First Daughters of Spain's Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero are Secret Goths

The Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and his wife posed with President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during the G-20 Summit. Good Lord, they were invaded by Goths, in a pre-Halloween photo op. Okay, I won't talk about the prime minister's daughters, but all I can bring myself to say is DANG, couldn't someone see to it that they dressed a little more tasteful.

Thanks to the State Department, Prime Minister Zapatero's daughters, Alba, 13, and Laura, 16, managed to embarrass their parents with that look. For some odd reason they were included in the photograph. They are usually concealed from the press for their privacy, but that reason is questionable, given their outfits.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Calls President Obama Suntanned Again, Days After Being Snubbed by Michelle Obama at G-20 Summit

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has called President Barack Obama "sun-tanned" again. Fresh from the G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Pa., the gaffe-proned politician told a crowd in Milan, "I bring you greetings from a person who is called...a person who is sun-tanned... Barack Obama." He took it a step further and said,  "You wouldn't believe it, but they go sunbathing at the beach together - his wife is also sun-tanned." You will recall that he sparked international outrage last November when he first described Mr. Obama as "sun-tanned." The man just doesn't learn. I thought President George W. Bush was a gaffe-machine, but this guy beats him by a landslide. He's in the same class as Vice President Joe Biden.

Berlusconi snubbed by Michelle Obama at G-20 Summit (AFP/Getty)

At the G20 meeting last week, Mrs. Obama rebuffed his open arms and pointedly chose to shake his hand rather than give him hug and a kiss on the cheek, as she did to other world leaders. I guess her reserve may have been a deliberate move not to appear cozy with a man who has been dogged since last April by accusations that he "consorts with minors" young enough to be his granddaughters and that he had slept with a high-class prostitute at his private mansion in Rome.

If anyone has a suntan, it is Silvio Berlusconi!

Video: President Obama Bowing to Saudi King Abdullah During G-20 Summit

So, President Obama couldn't bow to Queen Elizabeth II, but he certainly seemed not to have a problem bowing to Saudi King Abdullah during the G-20 Summit. I don't want to rain on his parade, but enough already. Stop giving the rightwing fodder to get you with, President Obama. I really believe that fundamentally he has the right ideas in place, but the mis-steps are hampering his efforts, to some degree. His decision to bow to the king seems servile to me, at best. Sorry, he could have skipped that move.

Russia's Dmitry Medvedev Hailed President Barack Obama as "My New Comrade"

I fully expect the right wing to pick up on a comment made at the recent G-20 Summit in London. Russia's Dmitry Medvedev hailed Barack Obama as "my new comrade" yesterday after their first face-to-face talks, saying the US president "can listen" -- even if little progress was made on substance. Here we go, the labels will start flying again. Never mind the rest of his statements, they will just zero in on the "comrade" portion. Remember, on the campaign trail President Obama was labeled as a socialist, a communist, an elitist, palling around with terrorists, among other things.

Medvedev contrasted Obama as "totally different" to his predecessor George W. Bush, whom he blamed for the "mistake" of US missile shield plans fiercely opposed by Moscow. Obama has agreed to visit Moscow in July.

In their London talks, Obama and Medvedev launched a milestone quest to slash their nuclear arsenals, hoping to reverse the worst slump in the former foes' ties since the end of the Cold War. The pair also discussed thorny issues including NATO's eastwards expansion, long opposed by Moscow which sees it as a power-grab by the West's former Cold War-era military bloc into former Soviet territory.

"Yesterday I spoke about this with my new comrade President Barack Obama," Medvedev told reporters travelling with him to the London summit. "Today from the United States there is at least a desire to listen to our arguments," he said, adding that: "Such defence measures should be carried out jointly" between Washington and Moscow. Source: Yahoo News

Matt Drudge has it the comment displayed prominently on his website, The Drudge Report, and I suspect conservative nutjobs will make hay of this -- Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham and so on. Yep, they will try to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

Protocol Abandoned as Queen Elizabeth II Puts Her Arm on First Lady Michelle Obama's Back, She Reciprocates

When First Lady Michelle Obama put her arm around Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace yesterday, some bickered that she had committed a breach of protocol. On the contrary. What the media decided to play up with Michelle Obama's hug and not who initiated the show of obvious affection and appreciation. It was her Majesty, the Queen. Yep, the Queen has some soul! She can show affection, in public. That was the real story in this event. Of course, this is contrary to anything we know about the Queen or have seen in the past. She is not known for being so warm and accommodating in public. Yes, the Queen has a brand new bag!

It is less than 20 years ago that the Australian Prime Minister was branded “the Lizard of Oz” for committing the supposedly heinous crime of putting his hand on the Queen’s back during an official tour of Australia.

Now the Queen is not just putting up with physical gestures of affection from a woman she has only just met, but is reciprocating with one of her own. The footage does not make it clear who made the first move. But given the Queen’s track record - she is not a woman known for doing warm, at least not in public - the fact that Mrs Obama is American, and that the President spent most of the first part of the day putting his arm round Gordon Brown, it can safely be assumed that it was the First Lady who took the initiative. U.K. Times Online

Apparently this was no breach of protocol, as many have said. Buckingham Palace was reportedly very relaxed today about the incident, and attitudes there have changed significantly since the days of Mr Keating and his lese-majesty. “This was a mutual and spontaneous display of affection and appreciation between The Queen and Michelle Obama,” said a Palace spokeswoman.

From all the footage we have seen of their encounter, it is quite obvious that the Queen and the Obamas got along well. They joked together and by the time they posed for the picture, they were, according to the Times Online, acting like old friends. That says a whole lot about President and Mrs. Obama, considering that they had only just met that day. He has accomplished his mission on that front, let's see what happens at the G-20 meeting today. I am confident that he will get what he wants or come close to it. And folks, sometimes protocol is not such a big deal, as evidenced from Queen Elizabeth's actions towards Mrs. Obama.

To watch video, CLICK HERE.