who.
gives.
a.
fuck.

4/2/2009 11:27:16 PM

thank you.
aaronburro shows that he does, indeed, have at least part of a brain

4/2/2009 11:28:28 PM

Don't you guys have anything better to do than obsess over the news?

4/2/2009 11:30:42 PM

There's a reason we don't give a fuck about the Queen...

4/2/2009 11:32:41 PM

No that's not what I mean. Don't you have something else you could be doing, right this very moment, rather than releasing stomach acid over a stupid news story?

4/2/2009 11:33:36 PM

^^

cause you are a classless dumb american duh!

4/2/2009 11:39:09 PM

She fell out of the right vagina.

4/2/2009 11:55:41 PM

I like how they're calling it a hug.



It's a sad day when that constitutes a hug.

4/3/2009 12:20:03 AM

i havent watched any tv news, but the only site i have seen that is making a big deal out of this is drudgereport

4/3/2009 12:49:42 AM

Apparently the British news is spooging all over the place on this "news"

4/3/2009 1:15:00 AM

Its not just the touching of the queen but the choice of gifts as well. The whole event showed a surprising breech of traditional diplomatic protocol. If it was intentional by the administration to create a kinder and gentler America, it could be seen as low brow and brash at best or at worst a lack of respect for the British. If it was unintentional, then it shows a surprising amount of sloppiness by the State department for such a basic task, especially with a traditional American ally. Combined with the expectations that Obama would be more sensitive to diplomacy than the previous Cowboy-in-Chief, its rather puzzling at best.

Still, given the larger looming problems we have right now, I think it will be forgotten in a short while.

4/3/2009 1:42:02 AM

There are fairly important diplomatic issues at play here. Even if we think that the British media's treatment of the monarchy can get a bit absurd, the situation is what it is, and we ignore that reality at our peril. It won't shatter the alliance or anything, but it's not liable to make things easier, either.

4/3/2009 1:58:50 AM

^^you really think that's how the british took it? seems like they took it the exact opposite way. The British people certainly don't hold sacred court procedure. Europe is in love with obama.

You set up a lot of false dichotomies, too: while bush acted folksy, he never endeared himself to the british or europeans. The Obamas are now also being less formal, but they have succeeded (for whatever reason) in winning over the british. Furthermore, there's no reason that being more diplomatic means being stodgier.

[Edited on April 3, 2009 at 2:06 AM. Reason : .]

4/3/2009 2:03:43 AM

I'm a goddamn retard who can't count carats. Sorry.

[Edited on April 3, 2009 at 2:13 AM. Reason : ]

4/3/2009 2:13:20 AM

Quote :

"Although the Daily Telegraph hastened to point out that she already has a silver iPod mini that her grandson coaxed her into buying four years ago, others noted that this is an upgrade, loaded with 40 Broadway show tunes and footage of the queen's 2007 trip to Virginia, and accompanied by a rare songbook signed by "The King and I" composer Richard Rodgers. "

So what's wrong with this gift? Seems pretty good for someone reported to love Broadway.

4/3/2009 3:59:11 AM

Quote :

"The British media called it everything from a breach of protocol to an extraordinary show of affection from the queen. "

4/3/2009 8:08:06 AM

I heard that later Michelle finger-banged Elizabeth in the bathroom!!!! OMG

4/3/2009 8:25:33 AM

Quote :

"Its not just the touching of the queen but the choice of gifts as well. The whole event showed a surprising breech of traditional diplomatic protocol. If it was intentional by the administration to create a kinder and gentler America, it could be seen as low brow and brash at best or at worst a lack of respect for the British. If it was unintentional, then it shows a surprising amount of sloppiness by the State department for such a basic task, especially with a traditional American ally. Combined with the expectations that Obama would be more sensitive to diplomacy than the previous Cowboy-in-Chief, its rather puzzling at best."

What the fuck are you talking about? Your blind lust to make this administration look bad is leading you down a completely backwards and almost pathetic path man.....I mean, really? Lack of respect for the British? Over this misdirection knee jerk Drudge report mundane prattling mess?

