Mr Brown’s gifts included an ornamental desk pen holder made from the oak timbers of Victorian anti-slaver HMS Gannet, once named HMS President.
Mr Obama was so delighted he has already put it in pride of place in the Oval Office on the Resolute desk which was carved from timbers of Gannet’s sister ship, HMS Resolute.
Another treasure given to the U.S. President was the framed commission for HMS Resolute, a vessel that came to symbolise Anglo-US peace when it was saved from ice packs by Americans and given to Queen Victoria.
Finally, Mr Brown gave a first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert.
I’ll be honest: I held off on this story (Via AoSHQ) because I was hoping that it was going to be debunked, preferably at high volume. Apparently not. This happened. So, two thoughts:
- What were the movies? Based on the administration’s track record to date, the RedState Contributors have privately come up with Gandhi
, Breaker Morant
, The Last of the Mohicans
, Patton
(for the Messalina scene), U-571
, The Patriot
, and pretty much the entire Disney
oeuvre*.
- Brother Dan McLaughlin, who would dearly love to have the time to write a post about this entitled “Barack Obama: Ugly American,” has found the ultimate video symbolism for this visit:
Moe Lane
*Yes, some of those are foreign. What, you’re expecting basic competence from them now?
Crossposted to Moe Lane.
Maybe this one also...
scipio62 Thursday, March 5th at 1:50PM EST (link)Braveheart?
A just war leads to a just peace and freedom. An unjust peace leads to death.
Nah, Gordo's a Scot
Icythus Thursday, March 5th at 6:08PM EST (link)He probably already has that one.
I assumed it would be a video biography of the One's ascension - signed of course! <nt>
johnCV Thursday, March 5th at 1:52PM EST (link)I think...
liberalrepublican Thursday, March 5th at 2:00PM EST (link)Saving their butts in WWII has a pretty long shelf life.
“Broadly speaking, liberalism emphasizes individual rights and equality of opportunity. … including extensive freedom of thought and speech, limitations on the power of governments, the rule of law, the free exchange of ideas, a market or mixed economy”
*I* think that's no excuse for boorish behavior.
Moe Lane Thursday, March 5th at 2:15PM EST (link)I expect better treatment of our allies.
Check out my new blog at http://moelane.com/.
http://twitter.com/moelane
My (blogging-related) wish list.
Amen, I agree <nt>
Jeff Weimer Thursday, March 5th at 2:33PM EST (link)“We stand at once the wonder and admiration of the whole world, and we must enquire what it is that has given us so much prosperity. This cause is that every man can make himself.” - Abraham Lincoln
“Cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And vanity asks the question, is it popular? But conscience asks the question, is it right?” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Repeat of comment to your "Perfect Aquaintences" Post...
Praying Thursday, March 5th at 3:01PM EST (link)It’s a matter of class,
and this administration obviously doesn’t have any.
I’m sorry, but there are some things that just have to be done correctly. Otherrwise people will think you are a dreadful boor. That’s why there are still such institutions as etiquette classes and charm schools, although they may go by different names these days. Isn’t it interesting how classless the “intellectual elites” of the left are? Despite their Harvard and Yale educations, so many of this administration just don’t “get it.” Must be indoctrination by the Chicago political machine. Now there’s a classy organization. Not.
Join the RedState Strike Force
On the one hand
Rapunzel46 Friday, March 6th at 12:22AM EST (link)the Brits were so hot to trot over Obama I think they got what they asked for and on the other hand this and Michelle giving plastic helicopters from the WH gift shop to the Brown sons is so embarrassing it makes me want to bury my head and come out in four years to see if this entire nightmare is over.
I don't mind breaking tradition
momac Thursday, March 5th at 2:37PM EST (link)But you don’t do it without warning. If Obama somehow felt bad spending tax money on lavish gifts, or if he just didn’t want to do it at all, fine. But don’t leave the Brits hanging out in the wind, they simply did not deserve that.
This one’s truly embarrassing. Like– really embarrassing to me as an American. To take those gifts and to give ours in return… Completely surreal, I thought (and HOPED!) it was fake.
Remember that story in the Bible
mom2oneson Thursday, March 5th at 2:44PM EST (link)Where the lady gives Kind David and his army food and stuff after her dh blew him off.
Maybe we should send a a card. or something.
Interesting precedent
dwarfmama Thursday, March 5th at 3:44PM EST (link)The lady was Abigail, and her husband had some kind of fit (stroke?) and died when he heard that David’s army was on its way to destroy him when she presented them with the peace offering.
I was thinking along similar lines as you: We could take up a collection and delegate somebody to select an appropriate gift. Maybe have it presented by the Leader of the Republican Party?
