by WorldTribune Staff, September 8, 2016
Americans are lazy. Too lazy to get to know the people of other cultures. Too lazy, even, to do their own recycling.
U.S. President Barack Obama called Americans “lazy” multiple times during his visit to Laos this week.
“The United States is and can be a great force for good in the world. But because we’re such a big country, we haven’t always had to know about other parts of the world,” he said. “If you’re in the United States, sometimes you can feel lazy and think we’re so big we don’t have to really know anything about other people.”
Obama added that Americans’ reluctance to embrace his environmental policies is another sign of laziness.
“Usually when you see the environment destroyed, it’s not because it’s necessary for development,” Obama said. “It’s usually because we’re being lazy and we’re not being as creative as we could be about how to do it in a smarter, more sustainable way.”
The comments in Laos were far from the first time Obama has insulted Americans abroad or apologized for the U.S.’s past behavior.
During his visit to Malaysia last November, he said Republicans were helping ISIL. The effort by some in the GOP to block refugees from the Syrian conflict from entering the U.S. plays off fears and results in Republicans doing the terrorists’ work for them, Obama said.
The president continued his apology tour while in Laos as well, acknowledging that the United States dropped more than two million tons of bombs in the country while intervening in the country’s civil war.
“That conflict was another reminder that, whatever the cause, whatever our intentions, war inflicts a terrible toll, especially on innocent men, women and children,” Obama said. “Today, I stand with you in acknowledging the suffering and sacrifices on all sides of that conflict.”