Now you know: Team Obama’s world tour wasn’t about defending America and advancing our best interests. It was about raising President Obama’s approval numbers among the Euroweenies.

Bow. Scrape. Bush-bash. Suck up. Mission accomplished!

President Obama’s expressions of regret for the Bush years is only one aspect of what has been jam-packed schedule full of announcements and negotiations, but it’s been a striking part of his message.

Some conservative critics have expressed chagrin at this. On Fox News, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer said “When Kennedy arrived in Paris, he did not attack Eisenhower and the United States. When Obama’s elected president, he is president of all of the United States, including Americans who opposed him, and he owns American history, including a past he may not have wanted to engage in. I think what he did is, in order to gain the adoration of the crowd, he denigrated his country in a way that I think is disgraceful.”

The Obama White House sees it quite differently, pointing to poll numbers showing an erosion of support for the U.S. during President Bush’s two terms, and improved international poll numbers now.

Not only was this trip an opportunity for President Obama “to establish personal relationships with leaders of many countries, with leaders who are going to be important to us in promoting America’s interest in the world,” said White House senior adviser David Axelrod Tuesday morning, “as important, we’ve I think begun a dialogue with the people of these countries, as well… That will make it easier for leaders of these nations to work cooperatively with us moving forward is the fact that we have a more positive image among their constituents.”

Axelrod said “that plainly is true — you can see it in all the polling that’s been released in the last few days — I think in every country in Europe, we’ve made progress in this.”

Good work, Comrade.

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Kim Priestap: Hey, Obama, who you callin’ arrogant, dismissive, and derisive?!

Question from William A. Jacobson at Legal Insurrection: When will the Europeans apologize to us?