April 01, 2009
Pres. Obama: How to make friends and influence people
So, having already demonstrated the skill and care he brings to choosing gifts for leaders of foreign nations -- when he gave a set of DVDs to Prime Minister Gordon Brown that can't be played on European DVD players -- Pres. Obama showed that his movie gift was an uncharacteristically ham-handed gaffe, redeeming himself with the thoughtful gift he presented to Queen Elizabeth.
President Barack Obama's gift of an iPod to Queen Elizabeth II came loaded with 40 songs from popular Broadway productions, including "The King and I," "West Side Story" and "Dreamgirls." The iPod was given to accompany a rare coffee table book of songs by composers Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, which Obama also gave the queen.
He gave her a what? An iPod loaded with $40 worth of iTunes downloads and a book he grabbed off the remainder table at Barnes & Noble?
That's just great.
But it gets better, according to ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper:
Uploaded onto the iPod:
Photos from the Queen's 2007 White House State Visit
Photos from the Queen's 2007 Jamestown, Va., Visit
Photos from the Queen's 2007 Richmond, Va., Visit
Video from the Queen's 1957 Jamestown Visit
Video from the Queen's 2007 Jamestown Visit
Video from the Queen's 2007 Richmond Visit
Photos from President Obama's Inauguration
Audio of then-state senator Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, and
Audio of President Obama 2009 Inauguration AddressBritain's Press Association reports that the Royal couple gave the Obamas "a silver-framed, signed photograph of themselves."
Nothing charms like a politician presenting recordings of his own speeches as a gift.
Because, of course, who wouldn't want copies of the Great Leader's words, spoken in his own divine voice.
It's fitting that Obama gave this to the queen, for the man's self-regard, his arrogance is astonishing, akin to that of Castro, another leader whose marathon speeches bored millions, while tickling the fancy El Jefe himself and his lickspittle lackeys.
Honestly, what a maroon.
Posted by Mike Lief at April 1, 2009 09:09 PM
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