1. The queen REQUESTED (can I repeat this any more) REQUESTED an Ipod.
2. She also received a valuable and rare signed songbook of the King and I which is a particular favorite of the Queen's.
3. UK news doesn't think Michelle hugging the queen was a big deal at all, quite the contrary, the queen was giving her a rare physical display of affection. So I don't know what it is you are referring to. See article at Times UK here saying it was only Americans really who were like OMGWTF!@# (actually more like conservative media and talking heads), when in reality they were seeing something spontaneous and perfectly fine. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/G20/article6022502.ece

[Edited on April 3, 2009 at 9:11 AM. Reason : -]

4/3/2009 9:10:19 AM

Quote :

"^^you really think that's how the british took it? seems like they took it the exact opposite way. The British people certainly don't hold sacred court procedure. Europe is in love with obama. "

yeah, i flipped by some news channel last night who was interviewing a British journalist (she's pretty well known, I've seen her before but don't remember her name) who said the UK hasn't been this in love with a prominent woman since Diana.

4/3/2009 9:21:09 AM

feel free to go look at some of the other "american-themed" presents our presidents have given foreign dignitaries

some are even more bizarre and wacky than an ipod filled with broadway showtunes or a set of 25 classic American movies

4/3/2009 9:43:30 AM

lol this is a soap box thread?

4/3/2009 9:43:47 AM

^^^^Maybe they were referring to the other gift from who knows who to who knows who. The one that was a bunch of region 1 encoded DVDs to some guy in England. I can't remember who gave it or who the gift was for, as these sorts of things don't really register as hot topics on my radar. I just remember hearing about it in the same breath as hearing about the infamous hug/iPod on NPR.

As much as I don't care I do find it funny that heads of state / government / whatever are giving each other DVDs and iPods as gifts. Kinda reminds me of that ?snl? skit where David Allen Grier was a wiseman and forgot to bring a gift so he ended up gifting a can coolie and one of those tree air fresheners.

Here ya go queen. It's a the Harry Potter box set, widescreen. It even includes a movie ticket to the next movie that's coming up.

4/3/2009 10:10:01 AM

It's fitting to me that Michelle would violate a custom that was started on the basis that the royalty there are inherently superior to everyone else.

There was obviously no offense, but why should we have such respect for what really amounts to a backwards tradition? That's like forcing Michelle to where a burka if she travels to a middle eastern country. Maybe if the Queen was actually a leader, and not just barely a figurehead, it'd be a different story.

4/3/2009 10:26:37 AM

i also heard the other day that there's some sort of limit on how much a united states politician can spend on a gift to a foreign dignitary. it kinda makes us look cheap often, but it's our law.

4/3/2009 10:34:47 AM

Well, you know the answer to the question "What do you get the person that has everything?"

Nothing. Nothing seems better than something tacky like a bunch of DVDs. You can still show respect and appreciation for the visit/allowing a visit without giving some sort of gift. Or you could get creative with it, like when Bush gave Merkel that "good for one free back rub" coupon a few years back.

4/3/2009 10:41:41 AM

i bet the queen is watching the press on this and loling

4/3/2009 10:48:42 AM

Quote :

"An ambassador from America — Good Heavens, what a sound! The Gazette surely never announced anything so extraordinary before, nor on a day so little expected. . . . 'Tis hard to say which can excite indignation most, the insolence of those who appoint the character, or the manners of those who receive it."

4/3/2009 11:01:27 AM

i learned from the daily show last night that apparently you can't touch the queen because she's poison.

good information to have.

4/3/2009 11:06:18 AM

poisonous*

john oliver is hilarious

4/3/2009 11:08:32 AM

tbqh nothing quite says america like a piece of consumer electronics.

4/3/2009 11:18:37 AM

I, too, watch the Daily Show from 11-11:30pm

Quote :

"4/2/2009 11:27:16 PM"

4/3/2009 11:22:40 AM

^^Made in China.

4/3/2009 11:30:01 AM

I love the spin on this. Love it.

Had Laura B. done this, it would have caused a frenzied uproar by our media on how out of line it was, and how "out of touch" the Bush family was with other cultures, etc.

4/3/2009 11:30:19 AM

^ I doubt that.

4/3/2009 11:31:21 AM

^^shut the fuck up

[Edited on April 3, 2009 at 11:31 AM. Reason : .]

