A Classless Act

I first posted the following on my Facebook page on March 7, 2009. I believe it still has relevance today.

When I first heard the story of the diplomatic faux pas committed by President Obama in his treatment of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife I shook my head in wonder at the President’s lack of diplomatic skill. As the story continued to unfold my wonder disappeared and I was truly aghast at the insulting manner with which the President treated the Prime Minister of one of our staunchest, albeit not oldest, allies. (Alas, the French have that distinction. Not of being the staunchest, of course, but surely the older of the two.) And to be sure, most Americans are unaware of what happened as the Main Stream Mediocrity, errr...I meant Media, has been almost totally silent on the subject.

Imagine this: A visiting Head of Government goes out of his way to select an appropriate gift for the President. In this case a pen made of wood from a British Man O’ War. But not just any British ship, but one that was central to fighting slavery on the high seas. (See http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-todd-huston/2009/03/07/obamas-british-gift-gaffe-not-reported-u-s-media) Clearly some thought and heart went into the selection of a very special gift to our new, novice, American president.

In return, he is given a very special set of QVC-ordered DVDs to take back to England and not play because they were manufactured for North America and not Europe. To top that, a bust of Sir Winston Churchill, given to then President George W. Bush, and the American people, by the British after 9/11 was summarily returned to the British Embassy. What idiocy is this? Is this the change that was promised? That we would move from a traditional class-act Head of Government/State to a totally classless act who parties and conducts business in the White House in casual dress?

But on the other hand, he gave his first interview to an Arab media organization and has offered to stop deploying the missile shield to make the Russians happy.

Is there any doubt that the markets have tanked? It’s no wonder that the 48% of the American people who voted for the other guy are looking at the 52% who voted for the President and wondering, “Did the change you wanted include socialism and estrangement from our long time allies?” I do wonder.