Our contest is not only whether we ourselves shall be free, but whether there shall be left to mankind an asylum on earth for civil and religious liberty. (Samuel Adams)
I seriously doubt that Obama felt bad about spending tax money on lavish gifts.
janis Thursday, March 5th at 2:45PM EST (link)God knows, the man doesn’t feel bad about spending lavish amounts of OUR tax money on his pet projects. It would have been much more in character for this charlatan to give PM Brown a redeemable gift card worth billions to be used for the welfare of the radical Muslims in Great Britain or perhaps for a program to eradicate sheep farts in rural England.
so what?
Jack Thursday, March 5th at 3:37PM EST (link)they have been our oldest and best ally since 1916. They were there for us on 9/11. They went into Iraq and Afganistan. American and
British soldiers have shed their blood together on some of the worse battlefields imaginable over the past century.
We owe them the respect that you would give any ally or friend. Barack Obama is a thoughtless, careless, jerk who has no class or intelligence. In other words a typical liberal.
Jack
“If at age 20 you are conservative you have no heart. It at age 30 you are liberal you have no brains.” Sir Winston Churchill
Given
ulape Thursday, March 5th at 2:14PM EST (link)Barry’s self-regard and his identification with history making leaders of the 1930s, perhaps “Triumph des Willens” was amongst the collection?
Erick gets BIG PROPS on Rush!!!
$peciallist Thursday, March 5th at 2:24PM EST (link)NICE!!!
Clueless and classless
fisk2521 Thursday, March 5th at 2:39PM EST (link)Obama’s treatment of Great Britain is a reflection of his anti-British sentiment - - the blaming of the “Anglo-saxon’s for the world’s problems. He learned it at Harvard and hasn’t the intellect to go beyond the rhetoric and read for himself the many contributions made by the Brits - - and us.
His wife believes the same bs - - another re-write of history that is ‘taken as fact’ without question.
Obama has no class.
LDavis
You have got to be kidding!
franklinslocke Thursday, March 5th at 2:44PM EST (link)Brittan fights along with us in Iraq. They stand up with us against the UN. They tell the rest of Euro-weenies to take a leap. They stand up for us. And…Obama give him some “movies.” How rude! How inappropriate! Bush at least knew how to treat guests.
http://franklinslocke.blogspot.com/
Brown gave Obama a knighthood for Kennedy.
MMAlpha Thursday, March 5th at 2:50PM EST (link)And the British public are none-too-happy about it:
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/2009/03/tebbits-anger-a.html
Neither am I
Rapunzel46 Friday, March 6th at 12:25AM EST (link)Kennedy is a murderer and he gets a knighthood!!!!!!
Hey, Henry VIII was a murderer and he was
mbecker908 Friday, March 6th at 7:40AM EST (link)a King. Not to mention the founder of the Church of England.
Every once in a while the Brits stumble over their heritage.
Gordon Brown did get even
Scope Thursday, March 5th at 2:56PM EST (link)He gave Obama “A first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Churchill. Did’t Obama take the bust of Churchill out of the Oval Orrifice. Brown in essence told him that he really needs to brush up on his history.
I also doubt that he worried about the expense of his paltry gift, he and Michelle entertain their guests with $100. per pund beef imported from Japan.
Gordon Brown did get even
Scope Thursday, March 5th at 2:56PM EST (link)He gave Obama “A first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Churchill. Did’t Obama take the bust of Churchill out of the Oval Orrifice. Brown in essence told him that he really needs to brush up on his history.
I also doubt that he worried about the expense of his paltry gift, he and Michelle entertain their guests with $100. per pund beef imported from Japan.
Possible Reason Behind Churchill Bust Removal
chrisie Friday, March 6th at 2:27AM EST (link)Obama’s Kenyan grandfather, Hussein Onyango Obama, was tortured and imprisoned by the British in the Mau Mau uprising. Churchill was behind the movement to stop the uprising.
bet it's deeper than that.
kyle8 Friday, March 6th at 5:55AM EST (link)When I started my graduate level history classes I encountered the left’s hatred for Winston Churchill. They hate him very much, He was the guy who first sounded the alarm against soviet expansionism. and he initiated a “red Scare” in Britain when he (rightfully) called out some ministers and politicians for being communists.
“Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty”
Kyle
I question his experience.
Socrates Thursday, March 5th at 3:11PM EST (link)Do we know if Obama has much diplomatic experience? Surely he is not a complete novice in this area. After all, he was on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and even the subcommittee dealing with NATO.
So it can not be a question of inexperience, then.
That much is clear.
–
Gone 2500 years, still not PC.
More international incidents to come!
