.. and you thought Wright had perished under the bus:
On US radio's Garrison show today, I was asked for my reaction as a true born Englishman to President Obama's double insult - first the sending back of the Winston Churchill bust, then his snub to Gordon Brown. "Tough one. Really tough one," I said, torn - as most of surely are - between delight at seeing Brown roundly humiliated, and dismay at having the special relationship so peremptorily, cruelly and bafflingly ruptured.Iain Martin is quite right here: no matter how utterly rubbish we have become as a nation in the Blair/Brown years, Britain's friendship is something Obama will come to regret having dispensed with so lightly. This was not the act of a global statesman, but of a hormonal teenager dismissing her bestest of best BFs for no other reason than that she felt like it and she can, so there.
I wonder how many sermons Mr. Wright gave on "gift giving"? It is truly, the thought that counts:
Some time later, Sarah Brown (the Prime Minister's wife) showered little Sasha and Malia Obama with gifts, including a half-dozen carefully selected children's books by British authors not yet available in the States, and outfits from British boutique Topshop, which just recently opened up its first American location in New York City.First Lady Michelle Obama, however, apparently sent a helper down to the White House gift shop and picked up, for the Browns' sons Fraser and John, two models of the presidential helicopter, Marine One. Each model, it seems, retails for $15 in the aforementioned gift shop. How thoughtful.
crossposted @ Cjunk
Obama is the most powerful man in the western world, and he has his wife's permission to say so.
it's the thought that counts.
on second thought..........
Never let anyone tell you the Obamas don't have any class. They've got all the class money can buy...
Garth
Yeah, but he's ALL OVER , hookin up with the Queen.
From the link:
Solipistic...
wow...that is one very descriptive word!
I love it when the English language can get a whole story in to one word.
There is no pretense of class in this WH.
$15 models of Marine One... made in China. ~:D
Where the hell is the State Department here? They're supposed to orchestrate this stuff, aren't they?
Oh, wait...
Now imagine if GWB had done this....or even Bill Clinton at the beginning.
Rubes, crackers, hillbillies all would have been used.
It seems a bit much though. Brown might have been setting himself up for something. trying to get the pomp and circumstance when that isnt what Obama does...yet.....(faux greek columns anyone)
Sheds new light on the Canadian trip when the leaders wanted to keep it to a "working meeting" and not an official one with dinners, black tie and speeches. Harper was criticized for the "workmanlike" approach, yet it seemed to fit.
Although Harper did do the Flag drapped joint press conference.
So Brown had expectations out of whack, these things shuld be worked out well in advance, I think the Canadian one was. And did Obama bring a gift for the Harper kids? Did Harper gve a gift for the Obama kids? Doubt it, it was a working meeting....Bad protocol from the brits bad protocol from the Obamabots, who should have worked this through ahead of time.
Nothing worse than being called out on manners by th British though.....ouch.
The only consolation I can get watching this whole sorry spectacle unfold is the book that'll be written one day, detailing the miseries and missteps of this regime. It'll be an acidic, vicious joy to read.
Great site you linked to. How can you not run a teaser about the main story at the top though, the new guy running against Arlen Specter!
He's phenomenal!!
http://www.americasright.com/2009/03/meet-devon-generally.html
Rick,
You may have to wait some time....I suspect this group, despite the happy faces, will turn out to be as protective and vicious as the Clintons. I suspect dissent will not be tolerated.
Britain's friendship is something Obama will come to regret having dispensed with so lightly.
I disagree. Obama intended to dispense with Britain's friendship just as Obama intends to run the U.S. economy into a deep dark hole. These aren't missteps.
The Obamamots HAD to snub Brown.His type of socialism doesn't work with the big "Zero"s type.Sorta like Mao and Stalin never agreed on which type of communism could kill more people quicker.
Obama is the most powerful man in the western world, and he has his wife's permission to say so.
She is Klingon after all.
I am not too surprised. I haven't heard of any black philanthropists either. Surely some of them must have money. I mean other than the Neanderthals in the sports world.
John don't forget the hip hop slop either...
http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSTRE5255X520090306?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertainmentNews&rpc=22&sp=true
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Grammy-winning rapper Coolio was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday on suspicion of possessing drugs, police said.
The 45-year-old rapper, whose real name is Artis Levon Ivey Jr, was taken into custody at an LAX terminal at mid-morning after he was found with the narcotics, a Los Angeles police spokeswoman said.
