It seems that some Brits are in a bit of a snit over Obama not giving British PM Gordon Brown the Royal treatment at the White House:
Via the U.K. Telegraph:
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.
I realize it might have seemed a bit disrespectful. But perhaps this bloke should read the history of slavery and the colonization of Africa and the slave trade a bit more closely. I mean, wouldn’t you, being a African-American be a bit jittery about kissing the royal behind of those who oppressed your people? I would be.
While I think it is a bit rude and could have been handled better. I think that Obama is well within his rights to do what he pleases in his White House.
Others: Times of London, Don Surber, The Sundries Shack, Moe Lane, Pirate’s Cove, Flopping Aces, Hot Air, QandO, Jules Crittenden, Tim Shipman’s blog listings, Washington Post and Le·gal In·sur·rec· tion