Intentional or not, it's NOT meaningless; it's fucking embarassing. Will it have any longterm effects on US/UK relations? No, and I think Pandajuice summed up the situation perfectly. But it's still awful. And keep in mind, that this incident happened the same week that Hillary Clinton offered Russia a reset button to reset US-Russia relations, which had the Russian word for "reset" spelled incorrectly.

These people are the public faces of our country, and they are making us look cheap and lazy, stupid and corny in the eyes of others.

GPFontaine wrote:

Fine, it isn't meaningless, it has all the same amount of meaning as my wife getting chocolate ice cream for me when I was in the mood for vanilla. She must have been plotting against me. Please...

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

Can you actually FUCKING READ or do you just pretend to? I said LONG AGO that it it may not have been intentional, and you still haven't moved past that. You'd make a great pundit, because you don't actually respond to what people say, you talk about whatever the fuck you want to.

I do not think I am reading too much into it. I was not even the one who initially suggested it could have been intentional, that was Soldier Hawk; I simply agreed that it was a viable theory. Pandajuice stated that Brown is not popular in his homeland and will probably not win reelection, which gives the theory some definite viability.

1. Possibly. I think world leaders were hoping for a kinder, gentler America, and there was certainly a limitless optimism surrounding President Obama and what he could do. When he toured mainland Europe before the election, he got a hero's welcome. This shows that Obama is not infallible, and I think it does put a definite damper, no matter how small, on expectations for how America will act over the next four years.
2. This a supremely vague question. I am an American, and I am less satisfied with him because of this. I know of at least a few other Americans who are less satisfied with him because of this event. So I believe that Americans are less satisified with him because of this event. I certainly do not think that any sane American s more satisfied with him because of this event. I am under no mandate to state this, as you did not include it as an option, but I believ there are probably plenty of sane people who are equally satisfied with him.
3. No.

Will this incident be an issue in 2012? Absolutely not, everyone will have forgotten about it by then. But it's a topical issue, it pissed me off, and I wanted to discuss it. This is a man who claims to be a giver. He wantsto give everyone free healthcare, he's a big fan of bailouts, and his economic stimulus package is shoveling money and pork to pretty much anyone who asked for it. The guy is basically Matthew Lesko's wet dream. His philosophy is that the government should give about twice as much as it takes. So for him to fail at giving on a such fundamental level, to accept such lovely gifts from Brown, gifts which he reportedly accepted with excitement and eager, and to give him such shoddy ones, is definitely an affront to the person he purports to be and raises questions about his character. These questions will be forgotten within a week, but that doesn't mean they're not worth asking.

enshinkarateman wrote:

RobotGumshoe wrote: Stuff By God, someone give this man a medal.

Done.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/01/obama-gives-queen-elizabe_n_181862.html

A new one. Obama gives the Queen an iPod, the Queen gives Him an autographed photo of her and her husband.

The Queen comes off a little cheap in this exchange, but the photograph is apparently what she gives to all visiting dignitaries. But if Obama had done His homework, He'd have known the Queen already has an iPod. Hell, He could have Googled it, since the British press made a huge deal of it at the time. Secondly, she's the fucking Queen. She's rich as hell. If she wanted a damn iPod, she'd have one... and she does.

This seems to establish a distinct pattern. There seems to be a level of dimwitted American arrogance in Obama's gifts, a complete disrespect for other cultures, that harkens back to the days of Rudyard Kipling.

"Behold, I bring you gifts. These things are ordinary to me, but surely they will seem impressive to the likes of you! Please accept them. Now tell me how great I am!"

Dr. Jeebus wrote:

Your grandfather is definitely an exception, and I'm pretty sure you know that.

Your paternal grandfather, if he was still alive, might have an iPod. He loved gadgets and he was all about the Atari and the NES.