“Russian leader Vladmir Putin sent in troops and tanks to invade neighboring Ukraine and the Obama administration is coming to the rescue with … selfies!” quips the New York Post.
The reference is a to a tweet posted on Thursday by Obama protégé Jan Psaki, whose ever-present smirk was the subject of a January post. Here was her message:
To echo @BarackObama today-proud to stand #UnitedForUkraine World should stand together with one voice pic.twitter.com/VeMt578UdY
— Jen Psaki (@statedeptspox) March 26, 2014
It’s hard to know what the point of this dopey Twitter message was. In it Psaki flashes a broad grin and a thumbs-up for the citizens of Ukraine who, in her world, merited nothing better than a hand-scribbled sign as a show of American solidarity.
Needless to say, the mindless gesture was received with the disdain it richly deserved. Tweeter Matt Dawson responded by writing:
.@statedeptspox @BarackObama remember when Winston Churchill saved Britain with the hashtag #victory? It was super productive
— Matt Dawson (@SaintRPh) March 27, 2014
George Eliseo tweeted:
@PruPaine @statedeptspox GW Bush had Stealth bombers making daring midnight raids to enforce foreign policy. Obama? Hashtags…
— George Eliseo (@GeorgeEliseo) March 27, 2014
Psaki, not knowing when to quit (another trait she must have learned from her boss) defended her photo:
The people of Ukraine are fighting to have their voices heard and the benefit of communicating over social media is it sends a direct message to the people that we are with them, we support their fight, their voice and their future.
She also promised that the next time she tweets a selfie in which she is holding a sign, it will printed by a professional sign maker. (No, not really.)