Sharp_Right_Turn Thursday, March 5th at 3:51PM EST (link)Surely the Brits will be grinding their soft, brown teeth over President Obama’s Netflix queue offer to PM Gordon Brown. If Obama really wanted to perform a noble gesture to Great Britain he should have offered them 25 tubes of Colgate Maximum Fluoride Protection, Crest Whitening Strips and Dental Floss made in the good ol’ USA!
If I were the President...
Sharp_Right_Turn Thursday, March 5th at 4:06PM EST (link)here’s what my Top Ten DVD list would consist of :
1. Bullit
2. The Complete Dirty Harry Collection
3. The Complete Death Wish Collection
4. The Complete Rambo Collection
5. The Complete Works of Seka
6. WWF Classic Bouts: Sgt. Slaughter vs. The Iron Shiek
7. One Million Years BC
8. Team America: World Police
9. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
10. 24: Season 3
And unlike Obama, I’ll make sure they’ll play in a Region 1 DVD player. Better to have 10 kickass DVDs that play than 25 that won’t.
5 on the list and the Region issue
bs Thursday, March 5th at 8:35PM EST (link)I was in the UK last year and wanted to buy a DVD (that I have NEVER found over here) but it was a Europe region.
Region codes are evil.
Decorum is fo’ suckas
Protocol and diplomacy
red4ever Thursday, March 5th at 4:17PM EST (link)Doesn’t the White House have a protocol officer anymore? Someone who can tell these lacking in the social graces folks that it isn’t polite to leave a guest standing in the snow or it is the thought that counts as a gift (unless the DVDs were ones not available in Great Britain or through Amazon, not much thought went into this gift?). Surely even in the Clinton State Department there was someone who could brief the President on the US’s special relationship with Great Britain and the importance of maintaining it.
Even if we did “save” them in WWII, if not for them letting us use Britain as a launching pad, D-Day would never have happened. It has always been a mutually beneficial relationship (after 1812, of course).
We really should send a gift from the grateful American people to PM Brown.
The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.
Dante
Yeah, the WH Protocol Officer
Tbone Thursday, March 5th at 6:22PM EST (link)is Larry the Cable Guy.
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
I feel that I should stand up for Protocol Officers.
Moe Lane Thursday, March 5th at 7:48PM EST (link)After all, I am the Chief Protocol Officer for RedState.
No, really, I have it on my RS business cards and everything.
Check out my new blog at http://moelane.com/.
http://twitter.com/moelane
My (blogging-related) wish list.
I rest my case.
Tbone Friday, March 6th at 1:15PM EST (link)nt
Envisioning when all that is Left is the Right.
Clinton Protocol Officer??
skorrent1 Thursday, March 5th at 10:54PM EST (link)Am I the only one who remembers the King and Queen , of Spain, I think, standing outside the White House side door, waiting for the always late Billy Boy to let them in??
Not only protocol and diplomacy, but a modicum of class
JustLeaveMeAlone Friday, March 6th at 1:23PM EST (link)Sending a staffer to the White House giftshop for el cheapo plastic model helicopters is NOT thoughtful.
There’s low class… then there is NO class.
As an aside, here’s my prediction: the Obama Enemies list is gonna make Dick Nixon look like a jolly and forgiving fellow. And apparently the UK is on it.
“To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” Thomas Jefferson
as a former Anglophile
Doc Holliday Thursday, March 5th at 6:45PM EST (link)and someone who knows that land well, and has spent a lot of time there, I say to them “get stuffed”. They wanted Obama and vilified Bush and McCain, they don’t like America in polling, so they will get dvd’s and like it!
I do mourn for the Special Relationship and the shared values and purpose that are now in the dust bin of history.
Molon Labe!
How likely is this to be totally clueless?
Lammo Thursday, March 5th at 7:42PM EST (link)Unless PM Brown has a Region Free DVD player, or The One went to extreme effort to acquire Region 2 DVDs in a Region 1 county, then BROWN WILL NOT BE ABLE TO WATCH THE DVDs WHEN HE GETS THEM HOME!
Go here for the low down on the region thing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_region_code
ACORN: Association of Criminals Obama Represented in the Nineties. (jupitersuite)
Don’t be so open minded that your brains fall out. (Fr. John Corapi, SOLT)
Crime never takes a holiday. (Dennis J. O’Shea, R.I.P.)
Unlawful is against the law. Illegal is a sick bird. (Ooold joke)
Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read. (Groucho Marx)
Regions
EmilyM Thursday, March 5th at 8:27PM EST (link)I immediately thought the same thing when I first read it. :\
The Patriot
EmilyM Thursday, March 5th at 8:26PM EST (link)I think my mouth dropped open when I read that one, haha. The British are absolutely villianized in that movie (not surprisingly).
Tarleton's Quarter,
Achance Thursday, March 5th at 8:41PM EST (link)they deserved to be villanized.
In Vino Veritas