Like this, for example, from the London Telegraph:
Barack Obama really does go on a bit
Isn’t it time for him to go home yet? It is good, in theory, that the new President of the United States is taking so much time to tour Europe…But his long stay means that we are hearing rather a lot from him, way too much in fact.
His speeches have long under-delivered, usually leaving a faintly empty sensation in this listener even though I welcomed, moderately, his victory last year as offering the possibility of a fresh start and a boost to confidence.
The Telegraph continued:
His performance at the first press conference in London with Gordon Brown featured moments in which he sparkled – his riff on loving the Queen was a high-point. But most of the serious answers that I listened to were interminable, windy and not very impressive. At points there were pauses so long that it appeared he had simply lost his train of thought.
Today, we were treated to another set-piece Obama speech, and my didn’t he go on a bit? The crowd in Prague was huge, and initially wildly enthusiastic, but what he served up was not any more impressive than his damp squib in Berlin last year…
The Telegraph concluded with this stinging assessment:
The Obamas have handled their trip well and in their public appearances have been a credit to their country. But I’ll wager that within a year or so he’ll be marked down as a wind-bag.
We were surprised to learn that President Obama delivered damp squib in Berlin last year. Perhaps that’s why the Brits are upset. They only got some DVDs and iPods.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
