D British press have time d royalsbehavin these days.
aint that the truth lol.
This writer Iain Martin with the Telegraph wrote a few columns. An interesting read
The special relationship is a joke, and it isn't funny By Iain Martin
Last Updated: 6:37PM GMT 07 Mar 2009
When an American leader is preparing to meet his British counterpart it is said that an official usually offers one final piece of advice: "don't forget to mention the special relationship
We Brits are seen as so needy that we will have a national, collective nervous breakdown unless we hear the magic words. In reality, the phrase has become a joke: the Americans know it, we know it and I suspect that they know we know it. Hillary Clinton could not disguise a knowing smirk when she used the words.
Last week, it was the turn of a new president to play this old game. How would Barack Obama handle Gordon Brown's visit to Washington? The answer, sadly, is badly.
He remembered to deploy the requisite term; but from the start of the trip, Team Obama behaved as though it simply could not be bothered having the British – their only allies of consequence in Afghanistan – in town. At first, there was to be no formal press conference; then the Americans agreed to a short Q&A in the Oval Office. But Number 10 had to beg for it. Throughout, Obama looked, to this observer, indifferent to the whole business.
And then there were the presents. The Browns had taken a degree of care, arriving with a pen holder made from the timbers of HMS Gannet, an anti-slave trade ship, and a first edition of Gilbert's seven volume biography of Churchill. The Obama daughters received dresses and necklaces chosen by Sarah Brown.
Did the Obamas spend more than a few seconds thinking about gifts in return? For the Brown sons there were matching models of the President's helicopter, suggesting a last-minute dash by an aide to the White House gift shop. The grown-up Browns were even less lucky: they received a box of 25 DVDs, including ET, The Wizard of Oz and Psycho.
Small details, yes. But in diplomacy the micro-detail is often key to understanding the bigger picture. Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan appreciated the importance of choreographing their appearances correctly. That they bothered enough to get it right shows how serious they were about wanting the world to understand that they shared a mission of extending economic freedom and winning the Cold War.
And that is the root of the problem. For all the PM's talk of the need for a global solution to the economic crisis, there is no shared American and British mission.
The first few months of Obama's presidency are turning into a car crash (last week, US unemployment hit a 25-year high). Consequently, his primary concerns are national, rather than international, his time too scarce for Brown's grand visions of global new deals and reformed regulatory structures. And anyway, when he does need to look abroad for economic partners, why would it be to Britain? His main focus will be China.
In April, of course, Obama and other world leaders will be in London for the G20 summit. Sadly for Brown, the handshakes and communiqués will not mark the birth of his imagined new order – rather, the framework of markets and trade will be reconstructed over the course of a decade and more. And there will not be much demand for the services of an architect of the previous system, which has collapsed with such dramatic consequences. The contract for rebuilding is as unlikely to be handed to Gordon Brown as it is to Alan Greenspan.
Consider this: Obama is only starting his period in office. He will, conceivably, hold power until January 2017. Where will Brown be then? Where will he be in 15 months?
And what of the wider "special relationship"? Obama is not the first new president to seek to "date other people". Many before him have begun their first term in pursuit of a broader range of allies, such as the French and the Germans, on matters military and in the sharing of intelligence. They usually discover that all that is on offer in the field is extra help with the catering duties. For sustained co-operation, the Brits have the best track record.
However, thanks to the economic crisis, there is a real and depressing possibility that the outcome may be different this time. True, most of America's potential friends are in a poor condition thanks to the economic climate. But Britain, with its wrecked public finances and unbalanced economy, is in an atrocious position. It will take decades of hard work, narrowly focused on the restoration of national prosperity, before we can step forward as an attractive ally once more. What a legacy for that great global show-off Tony Blair: the seeds of this decline were sown during his premiership.
All this depresses the life out of an Atlanticist such as me, who is immensely proud of the good that has come from the alliance between our two countries. Yet, we may be entering a period when the UK's concerns will be a good deal more prosaic. In the hard years ahead there will be little time, energy and money left over for British global grandstanding.
President Barack Obama dislikes Britain, but he's keen to meet the QueenPosted By: Iain Martin at Mar 6, 2009 at 12:44:22
President Obama has been rudeness personified towards Britain this week. His handling of the visit of the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, to Washington was appalling. First Brown wasn't granted a press conference with flags, then one was hastily arranged in the Oval office after the Brits had to beg. Obama looked like he would rather have been anywhere else than welcoming the British leader to his office and topped it all with his choice of present (*) for the PM. A box of 25 DVDS including ET, the Wizard of Oz and Star Wars? Oh, give me strength. We do have television and DVD stores on this side of the Atlantic. Even Gordon Brown will have seen those films too often already.
This was coupled with Michelle Obama's casual choice of gifts for the Brown sons - matching models of the helicopter which ferry her husband around. While Sarah Brown had spent time choosing gifts for the Obama girls, Michelle had clearly sent an aide to the White House gift shop at the last moment.
All in all, he doesn't think much of us, as I explained in my post here earlier this week.
But what's this? Something, suddenly, seems to have made the Obama White House perk up and start to take an interest in the Brits. The Queen has invited the President to tea when he's here for the G20 in April. And he's in through the front door of Buckingham Palace faster than a Harley Davidson roaring along Route 66.
Note how the coolness of Team Obama disappears when a bit of regal glamour is introduced into the equation. He might not like the Brits, but he can recognise a global superstar when he encounters one. He wants to be associated with her. He's shameless.
(*) If Obama, or someone in his inner circle, had spent two minutes thinking about what present to get Brown then they could easily have come up with something appropriate. He likes books. He loves American history. Get him a signed first edition of a good Robert Dallek book such as the brilliant Flawed Giant on LBJ. Come to think of it, Obama should read it too, if he hasn't yet, as it reveals a great deal about how a Presidency can go so wrong.
President Barack Obama just plain rude to Britain. Don't call us in future.Posted By: Iain Martin at Mar 4, 2009 at 09:41:53
Why couldn't President Obama have put on more of a show for his British guests? He looked like he simply couldn't be bothered.
Number 10 may be content that they just about got away with the visit to the Oval Office yesterday, as Andrew Porter reports from Washington.
But on this side of the Atlantic the whole business looked pretty demeaning. The morning papers and TV last night featured plenty of comment focused on the White House's very odd and, frankly, exceptionally rude treatment of a British PM. Squeezing in a meeting, denying him a full press conference with flags etc. The British press corps, left outside for an hour in the cold, can take it and their privations are of limited concern to the public.
But Obama's merely warmish words (one of our closest allies, said with little sincerity or passion) left a bitter taste with this Atlanticist. Especially after his team had made Number 10 beg for a mini press conference and then not even offered the PM lunch.
We get the point, sunshine: we're just one of many allies and you want fancy new friends. Well, the next time you need something doing, something which impinges on your national security, then try calling the French, or the Japanese, or best of all the Germans. The French will be able to offer you first rate support from their catering corps but beyond that you'll be on your own.
When it comes to men, munitions and commitment you'll soon find out why it pays to at least treat the Brits with some manners.
