NY Times Bewildered at Absence of "Swooning" for Obama in Russia

The New York Times is baffled that Russians weren't "swooning" before President Obama during his visit.

The caption read, "No one was swooning as President Obama gave the graduation speech at the New Economic School in Moscow on Tuesday." Above the caption was a picture of seemingly indifferent Russians in the audience. I particularly liked the expression of the stoic blond gentlemen who had his arms folded.

The Gray Lady is equally puzzled as to why Obama's speech to graduates at the New Economic School in Moscow wasn't covered on Russian TV:

The Kremlin tightly controls Russian television, and it was not clear why officials chose to disregard the speech.

They may have believed that there would be little public interest, or they may not have wanted to provide Mr. Obama with unfettered access to the country, which might have allowed him to overshadow Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin or President Dmitri A. Medvedev.

Or it could be that Putin and Medvedev think Obama is a lightweight and not worth being taken seriously.