Thursday, March 19, 2009

(Not So) Smart Diplomacy pt 2

The story so far.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown visits the White House.

President Obama doesn't even schedule lunch. Or the standard Podium to Podium press conference. The US media doesn't even report it.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown gifts President Obama with a pen holder handcrafted from the oak timbers of the Victorian-era anti-slave ship HMS Gannet (formerly commissioned as HMS President).  Additionally, PM Brown gave Pres. Obama the commission of the HMS Resolute - the sister ship of the Gannet and the ship from which the president's desk is carved.  Finally, Mr. Brown gave a first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Winston Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert.

President Obama gave Prime Minister Brown a set of 25 classic movies on DVD.

Mrs. Brown gave Sasha and Malia Obama an outfit each from Topshop - a British clothing store, along with six books (yet to be published in the US) from top British authors.

Mrs. Obama gave the Brown's sons toy models of Marine 1 from the White House gift shop

Of course, the question is, were those DVDs playable in British machines?

Apparently not. (via Powerline)

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