Is B.O. Offensive?
Some are saying President Obama insulted British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on his recent visit to the White House. There are a number of reasons, but this one caught my eye:
Brown clearly took care in choosing his gift for President Obama, presenting him with a pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President. The HMS President's sister ship, the HMS Resolute had previously provided the wood for the Oval Office's desk. Therefore the PM's gift was clearly not a last minute thought.
Obama, however, did not take the same amount of care in choosing the British leader's gift - 25 DVDs of American classic movies. In fact, some believe he put absolutely no thought in to it at all for several reasons: Brown could get these movies anywhere himself, and US DVDs are typically incompatible with UK DVD players. Oh, and Brown is blind in one eye.
I know it's the thought that counts, but I'd rather have the DVDs.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:27 AM
6 Comments:
I'm not sure. I guess it would depend on what movies Obama chose. Of course, if they're incompatible with my DVD format it wouldn't matter.
Actually, I think resurrecting one of the deck chairs from the Titanic would make a more appropriate gift.
So the message is Americans= technological, forward-thinking, not caught up in matters of 19th century manners while Britain = half blind and traditional
It's a new era. If the rest of the world doesn't recognize it, screw 'em.
Hey, neat, we've got John Bolton commenting on our blog! My DVD player is region-free. It was $99. I doubt the Browns' is inferior to that. I think the story is worthless without learning whether Mr. or Mrs. Brown are movie buffs, which shouldn't be too tough to figure out.
We don't need to know whether they're movie buffs, or not. This is diplomacy and all that counts is public perception.
So how the British Prime Minister felt about the gift he was given is irrelevant? I hadn't realized our future diplomatic efforts would be carried out with the editors of the Daily Telegraph.
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