Want to lay bets that 'those' in the OWE's arena who make over $250 grand a year will be exempt from the extra taxes because they've 'earned' criminal records due to the oppressiveness from the other half of the Owe's genetic make up?
How does 'Michelle, cnn's o'belle' reconcile that? Ah, never mind.
There are very few allies in the Western World mostly limp wristed apologists.The UK usually steps up, so having guest fly 3000 miles to be treated shabbily may well come back to haunt this administration, especially when there was no need for this to happen.
Nice gifts from the Brits though.
British gifts to Obama kids: thoughtful.
Obama gifts to Brown's kids: thoughtless, or no thought at all? It's so hard to decide...
As for class, the Obama's have tons of it.. all second.
John , Here's one of many.
Manute Bol "in 2001 Bol was offered a post as minister of sport by the Sudanese government. Bol, who is Christian, refused because one of the pre-conditions was converting to Islam.[14] Later Bol was hindered from leaving the country by the Sudanese government, who accused him of supporting the Dinka-led Christian rebels, the Sudan People's Liberation Army. The Sudanese government refused to grant him an exit visa unless he came back with more money. Assistance by supporters in the United States, including Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, raised money to provide Bol with plane tickets to Cairo, Egypt. After 6 months of negotiations with U.S. consulate officials regarding refugee status, Bol and his family were finally able to leave Egypt and return to the United States.[15]
Bol established the Ring True Foundation in order to continue fundraising for Sudanese refugees. He has given most of his fortune (an estimated $3.5 million) to their cause.
Is there any chance that the Obamas could be considered, dare I say it, racist?
Are they treating British PM Brown and his children shoddily because they are, dare I say it, white? Oh my!
Did President Obama send back the bust of Winston Churchill, saviour of the free world, because he was, dare I say it, white and British?
Ian I agree. When the US has needed someone to step up Britain has done it. From extending rights to US Forces planes when no one else would take the flack. Permitting listening facilities to spy. Went into Iraq, Afghanistan etc. That "special relationship" should not be cheapened, the next President may need it.
Brown himself brought Obama a penholder made from wood from the HMS Gannet, the sister-ship of HMS Resolute (the source of the wood for the desk in the Oval Office, a gift from Great Britain); HMS Gannet, in her day, had been used to fight slavery off the coast of Africa and Brazil. He also brought a leather-bound 7-volume biography of Churchill.
Obama reciprocated with a 25-cd set of great American movies. Possibly with the Walmart tag still in place, who knows.
Looking for a single word to describe the conduct of husband and wife?
Ghetto.
Small town cheap?
This would be funny to watch if my RSP wasn't pretty much gone.
batb
"""Is there any chance that the Obamas could be considered, dare I say it, racist? """"
Owebama is brown, the British Prime Minister is Brown....ah, never mind
Youse ain't seen nothing yet.
"Officials call this strategy a "public-private partnership,". This is the making of a putsch.
Hitler did the same in 1934 by co-opting the German Wehrmacht; the Night of the Long Knives.
...-
"U.S. to Invite The Wealthy To Invest in The Bailout
The government is seeking to resuscitate the nation's crippled financial system by forging an alliance with the very outfits that most benefited from the bonanza preceding the collapse of the credit markets: hedge funds and private-equity firms.
The initiative to revive the consumer lending business, outlined by officials this week, offers these wealthy investors a new chance to make sizable profits -- but, thanks to the government, without the risk of massive losses."
urlm.in/buve
No surprise here. The show's over. The O's have what they want: the White House, the marine band, Air Force One, the parties -- all the "stuff" they're "entitled" to. So now you can take all that hard work on the campaign trail, the promises, the reaching out to Europe etc and shove it. It's outlived its usefullness. As for gratitude, respect for the office, a sense of responsibility toward allies or the national interest -- fuggetaboutit! That's for bourgeois capitalist pigs. And as we all know, Ivy League revolutionaries see grace, politeness, self-restraint, social etiquette etc as quaint anachronisms well beneath the virtue of their angry revolutionary "ideals". Get ready for more -- much much more.
Just 'cause your name is "Brown" it doesn't mean you are. Thanks for doing your part in destroying western civilization though, all participants get a boxed DVD set.
