Well, we have all seen the positive response of “respected” world leaders in Libya, Venezuela and Cuba to the new guy in the White House. Meanwhile, across the pond the Brits aren’t feeling the love. From The Guardian:
The juxtaposition on our front page this morning is striking. We carry a photograph of Acting Sgt Michael Lockett – who was killed in Helmand on Monday – receiving the Military Cross from the Queen in June, 2008. He was the 217th British soldier to die in the Afghan conflict. Alongside the picture, we read that the Prime Minister was forced to dash through the kitchens of the UN in New York to secure a few minutes “face time” with President Obama after five requests for a sit-down meeting were rejected by the White House.
What are we to make of this? This country has proved, through the bravery of men like Acting Sgt Lockett, America’s staunchest ally in Afghanistan. In return, the American President treats the British Prime Minister with casual contempt. The President’s graceless behaviour is unforgivable. As most members of the Cabinet would confirm, it’s not a barrel of laughs having to sit down for a chat with Gordon Brown. But that’s not the point. Mr Obama owes this country a great deal for its unflinching commitment to the American-led war in Afghanistan but seems incapable of acknowledging the fact. You might have thought that after the shambles of Mr Brown’s first visit to the Obama White House – when there was no joint press conference and the President’s “gift” to the Prime Minister was a boxed DVD set – lessons would have been learned. Apparently not. Admittedly, part of the problem was Downing Street’s over-anxiety to secure a face-to-face meeting for domestic political purposes but the White House should still have been more obliging. Mr Obama’s churlishness is fresh evidence that the US/UK special relationship is a one-way street.
Hope and Change.
While it is true that the British press has been writing stories that indicates a cooling off of the “special relationship” the two countries share ever since Obama took office, it appears that this is more of a concerted attack on G. Brown than anything else. Brown is behind in the polls (elections in May) and not very popular in his country.
Which probably explains this:
“After the two heads of state finally had their formal bilateral meeting, a 30-minute sit-down in a side room at the G-20 leaders’ summit which came after they appeared side-by-side at a press conference condemning recently revealed Iranian uranium enrichment activities, Brown lashed out at the British press, accusing them of an “obsession†with the special relationship and urging them to focus on “big issues†and to learn how “diplomacy really works.â€
This all started when Obama met with Brown in March and carrying on a tradition the two exchanged gifts. Apparently some British tabloids thought the British gifts were more thoughtful than the American gifts. Brown’s wife gave the Obama girls each a dress and the Obama’s gave the boys each a model of Air Force One. Hmmmm, do you suppose they would have preferred receiving clothes? I can’t think of any red-blooded American boy would not have preferred the air plane model to clothes. Brown gave Obama a pen and some books on Churchill. Obama gave Brown a gift set of 25 American movie classics. Apparently Brown is blind in one eye so this gift was really inappropriate because he is blind in one eye. Gosh I hope my mom the movie buff who is blind in one eye doesn’t find out she is incapable of watching movies! Seriously how snippy (snobbish) can you get?
“Brown gave Obama a pen”. Brown presented Obama with a pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President (whose sister ship, HMS Resolute, provided the wood for the Oval Office’s desk). Obama gave Brown 25 DVD’s. Go Obama! Continue to show such class.
I don’t care what it was made of –its a pen! We all know that a pen is the standard gift you give when you can’t think of anything else to give. It is not thoughtful. Its safe and its standard.
As for Obama’s gift, if you want a glimpse into the American psyche what better way than to watch American classic films such as Citizen Kane, High Noon, Shane or the Fountainhead.
Of course, it would have been “thoughtful” to provide the DVDs in a format that would play in Europe. As I said, Obama is an amatuer…
Pardon me, please, but I just have to chuckle.
On second thought, make that L O L……
Mr. Obama promised change and among the changes he promised was that his White House would ‘have it together’ as compared to the oft-criticized and ‘cowboy’ bush White House and administration. We all remember those occasions and speeches, don’t we? Now, don’t get me wrong. He is our President and I don’t want him to gaff too often if for no other reason than to not to make us look like a bunch of numbskulls…….. but it’s rapidly becoming too late for that, and it’s not all Biden’s fault, apparently.
In addition to the above ‘gift gaff’, kindly recall his gift to the Queen on the occasion of her visit to the WH earlier in the year, please ? What was it? Well , it was a collection of American movie DVDs, no less. Hilarious! Who do they have in charge of those things over there? Most probably the same person who is in charge of vetting political appointees and Czar’s, I’m willing to bet. Well, maybe not. Maybe the next cubicle over.
But we’re not done yet. What about just over the past weekend? As he and his rather large wife hosted dignitaries from around the world at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, he posed with his plastic smile for more than 130 individual photos with the assembled guests, a couple of which included the Spanish Prime Minister, his wife, and two teenage daughters – what a guy, what a host, what a sacrifice, what a head of state is this guy, this Mr. Obama! Quickly following the conclusion of the event and solely because his WH is just so with it, so far ahead of the game, as it were, the photos were quickly posted to the internet on the State Department’s Flickr page – my, my, my,…….they are just so savvy, huh? What happened next? Well, following the posting of the photos, within short hours even, they were panicky contacted by the Spanish Govt and notified that perhaps they were unaware that the posting was a violation of established Spanish law which, as everyone in Europe and any other government that is truly savvy surely knows, prohibits publication of photos of the children of heads of state. Oh my…… oh my, oh my, oh my.
Yeah, just like the man said…..that’s change we can believe in., eh…..
It’s not over yet, either. The photos remain embedded in various internet portals, the internet being what it is and all…… wonder how long it will take to round’em up?
What a guy, what a WH staff, what a State Department, what an administration. Truly awesome.
I just feel so confident these days….. so secure……
Yeah, I know I screwed it up a little. But the point remains and it gets even better…… because not only was the gaff gift of DVDs to the Prime Minister, Mr. Brown, the gift to the Queen was far better…….it was an IPOD…… a freaking IPOD, no less.
But this was a special IPOD, loaded with video clips of her 2007 trip to the US, etc. I bet she just sits and looks at that little screen every day, and reminisces her visit to the “Colonies” and dreams of what might have been, don’t you?