Thoughts & Commentary on the Obama Administration

[Seamus Fermanagh]

That's a half-hearted excuse if I ever heard one. The real reason, of course comes later:I guess that's what happens when you elect a political neophyte.

It's kind of hard to imagine that at least someone in the White House didn't know the proper protocol for a state visit, but the alternative to ignorance is a deliberate snub of our closest ally and it's hard to imagine why Obama would do that.

In other Obama news, the fight to pass the Legalized Worker Intimidation Act, which is laughably called the "Employee Free Choice Act" begins. I think it's great the Democrats have their priorities straight. I mean, what could be more important right now than giving a big wet kiss to their union donors?

And NOBODY in the White House protocol or Dept. of State could have briefed anybody?

Possible, I suppose, but that's a surprising degree of negligence from a group that was so successful in image management during the campaign.

Are we sure it isn't Obama snubbing Brown in order to signal to a majority of the UK'ers (Brown has higher approval than Dubya did this past year, but I understand it isn't by much) and the current Labour Govt. that they should replace him?

What do our UK'er folks think?

[Xiahou]

Are we sure it isn't Obama snubbing Brown in order to signal to a majority of the UK'ers (Brown has higher approval than Dubya did this past year, but I understand it isn't by much) and the current Labour Govt. that they should replace him?

Could be. But I think that kind of meddling would be considered very bad form. Like I said, the implications of it being a deliberate snub actually seem worse than it being incompetence.

[LittleGrizzly]

Are we sure it isn't Obama snubbing Brown in order to signal to a majority of the UK'ers (Brown has higher approval than Dubya did this past year, but I understand it isn't by much) and the current Labour Govt. that they should replace him?

What do our UK'er folks think?

I wouldn't think so... mainly for two reasons...

one it isn't a given that Brown will not be re-elected so it would be counter productive to actively campaign for him to be voted out

two imagine the reaction in the US if a foriegn prime minister gave his support to an opposition candidate, US public would probably react badly to it, i don't think the uk public would mind quite as much but there would be some negative reaction towards it.

Personally i suspect that Brown was eager to be seen with Obama to help sure up support at home and was willing to squeeze himself into Obama's busy schedule...

[KukriKhan]

And there is more: Mr. O pooh-pooh's UK 2001 gift, and blunders in gift exchange.

... Well, eventually the ice breaks and America goes up and we pull that thing out of the ice and we sail it over to England and we return her in, like, 1850 something or other as a gift. Well, the Resolute is in service for England and, you know, it signifies our gift to England and we say, please forgive us for everything that we've gone through in the past 50, 75 years. We are brothers. The Resolute is a big deal. So when the Resolute is decommissioned, Queen Elizabeth decides, I'm going to take the wood and I'm going to make two desks. I'm going to make one for me and one for the president. This is as significant as France giving us the Statue of Liberty. So she takes this and she makes it into two desks. It's the desk that -- remember little JFK, Jr., he opens up the trap door and he looks, you know, through it? That's the USS Resolute desk. There's only two of them: One with the queen, one with us. FDR put that door there. This is such a historic desk. He put that door there so it would hide his wheelchair so nobody could see his wheelchair. The door is the only place where the seal has the eagle looking down at the arrows instead of the olive branches, okay?

So what does Gordon Brown do? He comes to meet with the president and he gives him a set of pens made from the wood of the USS Resolute to match the desk that should be in a museum. He gives him a matching set of pens. Barack Obama hands him a basket -- I'm not kidding you, hands him a basket of DVDs that he can't play...

Dear British Friends and Staunch Allies:

Please let me apologise for this. I am so ashamed. We have kept our new leader so busy lately, right out of the gate, that we've failed to get him up to speed - I think no one has told him yet that He is the leader of the free world. We'll (and he'll) do better soon, I promise.

Sincerely,

The United States of America

[LittleGrizzly]

While it is a little incompetent to give someone a present they can't use (the DVD's) in terms of its effect on the UK population im sure we'll get over it, infact im sure i could support our leaders giving each other more economical gifts. Thinking on it do our leaders really need to give each other gifts... they are wealthy men already....

Though i suppose i wouldn't want Gordon Brown 'snubbing' another leader in such a way.... it is more the uncaring attitude that comes across with it...

