Wake Up America

To All My British Friends….I am Sorry!

Do the Obamas just don’t get it, don’t care or do they truly think that much of themselves?

In the last month President Obama has not once, but twice, offended the British people. Is it my imagination or isn’t Great Britain is one if not our biggest ally? Ok may Israel is the biggest, but the good ol GB is a close second. So what is the best thing we can do? Let’s offend them. Good idea there Mr. Obama. The sad thing is, he probably didn’t give it a second thought. Let us recap. On Gordon Brown’s first American trip with Pres. Obama being in office he brings this gift. A pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President (whose sister ship, HMS Resolute, provided the wood for the Oval Office’s desk). What does Pres Obama give in return? DVDs, that can’t even be played in the UK. Now, I know it was probably staffed out, but is his staff that stupid? Do they really think they don’t have films in the UK? Does Gordon Brown even like movies? Come on people, let’s put a little more thought into this. Now it is not about the DVDs, but the message it sends, more on this a little later. Fast forward to April 1st, 2009 which is President Obama’s first trip to London and meeting the Queen.

In the good ol Obama way, let’s staff out the present for the Queen. Hmm, let’s see, what would she want? Oh yeah, lets give her photos she probably already has (even if she cares) and an iPod. Oh yeah, not any old iPod, but one that has speeches she probably cares less about than I do. Now that is saying something! Again people, I know this is staffed out, but lets have some thought on this please.

The sad thing about this all is that it doesn’t stop with President Obama, but continues on with is wife. I lived in England for 4 ½ years and from my understanding, before meeting the Queen, people are debriefed as to the dos and don’ts and one of those don’ts is not to touch the Queen unless it is to shake her hand and even then it is not a “normal handshake”. We here in America may think that these customs are antiquated, but they are customs nonetheless. Don’t touch the Queen!

Why has this issue prompted a blog entry? To be honest, I don’t care what the leaders of the world give to one another, but these gifts are the difference between a diamond ring and a ring from a gum ball machine. Think about the message it is sending. It is saying that their friendship is inconsequential and we could care less about all the support they give our country. This is exactly what we want to do to one of the few countries that are standing side by side with us in both Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention all the other things they do for and with us, like side with us in the UN. I for one am afraid of how they are going to reciprocate. It may seem like something small, but just remember how quickly small things can escalate! It doesn’t have to be long before a snub here turns into a “we aren’t going to support you on that resolution” there. So to any British that read this, I am sorry and just know that there are Americans here that appreciate your friendship and support of our country.

Tags: Gifts from the US, Great Britian, Queen