It's hard to figure out who's not an asshole in this story.
DId the democrass fire the Heads of Protocl? I would have thought all these things are arranged by protocl flunkies.
Nothing worse than being called out on manners by th British though.....ouch.
Cute.
Wow how chintzy
I hope Ohbummer visits France soon. The French are consummate connoisseurs of the 'snub' and its innumerable levels and gradations of shading. If the O tries and pulls it on them civilization will implode.
Small town cheap?
Posted by: Soccermom at March 6, 2009 6:57 PM
You pegged it Soccermom! Yhe 0.s have obviously, not been aquainted with even basic good manners. Even red Browns from the UK know something about civilized conduct. Pity.
So do those DVD's work in European DVD players?
Seems I recall something about that being an issue when we were there, but it's been a few years now.
Perhaps they can be played on 'international' DVD/readers now, but back then only our computer would play them.
Still a pretty cheap and thoughtless gift from the OWE one and company.
Small Town Cheap?
Gotta love the stereotyping. What's next? Determining IQ by city size? Maybe ponder that new IQ measurement implementation while you're standing in line at Superstore for an hour waiting to pay for your milk.
Obama is just an unsophisticated wide eyed city boy. This guy is such a green horn, he's probably still pinching himself to see if it's all a dream.
I think the DVD's are perfect gifts. Do you know how many glass coasters the Browns don't have to buy now?
I'm waiting for the caricature in The Globe and Mail that will show Obama getting rid of the Churchill bust while Obama says "Old School".
I always knew that the Mop and Pail hated Harper, but today's caricature is really the limit. They aren't fit to shine his shoes.
I can see the gift shop from my house!!
I'm waiting for the "Let them eat cake." moment.
Darn that George Bush.
sarge here. this what passes for meaningful comintary here abouts? har har har.
is old obama supposed to be saving money or wasting it on gifts for brit twits?
maybe ghe holdsa a grudge?
maybe 4 years is enough for a loaner bust?
"It was during Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather. "
Maybe the helicopters will work in England, unlike the DVD's they purchased for Brown.
I wonder if the airline made him pay duty on the Churchill bust?? Just sayin ......
How do you spell cheap??? O-B-A-M-A
C'mon give them a break. They sent their aide down to buy a suitable gift and he came back with the U.S. helicopter.Thankfully the man had the common sense to break off the home-grown brit/terrorist that was shooting up at the copter.
I hope to hell Harper's smart enough to be putting feelers out to ANY OTHER trade partner, RIGHT NOW.
Because the next four years are going to be UG-LEE.
The US economy is officially dependent on teleprompter technology.
We're screwed...
"It was during Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather. "
Ah, see not narcissistic ET, just a heritage restorative pride pay back, er bail out program. That's all... ;)
Is there a link for this, self-announcing one?
sarge here. time to ditch limey churchill and put a real amurikan on his desk
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4623148/Barack-Obama-sends-bust-of-Winston-Churchill-on-its-way-back-to-Britain.html
Well at least Churchill's bust is still in an honorable place.
Yeah, sarge, undoubtedly the obama felt uncomfortable with the constant reminder of "character" staring him in the face, when he himself has so little.
Or perhaps he's awaiting a replacement bust of neville chamberlain to occupy the same spot, eh?
mhb23re
sarge here yeah old churchill and his character. droppin poison gas on iraqi kurds "because it's easier than shooting them" well there ya go hard to find a true good charecter in anyone sarge guesses but the real issue as sarge is wont to recall is that mr obama wanted a real amurikan lincoln on his desk well that and its traditional to return such gifts loaned to the outgoin admin. tempesrt in a tea pot my little anglophiliac friend but later yall can tell sarge how ya burned the white house down or some other nonsense
ps tony blair was neville chamberlin squared
Posted by: sarge>
Again sarge you show your military brilliance.
Bullets are a far more humane and efficient way to die over gas. Your right Churchill was wrong!!!
Abraham Lincoln was a well rounded racist by today’s standards, and felt that black people had no place in influential American society (not debatable). Barack Obamba characterizes and parodies himself after Lincoln to rewrite history to accommodate a more comfortable translation of history for black people in America.
Sorry lefty libs, it is indeed embarrassing and pathetic, but nonetheless sad and true.
I knew President Obama wanted a classless society but I did not realize instead he was really after a no-class society.