During his incredibly successful [/snark] trip to Europe last week, President Obama rejected an invitation from French president Nicolas Sarkozy to visit Normandy, France — the site of the 1944 D-Day beach landing. The reason given by the Obama administration? They didn’t want to offend the Germans by having the U.S. president visit the site where over 4,400 allied soldiers died in the operation that made victory in Europe against the evil, inhuman Nazi German regime and its allies possible.

They didn’t want to offend the Germans. Amazing. Perhaps we should next cancel all July 4 celebrations out of fear of offending the British? Or perhaps we should cancel Easter out of fear of “offending” the Romans, or cancel all 9/11 remembrances out of fear of “offending” al Qaeda terrorists, or cancel Memorial and Veterans’ days out of fear of “offending” all and sundry who have had the misfortune of throwing themselves on American bayonets over the course of our nearly-223-year history.

Sounds absurd, doesn’t it?  Absolutely — until you push a little further, and learn anew just what absurdity really is, courtesy — again — of the Obama administration:

Mr Sarkozy’s most senior aide said Mr Obama had agreed to come back in June for the 65th anniversary of the June 6th 1944, D-Day landings. A White House spokesman declined to comment on whether Mr Obama would travel to France in June.

So far, innumerable media outlets have reported that Obama will, in fact, be joining Sarkozy in Normandy on the June 6 anniversary of D-Day — but every one is citing Sarkozy and other European sources, because the Obama administration, for whatever reason, is refusing to confirm or deny whether Obama intends to honor those fallen — and those saved — by the historic D-Day operation.

It’s a simple question; the answer should be a no-brainer, and this topic should be a nonissue. Unfortunately, the indecisive and tin-eared Obama White House is, with its usual confusion, discombobulation, and ineptitude, quickly turning what should have been far less than a molehill into one heck of a forbidding mountain.

By the way, Obama’s effort to win the world’s love and respect once again sure is working wonders. The latest example: in early March, well in advance of his refusal to visit Normandy with Sarkozy, Obama dispatched an advance team of “senior American military officers” and “White House staff” to France, where walked with “French officials…through the [Normandy] cemetery discussing how the two presidents might follow the same route.”

The kicker? Obama knew all along that he wasn’t going to Normandy, and that the trip there by his advance team and senior staff was just a waste of our supposed ally’s time. “Even before their trip, the White House had decided that Mr Obama would not travel there,” wrote Toby Harnden UK Telegraph.

“It wasn’t going to happen,” said an American official in Washington. “We went through the motions to placate President Sarkozy but giving special treatment to France was not on our agenda.

Scratch another “special relationship” with an American ally, courtesy of the feckless Obama administration.