Barack Obama who campaigns against his opponents by constantly denigrating and belittling them, thought he'd try a joke out at the G-20 Summit on Friday.

Washington Times:

Mr. Obama thought he was making a gentle joke about Mr. Sarkozy, host of the summit, when he congratulated Mr. Sarkozy and wife Carla Bruni on the birth of their baby daughter on Oct. 19. Instead, Mr. Obama caused a minor international incident.

"I want to make mention that this is our first meeting since the arrival of the newest Sarkozy, and so I want to congratulate Nicolas and Carla on the birth of Giulia," Mr. Obama told reporters shortly after his arrival at the G-20, with Mr. Sarkozy at his side. "And I informed Nicolas on the way in that I am confident that Giulia inherited her mother's looks rather than her father's, which I think is an excellent thing."

Even if it's true - and since Cara was a fashion model at one time, it is - what a thing to say to a new father!

The State Department is supposed to vet every word spoken by the president at these shindigs. Did Obama add that one himself or is the State Department populated by brain dead bureaucrats?

Don't answer that one.

The "joke" upset the French, which is to be expected. Anti-Americanism in France is reflexive so I wouldn't put much stock in anything coming from the French media.

"The U.S. President's picnic on the 'physical' of his French counterpart is only the latest episode of reports [which are] rather cool at best, at worst frankly tense," said L'Observateur newspaper, which called the two leaders "the best enemies."

Another French publication said Mr. Obama had chosen to compliment Mr. Sarkozy "in a way unique to say the least, before the cameras around the world."

The French celebrity website Staragora said Mr. Obama's comment was "risky" and "not very cool, for the French president [was] humiliated in public."

"Barack Obama has openly and publicly ridiculed the physical [appearance of] Nicolas Sarkozy," Staragora said, adding that Mr. Obama's comments were delivered "without pity."

But one thing about narcisissism that is obvious to others is a lack of empathy - the inability to recognize how one's words are affecting another. Obama is so wrapped up in himself and his own brilliance that he was oblivious to the insult he delivered to the French president.

What a sad commentary on a man who can't engage his opponents without delivering personal insults.