“Why men really feel less guilt than women”

Bob Herbert writing in the International Herald Tribune asks who is Barack Obama? He points to a “credibility gap” between the US President’s rhetoric and his actions. “He has positioned himself all over the map,” says Herbert and here are some examples:

Obama is “the anti-Iraq war candidate who escalated the war in Afghanistan.”

“He’s the opponent of health insurance mandates who made a mandate to buy insurance the centerpiece of his plan. “

“He’s the President who stocked his administration with Wall Street insiders and went to the mat for the banks and big corporations…but who is now trying to present himself as a born-again populist.”

“More important than the content of Obama’s on Wednesday tonight will be whether he means what he says… Americans want to know who their President really is,” Herbert concludes.

Other stories in today’s international papers:

Los Angeles Times: The BBC is to air the first ever documentary shot entirely by chimps this week. Primatologist Betsy Herrelko spent a year and a half teaching 11 chimps from the Edinburgh zoo how to use a specially-constructed Chimpcam!

The Guardian: “China’s pet lovers seek ban on eating dogs”

The Guardian: After yesterday’s announcement that the UK is officially out of recession, here are two articles looking at the economy from different angles. “UK economy lies ‘on bed of nitroglycerine” and “Escapism almost only success story”.

El Watan (Algeria): “Passions are mounting in advance of the match” (Algeria v Egypt – the two countries meet in the semi-final of the African Cup of Nations this Thursday)

Daily Mail: From cheating golfers to MPs on the fiddle: Why men really do feel less guilt than women