants. At the time, the Premier was in a conversation with India's head of state, Mammohan Singh and South Africa's President Jacob Zuma. Suddenly the group saw itself forced into a conversation with the US president.

At the insistence of the impatient Obama, this unplanned and coincidentally-assembled negotiating round and participants, agreed on a minimal compromise.

Obama should have discussed, coordinated with and agreed to this compromise with his closest partners: the European Union or the G77 Developing Nations. Instead, at about 10:25 PM, he called together a number of American journalists for an impromptu press conference. There he announced, the "Copenhagen Accord" as the conclusion and product of the two-week long conference. He was aware, that many countries would consider the result as insufficient and unsatisfactory. More, however, was not achievable.

He thought it a significant achievement and milestone that large developing countries like India and China had, for the first time, recognized the necessity of reducing emissions and accepted to limit warming to less than 2 degrees Celsius.

With that, he packed his bags and flew home.

Like I said; hard to believe but very funny. Obviously, even our most obsequious and International politicians carry with them a bit of the ol' American arrogance. And pity the poor environmentalists. They finally have an American president determined enough and dumb enough to want to agree to the wealth transfers demanded by the anti-carbon crowd, and what happens? A new super-power shows up and scuttles the whole thing by simply failing to leave its hotel room.