If its any consolation this snub by obama is making people question our special relationship and may push people more the way of further eu integration!

BTW how is this special relationship seen in the US, i always thought its was more of a UK term to describe our relationship with the US more seeing us a close ally, something like a more independent less controversial Israel, but some americans seem to see it as a special relationship also...

[Lemur]

I think of Great Britain as a colder, less friendly version of Hawaii. You know, an important military staging area that also has some other stuff going on. Frankly, I think you should save yourselves a lot of bother and become the 51st state. We'll let the Queen stay on as a sort of semi-official celebrity if it will make you happy. You'll get two Senators out of the deal. Your tax burden would be slashed in half, but you'd lose your single-payer healthcare.

In keeping with the American tradition of having obscure cities be the capitol, we'd need you to change your seat of government from London to Milton Keynes.

[Spino]

I think of Great Britain as a colder, less friendly version of Hawaii. You know, an important military staging area that also has some other stuff going on.

I've been told Churchill looked quite fetching in a mumu...

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

[KukriKhan]

While it is a little incompetent to give someone a present they can't use (the DVD's) in terms of its effect on the UK population im sure we'll get over it, infact im sure i could support our leaders giving each other more economical gifts. Thinking on it do our leaders really need to give each other gifts... they are wealthy men already....

Though i suppose i wouldn't want Gordon Brown 'snubbing' another leader in such a way.... it is more the uncaring attitude that comes across with it...

If its any consolation this snub by obama is making people question our special relationship and may push people more the way of further eu integration!

BTW how is this special relationship seen in the US, i always thought its was more of a UK term to describe our relationship with the US more seeing us a close ally, something like a more independent less controversial Israel, but some americans seem to see it as a special relationship also...

Funny you describe it that way. Lotsa guys over here, smarter than me, describe it just that way: "like Israel, without the complications". LOL.

I don't fancy myself speaking for the US, but I see it this way:

we left you, to be free of what we saw as religious oppression, but hung onto you for support, anyway. After years of that dependant status, we decided the price of that support was too high, in liberty restrictions and money matters, so complained. Those complaints having fallen on deaf ears (so we thought) we decided to divorce ourselves from you (a procedure we learned from you).

You objected to the divorce, and our proposed settlement terms - so we fought. Meanwhile, we wrote some pretty fancy, high-falutin' words about freedom and equality and creator's intent and self-determination. We won the fight when you lost interest.

Then, just to be sure it really was "over", we fought again a few years later, and you burned down the Boss's house - showing that you coulda kicked our butts if ya wanted to, but didn't. We settled for a minor after-treaty victory in Louisiana. You again, lost interest.

Time marched on. And we started to take those high-falutin' words seriously - and so did the rest of the world. And they, and you, and we, held us to them. So we fought a civil war over those "equal" and "freedom" words. And started to broaden our idea of just who was a "citizen", entitled to rights and privileges.

Meanwhile, in your land, you took notice, and started applying similar principles to your area. Pretty soon, it was almost a race to see who could be the free-est, most equalist, of the 2 of us.

Then some nutters on the continent got frisky, and you got involved. After much anguish, we realized we were pals now, united not only be an instinctive striving for freedom, but a seeming mutual tendancy to see the world as "free" or "not free", and to prefer the company of the "free".

Then it happened again on the continent, and after much more anguish (I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but: we'd rather not fight) we joined in, with you hosting millions of our warriors.

Since then (or maybe before), we've felt a special relationship with Britain; like an older 1st cousin; a bit odd for our taste, but always there in a tussel, covering our rear. We can only but be there whenever they need, too.

[Xiahou]

Obama Monday:

On Monday, Obama issued a memorandum effectively negating Bush’s signing statements by telling agencies not to follow on them without consulting with the Justice Department in advance.

“There is no doubt that the practice of issuing such statements can be abused,” Obama’s directive said. “Constitutional signing statements should not be use to suggest that the President will disregard statutory requirements on the basis of policy disagreements.”

Obama today:

After Obama signed the $410 spending bill that keeps the government funded until October, the White House released a statement outlining its take on the constitutionality of several of the bill's provisions.

Perhaps the most notable portion of the statement gives Obama room to reallocate money as he sees fit without abiding by the spending bill's requirement to first get approval from Congress