4/3/2009 11:31:32 AM

i'll try and find more wacky gifts to feed this insane thread

i know teddy roosevelt gave some dudes some bison horns

Quote :

"Bush gives Koizumi Elvis-heavy jukebox Posted Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:50am AEST Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi knew immediately what he wanted to hear first on the jukebox he received from US President George W Bush: Elvis Presley. It was not Hound Dog, it was not All Shook Up, and it certainly was not A Little Less Conversation. It was, instead, the kind of message you might expect at the two friends' final summit: I Want You, I Need You, I Love You. "See, he loves Elvis!" Mr Bush said as they held a joint question and answer session after talks in the White House Oval Office. Mr Koizumi gave Mr Bush "a little motorised bicycle" silver in colour, as well as a giant portrait of baseball great Babe Ruth in Japan "a long time ago" and a modern ink drawing of the Yankee slugger. A White House official says the jukebox is a fully restored 1954 Seeburg R100 jukebox, originally manufactured in Chicago, with all of the original parts, and configured to play 100 songs. The two leaders are scheduled to visit the Memphis, Tennessee mansion of the late "King of Rock and Roll" today. They will pay a visit to Presley's famed Graceland home as they sound the final notes of their last diplomatic duet. "Officially, he's here to see the President, but I know the highlight of his visit will be paying his respects to The King," said Mr Bush, who counts Mr Koizumi among his closest friends on the international scene. Mr Koizumi, who stands down in September, has the same January 8 birthday as Elvis, though he is seven years younger. He released a Presley tribute CD for charity shortly after taking office in 2001. The Japanese Prime Minister has said the first English song he learned was I Want You, I Need You, I Love You. He has belted it out for luminaries ranging from Tom Cruise to Mr Bush for the US president's 59th birthday at the Group of Eight summit last year. "

4/3/2009 11:33:30 AM

^ that's actually kind of an awesome gift.

It's weird though how Bush's gifts were scrutinized anywhere near on the level of Obama's.

4/3/2009 11:37:32 AM

Quote :

"Had Laura B. done this, it would have caused a frenzied uproar by our media"

mhum, because Laura Bush took so much heat over the last 8 years....

4/3/2009 11:37:50 AM

^^you probably just weren't paying attention at the time. i remember that gift being in the news when it happened.

4/3/2009 11:38:51 AM

^ i'm paying attention more now probably. It just didn't seem to raise the ire of people like OBama's gift is doing.

4/3/2009 11:40:30 AM

^^^^^ thats an awesome gift on both sides.

4/3/2009 11:45:10 AM

^agreed.

And yes, I also was just thinking how I never heard about gifts given or recieved by Bush while in office. I feel like it wasn't scrutinized as much, but then again I too didn't watch the news as much years ago.

4/3/2009 1:11:11 PM

i remember it being in the news

that's why i have a memory of it

cause the prime minister started singing elvis stuff

4/3/2009 1:19:25 PM

can't find a lot textually on it but

Quote :

"President Nixon gave the Soviet Leader Brezhnev a black 1972 Cadillac Eldorado and a blue 1973 Lincoln Continental. "

Nixon and Brezhnev - Click here for funny video clips

4/3/2009 1:48:17 PM

^lol

4/3/2009 2:12:38 PM

That video was great

4/3/2009 2:27:08 PM

Quote :

"i'm paying attention more now probably. It just didn't seem to raise the ire of people like OBama's gift is doing."

I think it probably has more to do with the appearance of the gift more than anything. I mean, if you look at that jukebox gift it's not exactly something one can walk into best buy and walk out with. An iPod on the other hand is. Regardless of whether it was requested or not (source please?), something like that should have come as sort of an extra to some other larger gift.

To be fair, the Queen just hands out signed portraits, but again, you can't pick that up at Best Buy.

4/3/2009 6:34:50 PM

did you miss the part where he gave her a signed songbook from her favorite broadway musical?

4/3/2009 7:07:59 PM

No I didn't. I was just explaining why I thought the idea of giving an iPod to the Queen rose more eyebrows than Bush giving a jukebox to the Japanese Prime Minister.

4/3/2009 8:24:25 PM

honestly i'm pretty sure the elvis jukebox got more attention, just because of how obsessed the japanese pm was with elvis. there was footage of him singing an elvis song.

now there wasn't criticism over the gift. just attention was given.

4/3/2009 8:26:59 PM