#19: Head of State Bumbling, Gift Bumbling, All Around Presidential Protocol Bumbling!
In case you missed it--and you might have with all the distractions going on and economic crisis management ongoing back in early March--but the Prime Minister of the UK, Gordon Brown, made a little visit to see us! And what a blunder of a visit it was! And not on the UK's part shockingly...it was blunder city on the part of a newly minted, inexperienced president and his staff who I'm sure felt they had better things to deal with...and a now fired Intern for chucking some really bizarrely lame gifts at our UK visitors!
It's traditional for heads of state to present gifts. It's a no brainer. Or at least it should have been...Typically these gifts are symbolic and well thought out. Now, we've all been there in the gift department, where some of us always plan gifts out well based upon the receipient's needs and likes. Teapot for a teapot collector. Rare book for a rare book collector. You get the idea. It's not that hard to do a little research, make a few calls, consult a historian.
Apaprently the British did so. Their gift to America and The Big O? A pen holder. But not just a generic ordinary pen holder. It was an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet. Another historical factoid: The oak from the Gannet's sister ship the HMS Resolute was carved to make a desk which sits in the Oval Office and has since 1880. Not to mention a framed commission for the HMS Resolute and a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert. Uh oh...there's the blunder - Churchill didn't like Socialism. Obama claims he's not a Socialist but he sure acts like one sometimes...
The historical significance of this gift is immense. And the UK PM and his wife even brought gifts for The Big O's children--outfits from Topshop and six children's books by British authors.
Main Blunders:
Gordon Brown wasn't 't granted a press conference with flags
The Brits then had to beg for one, so it was very hastily arranged.
And if that wasn't bad enough! Our gift to the UK PM? 25 Classic American Movie DVDS--that won't play in the UK! Egads! And he's not much of a film buff...And for the UK PM's boys--matching helicopter models of the copter that carts The Big O around.
If you think our press was burying these blunders, the UK press wasn't so nice about it! And can we blame them? It was utterly embarrassing on all levels.
Apparently R-E-S-P-E-C-T = D-V-D-S-!
Ian Drury at the Daily Mail in the UK writes "As he headed back home from Washington, Gordon Brown must have rummaged through his party bag with disappointment. Because all he got was a set of DVDs. Barack Obama, the leader of the world's richest country, gave the Prime Minister a box set of 25 classic American films - a gift about as exciting as a pair of socks."
UK Blogger Iain Martin at the Telegraph snarkily said "President Obama has been rudeness personified towards Britain this week. His handling of the visit of the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to Washington was appalling. First Brown wasn't granted a press conference with flags, then one was hastily arranged in the Oval office after the Brits had to beg. Obama looked like he would rather have been anywhere else than welcoming the British leader to his office and topped it all with his choice of present for the PM. A box of 25 DVDS including ET, the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars? Oh, give me strength. We do have television and DVD stores on this side of the Atlantic. Even Gordon Brown will have seen those films too often already."
And Martin ironically notes that the Queen invited the Obamas to tea while they were at the G-20 and ponders "Note how the coolness of Team Obama disappears when a bit of regal glamour is introduced into the equation. He might not like the Brits, but he can recognise a global superstar when he encounters one. He wants to be associated with her. He's shameless."
Bottom Line: The Big O has a protocol department for goodness sakes. So who dropped the ball so badly and why? If it wasn't deliberate, it was clearly not very thoughtfully indeed. But that's just how they roll apparently...
Here's how it could have happened...
WH Intern: Gordon Brown has arrived Mr. President, and he's brought some nifty gifts for you and the girls today!
TOTUS: Gifts? We. Give. Gifts?
WH Intern: We told Biden to pick up a couple of gifts on his way back home on the train, spotted him a couple of Ben Franklins and he said he was all over it! But we haven't seen him since...
TOTUS: Here's my wallet, go check out the White House gift shop and make me proud! And try to keep it under $50.00...
And if you're curious, as I was, this is the list of movies that were in the DVD set--that Brown won't be watching:
* Citizen Kane
* The Godfather
* Casablanca
* Raging Bull
* Singin' in the Rain
* Gone with the Wind
* Lawrence of Arabia
* Schindler’s List
* Vertigo
* The Wizard of Oz
* City Lights
* The Searchers
* Star Wars: Episode IV
* Psycho
* 2001: A Space Odyssey
* Sunset Boulevard
* The Graduate
* The General
* On the Waterfront
* It's a Wonderful Life
* Chinatown
* Some Like It Hot
* The Grapes of Wrath
* ET: The Extra-Terrestrial
* To Kill a Mockingbird
Politico Chick
In case you missed it--and you might have with all the distractions going on and economic crisis management ongoing back in early March--but the Prime Minister of the UK, Gordon Brown, made a little visit to see us! And what a blunder of a visit it was! And not on the UK's part shockingly...it was blunder city on the part of a newly minted, inexperienced president and his staff who I'm sure felt they had better things to deal with...and a now fired Intern for chucking some really bizarrely lame gifts at our UK visitors!
