We think we have backbiting and political posturing in Washington. Well, Barack Obama is about the meet some real pros as he arrives in London this evening for this week’s G-20 summit on the economy in Europe.
Oh, the foreign leaders aren’t likely to stab Obama in the back. He’s way too popular in their countries.
But they’re sniping at one another and doing all they can to posture for political purposes at home.
First, there was the leak of the group’s anticipated final statement to the German magazine Der Spiegel. That leak said the final agreement will call for a combined $2 trillion in spending to stimulate the world economy. The Brits blame the Germans, saying they want to torpedo the British-hosted summit.
Then there’s the report that French President Nicholas Sarkozy threatened to skip the meeting if he couldn’t win tough new regulations of banks and finance.
“If there's no progress in London, there'll be an empty chair. I'll get up and leave," Sarkozy said, according to a front page story Tuesday in Le Figaro.
And what about the little Spain-versus-Netherlands spat?
Seems neither made the list of the G-20 and fought one another for a vacant seat. Spain, with the world’s 8th largest economy, didn’t make the original list because it’s a “latecomer” to democracy, as London’s Guardian newspaper puts it. Netherlands simply didn’t make the cut.  
Spain argued its way into the summit as an add-on. Then, said the Guardian, “everyone took pity” and said the Dutch were invited, too.