Where's the Protocol Office?? - Page 2

SWTXBelle · #16 03-09-2009, 02:11 PM

Whether or not the average person would know the difference between American and U.K. media, the office of POTUS should - or they should have found someone who did. It's not a BIG deal, but part of the job is diplomacy, and part of diplomacy is doing the "right" thing. A ball was dropped, but let us hope it is the last one. Perhaps the Protocol Office head honcho couldn't take his/her job because of unpaid back taxes . . .

At any rate, those who found Bush's social faux pas troubling should also be concerned about this - as long as it never happens again, I give Obama a by. But it should be issue, since one reason stated by those who elected Obama was they wanted the U.S.A. to regain the good will of the world once again. Part of that is relatively meaningless stuff like this. Gifts tell the receipient what you think of him/her/it - and the U.K. is in a tizzy because they believe Obama's gifts say he doesn't think very much of them.

starang21 · #17 03-09-2009, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coramoor

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?

what a ridiculous post. it was a mistake. there's a learning curve. he's been in office for 2 months. how petty and uninformed.

Munchkin03 · #18 03-09-2009, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starang21

what a ridiculous post. it was a mistake. there's a learning curve. he's been in office for 2 months. how petty and uninformed.

Yeah, I doubt it's going to happen again.

Coramoor · #19 03-09-2009, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starang21

what a ridiculous post. it was a mistake. there's a learning curve. he's been in office for 2 months. how petty and uninformed.

What is petty and uninformed is giving the British PM a box set of Bond DVDs from the wrong region.

starang21 · #20 03-09-2009, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coramoor

What is petty and uninformed is giving the British PM a box set of Bond DVDs from the wrong region.

so someone made a mistake. and? you're blowing this out of proportion. the levity of THIS situation as compared to the gaffes that bush has done pale in comparison.

DrPhil · #21 03-09-2009, 03:06 PM

Quote:

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.

DrPhil · #22 03-09-2009, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by starang21

so someone made a mistake. and? you're blowing this out of proportion. the levity of THIS situation as compared to the gaffes that bush has done pale in comparison.

He may work for TMZ.

No offense to Harvey Levin who I have always adored.

And let's not get into a Bush-Obama comparison. Obama has plenty of time to mess up as much if not more than Bush. I would hate for you folks to have to eat your words.

MysticCat · #23 03-09-2009, 03:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coramoor

What is petty and uninformed is giving the British PM a box set of Bond DVDs from the wrong region.

Just one question: Does anyone actually know that the DVDs were for the wrong region? I haven't seen that in any credible news report. All I've seen is comments in pieces like the one starang quoted where they say things like "It's worth noting that American DVDs won't play in European DVD players." That may be worth noting, but that doesn't mean that the DVDs were, in fact, not compatible with European players, only that the writer is assuming that they were not.

I agree that it was a major gaffe by the Protocol Office (even though Brown is not a head of state). But there sure seems to be a whiff of truthiness about some of the more outraged reports.

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

wrigley · #24 03-09-2009, 03:33 PM

I'd rather have President Obama give cheap gifts than spend a large amount of money for them in a time when there's the debt outstanding to think about.

Coramoor · #25 03-09-2009, 04:26 PM

I would rather blow things out of proportion and think the man is wrong no matter what he does. haha

AKA_Monet · #26 03-09-2009, 07:01 PM

Hayle, they could have just given PM Brown and his family some Obama campaign T-shirts/posters/memorabilia, which actually fetches quite a bit of money these days... LOL... At least Obama has a stash of that crap laying around there somewhere. Or at least the stuh is bootlegged somewhere... Good ole American Capitalism at its best! J/K... or not...

UGAalum94 · #27 03-09-2009, 07:18 PM

I don't know that this is going to really end up meaning anything about our relationship with Great Britain, but there were other issues about the visit that weren't done at the typical level. Apparently, there's an expectation of a certain level of joint press conference that didn't happen either. If you look at the visit in it's totality, Obama didn't make as big a deal about Brown's visit as is typical.

I suspect that you don't get to be PM by being really thin skinned, but if you look at the discrepancy in the gift exchange and level of pomp, if I were a member of the British public, I might think Obama didn't act right.

How much does that matter? I don't know, but I know there were people at the time of the election for whom what the rest of the world thought about us mattered. Sure, they were concerned about more meaningful foreign policy issues than gift exchanges, but can you really afford to blow off symbolic interpersonal stuff? It ought to be a gimme.

PeppyGPhiB · #28 03-09-2009, 08:02 PM

Kim Jong Il would've loved that gift.

kddani · #29 03-09-2009, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PeppyGPhiB

Kim Jong Il would've loved that gift.

Only if it included Team America.

Seriously though, with all of the crap going on in the world, and things world leaders need to deal with, some bullshit little gift should be the least of our concerns.

Of course, the Brits are so gossip obsessed and love a "scandal".

moe.ron · #30 03-09-2009, 09:14 PM

Never herd of multi-region DVD players?