It's traditional for heads of state to present gifts. It's a no brainer. Or at least it should have been...Typically these gifts are symbolic and well thought out. Now, we've all been there in the gift department, where some of us always plan gifts out well based upon the receipient's needs and likes. Teapot for a teapot collector. Rare book for a rare book collector. You get the idea. It's not that hard to do a little research, make a few calls, consult a historian.
Apaprently the British did so. Their gift to America and The Big O? A pen holder. But not just a generic ordinary pen holder. It was an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet. Another historical factoid: The oak from the Gannet's sister ship the HMS Resolute was carved to make a desk which sits in the Oval Office and has since 1880. Not to mention a framed commission for the HMS Resolute and a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert. Uh oh...there's the blunder - Churchill didn't like Socialism. Obama claims he's not a Socialist but he sure acts like one sometimes...
The historical significance of this gift is immense. And the UK PM and his wife even brought gifts for The Big O's children--outfits from Topshop and six children's books by British authors.
Main Blunders:
Gordon Brown wasn't 't granted a press conference with flags
The Brits then had to beg for one, so it was very hastily arranged.
And if that wasn't bad enough! Our gift to the UK PM? 25 Classic American Movie DVDS--that won't play in the UK! Egads! And he's not much of a film buff...And for the UK PM's boys--matching helicopter models of the copter that carts The Big O around.
If you think our press was burying these blunders, the UK press wasn't so nice about it! And can we blame them? It was utterly embarrassing on all levels.
Apparently R-E-S-P-E-C-T = D-V-D-S-!
Ian Drury at the Daily Mail in the UK writes "As he headed back home from Washington, Gordon Brown must have rummaged through his party bag with disappointment. Because all he got was a set of DVDs. Barack Obama, the leader of the world's richest country, gave the Prime Minister a box set of 25 classic American films - a gift about as exciting as a pair of socks."
UK Blogger Iain Martin at the Telegraph snarkily said "President Obama has been rudeness personified towards Britain this week. His handling of the visit of the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to Washington was appalling. First Brown wasn't granted a press conference with flags, then one was hastily arranged in the Oval office after the Brits had to beg. Obama looked like he would rather have been anywhere else than welcoming the British leader to his office and topped it all with his choice of present for the PM. A box of 25 DVDS including ET, the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars? Oh, give me strength. We do have television and DVD stores on this side of the Atlantic. Even Gordon Brown will have seen those films too often already."
And Martin ironically notes that the Queen invited the Obamas to tea while they were at the G-20 and ponders "Note how the coolness of Team Obama disappears when a bit of regal glamour is introduced into the equation. He might not like the Brits, but he can recognise a global superstar when he encounters one. He wants to be associated with her. He's shameless."
Bottom Line: The Big O has a protocol department for goodness sakes. So who dropped the ball so badly and why? If it wasn't deliberate, it was clearly not very thoughtfully indeed. But that's just how they roll apparently...
Here's how it could have happened...
WH Intern: Gordon Brown has arrived Mr. President, and he's brought some nifty gifts for you and the girls today!
TOTUS: Gifts? We. Give. Gifts?
WH Intern: We told Biden to pick up a couple of gifts on his way back home on the train, spotted him a couple of Ben Franklins and he said he was all over it! But we haven't seen him since...
TOTUS: Here's my wallet, go check out the White House gift shop and make me proud! And try to keep it under $50.00...
And if you're curious, as I was, this is the list of movies that were in the DVD set--that Brown won't be watching:
* Citizen Kane
* The Godfather
* Casablanca
* Raging Bull
* Singin' in the Rain
* Gone with the Wind
* Lawrence of Arabia
* Schindler’s List
* Vertigo
* The Wizard of Oz
* City Lights
* The Searchers
* Star Wars: Episode IV
* Psycho
* 2001: A Space Odyssey
* Sunset Boulevard
* The Graduate
* The General
* On the Waterfront
* It's a Wonderful Life
* Chinatown
* Some Like It Hot
* The Grapes of Wrath
* ET: The Extra-Terrestrial
* To Kill a Mockingbird
Politico Chick
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