Where's the Protocol Office??

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

ETA: Maybe the Protocol Office was just following precedent. According to The Daily Mail, Bush gave Brown a fur-trimmed bomber jacket.

Interesting. Wonder why we never really heard much about that?

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by Coramoor

Oh cmon now. We are all children of the internet age! The regional stuff has been mentioned a million times over the past decade in articles and commercials about piracy laws. Hell any kid knows it because they can't buy a game from abroad and play it in their home system unless it's modded.

It's the same as the people that come to Europe and plug their 110 appliance into a 240v outlet. ZAP! It is labeled EVERYWHERE not to do it, everyone that is even slightly worldly knows it.

This is just showing how little BO gives thought to one of our strongest allies.

I would be absolutely embarrassed if I was BO. He knows no shame. He is totally delusional and probably doesn't even understand why it has pissed people off.

If this is just another case of BO's picked subordinates failing...well, what is this, the 20th example of total incompetence in his staff?

Eh...apparently what some deem "common knowledge" simply is not. They should've researched it more, I already said that.

I lack the passion for this that you apparently have.

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by Coramoor

He is totally delusional and probably doesn't even understand why it has pissed people off.

You're right. He probably doesn't understand why it has pissed people off because he mistakenly thinks people have their minds on more important things.


With respect to the part of that article about First Lady Michelle giving the boys the helicopters, I fail to see the issue with that. Little boys tend to like those types of things. They wouldn't necessarily want clothes as a gift.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by deepimpact2

You're right. He probably doesn't understand why it has pissed people off because he mistakenly thinks people have their minds on more important things.


With respect to the part of that article about First Lady Michelle giving the boys the helicopters, I fail to see the issue with that. Little boys tend to like those types of things. They wouldn't necessarily want clothes as a gift.

Right, I was thinking the same thing. What else would be an appropriate gift for little boys? I actually think it's a little weird that they gave Sasha and Malia clothes. One of the articles I read on this actually had a comment from a reader adding, "A gift of clothes was probably seen as tacky by the Americans, so we're not ones to talk," or something to that effect.

I think the DVD gift would've been thoughtful if Brown was a movie buff. But by all accounts I've read so far, he's not. I do think people have radically underestimated how much that collection probably cost. I don't know why people think it would've been purchased for $19.95 at Wal-Mart. Last time I looked, Wal-Mart didn't carry Citizen Kane.

ETA: I'm more concerned that Obama returned the gift of the Churchill bust given to Bush by Tony Blair following 9/11. How tacky to give back any gift, particularly one from a foreign leader given as a symbol of solidarity!

[AKA_Monet]

Welp, they could have given him a Casino nights package at Caesar's Palace... A nice gift and supports the American economy at the same time! I can imagine that the slots would not be loose, though...

[AGDee]

GM Stock.. that's what we could've given him.

[aopirose]

Originally Posted by AKA_Monet

Welp, they could have given him a Casino nights package at Caesar's Palace... A nice gift and supports the American economy at the same time! I can imagine that the slots would not be loose, though...

Bwahhahahaa

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

ETA: I'm more concerned that Obama returned the gift of the Churchill bust given to Bush by Tony Blair following 9/11. How tacky to give back any gift, particularly one from a foreign leader given as a symbol of solidarity!

Ah, but it wasn't given to Bush. It was loaned:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/185839

Many other things were loaned to the White House during the Bush administration, as in any administration; part of the transition is to return these items. The Churchill bust was among these things. Although some vocal members of the British media complained about it, there were also several equally vocal Brits who wanted their bust back at once!

[deepimpact2]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Ah, but it wasn't given to Bush. It was loaned:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/185839

Many other things were loaned to the White House during the Bush administration, as in any administration; part of the transition is to return these items. The Churchill bust was among these things. Although some vocal members of the British media complained about it, there were also several equally vocal Brits who wanted their bust back at once!

Makes sense to me. People need to have the whole story before making judgment calls.

[PeppyGPhiB]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

Ah, but it wasn't given to Bush. It was loaned:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/185839

Many other things were loaned to the White House during the Bush administration, as in any administration; part of the transition is to return these items. The Churchill bust was among these things. Although some vocal members of the British media complained about it, there were also several equally vocal Brits who wanted their bust back at once!

Oh, OK, I read in two british newspapers that it was a gift.

[ASTalumna06]

Originally Posted by Coramoor

Oh cmon now. We are all children of the internet age! The regional stuff has been mentioned a million times over the past decade in articles and commercials about piracy laws. Hell any kid knows it because they can't buy a game from abroad and play it in their home system unless it's modded.

It's the same as the people that come to Europe and plug their 110 appliance into a 240v outlet. ZAP! It is labeled EVERYWHERE not to do it, everyone that is even slightly worldly knows it.

Maybe I'm stupid, because I had no idea there were different regions, and that DVDs here don't play in Europe. Because, um... I don't order a whole bunch of useless stuff from abroad, and I've never been to Europe. And believe it or not, not everyone reads every article that is written about piracy laws. Why would I need to when I don't violate them and never intend to?

Anyway... what I would like to know is whether Obama holds ill feelings because of the brutal torture his grandfather experienced by the British during Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion?