She may have tucked away the Kleenex-covered inaugural dress and basked in the adoration of CNN and Vogue’s breathless coverage of her sculped bi/tri-ceps and deltoids, but her heady, six-figure (but oh so irreplaceable) job didn’t clue her in on the finer points of gracious hosting.
Like all good guests, Sarah Brown arrived bearing gifts for the children, Malia and Sasha. And they were really nice presents. A bit of thought had clearly gone into choosing them: Top Shop dresses (with matching necklaces) and a selection of books by British authors. Lovely.Mrs Brown may have two boys but she certainly knows the way to a little girl’s heart. These were gifts chosen in the true spirit of present-giving: to please the recipient, not the giver.
In return Mrs Obama gave the Brown children, Fraser and John, two toy models of Marine One, the Presidential helicopter. Fair enough on the helicopter part, always a popular choice with small boys; but Marine One? It’s not as though anyone needs reminding that Barack Obama is President or that he has his own helicopter. Short of giving the boys Action Man models of her own husband smiting the evil forces of neoconservatism, Mrs Obama’s gesture could not have been more solipsistic or more inherently dismissive of Mrs Brown.
Michelle loves to sprinkle her speeches with working class creds, but such thoughtlessness towards invited guests and their children would not pass muster with any playgroup/PTA/neighborhood watch mother.
Pity. Manners can be taught, true graciousness not so much.
Comment by LOLBAMA on 3/5 @ 12:06 am #
I CAN HAZ HELCPOPTER NOW?
Comment by Jewels on 3/5 @ 12:22 am #
What, did she pick them up from the white house gift shop on the way to tea?
Comment by Less on 3/5 @ 12:23 am #
Geez! Every DAY it’s another thing with these people. They are so completely SCHOOL ON SUNDAY.
(no class, it’s an old Fat Albert thing, I’m old, whatever)
Comment by Jewels on 3/5 @ 12:27 am #
OMG, just read the article… she DID get it from the gift shop. Wow. Heh.
Comment by Wm T Sherman on 3/5 @ 12:34 am #
http://whitehouse.merchantcart.net/mainshopping.cfm?icg_id=10&Show=PURCHASE
The $15.00 plastic helicopter.
Comment by lee on 3/5 @ 12:42 am #
I bet she wasn’t going to get them anything, but when she saw Brown brought presents, she sent a flunky to the gift shop.
Eh, the boys were probably happy.
Comment by comatus on 3/5 @ 12:45 am #
I cannot bear to look; please tell me the toys are not made in China.
Which brings up the question, have they been tested for lead and phthalates? This could get out of hand.
How utterly graceless. I’m ashamed for her.
Has anyone seen the program from tonight’s cocktail party? I remember Casals, bossa nova and Paul Winter from the JFK days; Nixon had Milt Jackson and the Modern Jazz Quartet play for the Shah; even Carter had Dizzy Gillespie in. So far, we have Stevie Wonder and Sweet Honey in The Rock. I’m getting a bad Then & Now vibe here. Could be worse; will be, I am sure.
Comment by dicentra on 3/5 @ 12:45 am #
The fact that it is Marine ONE is no biggie, because it’s a reminder that your mom met the POTUS and all you got was this lousy helicopter.
That it was from the gift shop? Leans toward tacky, yeah.
Comment by ECM on 3/5 @ 12:51 am #
Eh, the boys were probably happy.
Not unless they’ve gotten a lot easier to please in the ~25+ years since I was a middle class kid in upstate NY they aren’t.
Comment by Joe on 3/5 @ 2:15 am #
Like Michelle gives a shit.
Comment by Jeff G. on 3/5 @ 2:24 am #
The boys are white and rich. Lucky they didn’t get a lecture on oppression. YOU’LL TAKE YOUR CHEAP PLASTIC TOY AND LIKE IT, BITCHES!
Comment by alppuccino on 3/5 @ 4:26 am #
Michelle has been prying the diamond studs off of the Russian goblets (gifts to the Reagans from the Gorbachevs).
She then carefully puts them into the cargo hold of the little Marine One’s and then seals the door with Super Glue. The Brown boys then take the “tacky, classless toys” to the new lair of The Global Hope Brigade, where the Obamas will run the world in 2012.
Comment by Eric on 3/5 @ 4:45 am #
According to Ace you can get the Marine One playset in the White House gift shop for fifteen bucks. Jesus Christ, I’d feel guilty pulling that shit on my four-year-old nephew.
Comment by alppuccino on 3/5 @ 5:10 am #
Please tell me that the Obamas at least sent the Browns back to their plane with a brown bag of cold chicken wings.
Comment by Rusty on 3/5 @ 6:03 am #
#8
“Leans towards tacky.”
That’s because it is tacky. We’re going to see a lot of tacky from this bunch.
Comment by mossberg500 on 3/5 @ 6:21 am #
Better than a Wal-mart gift card. Hey, don’t they have death row inmate cards at the WH giftshop yet? I mean who wouldn’t want a Mumia Abu-Jamal rookie card.
Comment by Carin on 3/5 @ 6:55 am #
You guys better be careful criticizing Mrs. Teh One. She’ll come down (wearing a sleeveless shirt) and choke you with those fabulous arms of hers.
Keywords to be used when referring to the Obamas: Refreshing. Articulate. Elegant. This “tacky” issues smacks of racism to me … hostess gifts are for white people.
Comment by Rich Cox on 3/5 @ 6:57 am #
Where were the handlers on this one? I can only imagine the total deer/headlights look that entire outfit has been sporting.
Comment by phil on 3/5 @ 7:07 am #
folks this is really just a distraction from the real issues at hand.
Yes that’s right. Have you seen michelle’s biceps lately? She must be up to 6 sets of 10 at this point! YOU GO GIRL!!!
What’s that you say? Stock market plunging?
Ummm…hey look over there! Rush Limbaugh!!!!!!!1111!!!!1!1!
Comment by mossberg500 on 3/5 @ 7:18 am #
Hey, there’s a McNugget shortage. Call 911!
Comment by Stinky Esposito on 3/5 @ 7:30 am #
My mom works at a Christian bookstore. We get all kinds of things that you know she got cheap. We wish Mom would get a job at Best Buy or something, but we put up with it because she’s a dear old bird.
But in international diplomacy, it’s really ‘bush league’ (pardon the expression).
Comment by Carin on 3/5 @ 7:58 am #
After all the petty things people ripped Bush for? Hellsya Meya.
Comment by Dan Collins on 3/5 @ 7:58 am #
That ain’t no way to treat an ally
No way to treat your anglosphere buddy, your friend.
Comment by serr8d on 3/5 @ 8:01 am #
Hmmph. M’chelle of the sleeveless dress is button-down skank.
Comment by meya on 3/5 @ 8:06 am #
“After all the petty things people ripped Bush for? Hellsya Meya.”
Oh I see the problem is with what ‘people’ did.
I guess. I mean it could all be in the interpretation, but as they say ‘Its the thought that counts.” To me it seemed like giving a gift related to the office of the presidency (like marine one, airforce one, or a figure of the white house) makes it less about Obama and more about the office of the president. Then again others might whine that the gift is too ‘military’ or gendered — helicopters for boys.
“Hmmph. M’chelle of the sleeveless dress is button-down skank.”
You seen her official portrait? I’m curious to know your experience with skanks.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 3/5 @ 8:11 am #
I do have to wonder where the State Department was in the run-up to this. Aren’t there protocol officers to help out?
Comment by Matt on 3/5 @ 8:15 am #
Is there really an Obama action figure ? Does it come with Economy-Fu grip ?
Comment by Darleen on 3/5 @ 8:17 am #
I suppose, meya, Michelle could have made it worse by having a WH flunky merely grab a couple of guest towels — embroidered “Hope” “Change” — from the
RoyalWhite House bathroom and wrap those up for the boys.You know, it’s not like M’chelle was surprised by a neighbor dropping in for an unannounced visit. That she was caught in such a gauche move says a great deal of her studied ignorance of thinking outside her own needs and priorities. She believes her own press about how dazzling and unique she is and feels that Dazzleness is a substitute for good manners.
Anyone that lives in La-La land sees this from certain Hollywood celebratards on a regular basis.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 3/5 @ 8:21 am #
as they say ‘Its the thought that counts.â€
Yes. It took a near-Kantian level of thought to send a flunky down to the White House gift shop. Isaac Newton? James Joyce? Plato?
All pale next to the omniscient being that is Michelle Obama.
Or maybe she just has no class whatsoever.
Hmmm..
You’re not even trying any more, SFG.
Comment by Darleen on 3/5 @ 8:23 am #
Rob
The problem is this kinda of thing … preparing to host another family with small children … shouldn’t be something one needs to consult protocol officers for. Either you think about the needs of your guests or you think the guests are there to worship you so why bother.
Even a snowbilly knows better.
Comment by serr8d on 3/5 @ 8:28 am #
Meya, if you brush and wash a pig enough, it will actually gleam. Still, after all that, you will eventually have nothing more than bacon. I’m unimpressed, given the quality of the prior first ladies*, with this offering.
*Except of course for your Queen McCankles; M’chelle might eventually equal her in stature, already her equal in…sturdiness.
Comment by Carin on 3/5 @ 8:29 am #
It wasn’t just about the gifts, meya …
Within minutes of landing in a snowbound Washington on Monday night, Mr Brown’s aides had been made aware that their high expectations for the trip were in danger of exceeding the low-key welcome the Obama administration was prepared to offer.
Suggestions that the new President’s crowded diary made it impossible to give more time to Mr Brown rang hollow after it emerged that his other engagements included a routine speech to the Department for Interior and a meeting with the Boy Scouts of America.
Busy busy … see ya PM Brown …
Comment by Carin on 3/5 @ 8:32 am #
No lunch for the Browns … of course, perhaps the Obamas simply didn’t have enough wegyu steak to share?
Comment by BJTexs on 3/5 @ 8:39 am #
The Japanese Prime minister’s family is coming soon and Michelle will have someone check the inventory at the gift shop for models of the Enola Gay.
Hilarity ensues…
Comment by Steve on 3/5 @ 8:42 am #
This is an even bigger slight than it first appears. Gordon Brown’s son Fraser, who will be three in July, has cystic fibrosis. Wouldn’t any caring person go out of there way to find a thoughtful gift for a special needs child like this?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/1937901/Gordon-Brown’s-hopes-for-ill-son.html
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 3/5 @ 8:44 am #
You can’t expect Michelle to think. She’s not getting paid anything to be the First Lady, after all.
They’re lucky she even bothered to meet with them. I mean, she had to reschedule an arm-toning session for that shit.
I would give him credit for meeting with the Boy Scouts, if that was scheduled in advance.
The routine Interior Department speech, not so much.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 3/5 @ 8:45 am #
Maybe she’ll get the Japanese kids a Mulan video from the cutout bin.
Japanese/Chinese/Disney, it’s all the same, and you know how those Orientals love their cartoons. They’re very simple people.
Comment by Matt on 3/5 @ 8:47 am #
*Michelle will have someone check the inventory at the gift shop for models of the Enola Gay.*
Hilarious BJ =) But you’re implying she’d know what the Enola Gay was. Methinks that’s above her paid grade.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 3/5 @ 8:52 am #
She’d probably guess that was the name of the first transexual flag-rank officer.
Comment by BJTexs on 3/5 @ 8:54 am #
Because of the close economic and immigration ties with Mexico, Michelle will be upgrading to the entire action set of The Alamo, including the dual figures of Santa Anna’s soldiers bayoneting Texans.
It’ll be set up on the White House lawn for some great play!
Comment by B Moe on 3/5 @ 8:55 am #
I guess. I mean it could all be in the interpretation, but as they say ‘Its the thought that counts.â€
That is the point, meya. This was an utterly thoughtless gift, and salt in the wound just rendered one of our closest allies. I thought this simpleton was supposed to be a king hell diplomat?
Comment by BJTexs on 3/5 @ 9:04 am #
When the Saudi princes make an appearance I’m thinking the Megaset of Soldiers of the Third Crusade complete with bi, huge white crosses and a 3′ X 4′ poster of Jesus. The figures of Muslims kneeling to be beheaded costs extra.
Comment by BJTexs on 3/5 @ 9:04 am #
um …”big assed white steeds…”
Comment by Rob Crawford on 3/5 @ 9:05 am #
No, no, no, BJT — the Saudis get the original cast recording from “Fiddler on the Roof”!
Comment by BJTexs on 3/5 @ 9:07 am #
Ha, Rob, and a signed copy copy of Leon Uris’ “Exodus.”
Comment by Rob Crawford on 3/5 @ 9:08 am #
Or “Maus”.
Comment by Dan Collins on 3/5 @ 9:12 am #
If they treat the brown children that way, imagine how they’ll treat the white children.
Comment by BJTexs on 3/5 @ 9:15 am #
The French get monogrammed adult diapers.
Comment by DarthRove on 3/5 @ 9:25 am #
Aren’t there protocol officers and whatnot in the White House to avoid this kind of thing? I even have one in my house named Mrs. DarthRove. At least once a week, I get friendly reminders like, “Honey, remember to call your brother, it’s his birthday tomorrow,” and “It’s a nicer restaurant, put on a shirt with a collar please.” She’s invaluable for giving me at least a veneer of civility.
Guess M’chelle doesn’t think she needs to listen to the help.
Comment by Matt on 3/5 @ 9:27 am #
I’m thinking a Mr. Potato Muhammadhead for middle eastern countries would be appropriate.
The french, you give them a white flag.
Comment by urthshu on 3/5 @ 9:31 am #
Tasteless and cheap. Can’t wait for her to redecorate the White House residence.
Comment by Dan Collins on 3/5 @ 9:31 am #
Charity begins and ends at home.
Comment by mossberg500 on 3/5 @ 9:35 am #
Velvet James Brown wall art for the Oval Office.
Comment by MarkD on 3/5 @ 9:39 am #
@38 SBP,
No, she’ll get them Princess Mononoke in English, without subtitles.
Last night I was watching this Japanese TV series on DVD that we got from Malaysia, with subtitles. The subtitles were so bad they didn’t even get the names right!
dialog: “Kana”
subtitle: “Naka”
I had to get Mrs D to calm down enough that I could hear the dialog. Even my Japanese was good enough to know that the translator was clueless. Probably reading the Malay or Chinese translation and faking the English…
Comment by Jim in KC on 3/5 @ 9:39 am #
Could be worse. She could have given them one of those commemorative Obama plates all the drugstores seem to be peddling these days.
Of course, actual flying helicopters would have been cooler. Hell, I’d even think that was cool. Or at least my inner 10 year old would.
Comment by urthshu on 3/5 @ 9:41 am #
Tiger prints and mirrored coffee tables.
Comment by Log Cabin on 3/5 @ 9:45 am #
But all the wookie children from her home planet love helicopters!
Or mayb, she just wanted to share the fact that it’s the first time she’s been proud of her president, now that he has the use of Marine One.
Now don’t piss her off, those big ol’ horse bites she administers really hurt!
Comment by Roland THTG on 3/5 @ 9:51 am #
Maybe they had a pinata filled with Obama Coins.
Comment by BJTexs on 3/5 @ 9:57 am #
Maybe, Roland, as the pinata filled with Obama plates didn’t work out so good.
Comment by h0mi on 3/5 @ 10:08 am #
At least it wasn’t an autographed copy of “Audacity of Hope”.
Comment by Jim in KC on 3/5 @ 10:19 am #
“Audacity of Inflation,” more like.
Comment by Roland THTG on 3/5 @ 10:33 am #
So, Barky gave the PM a box of DVDs.
Nice. Picked em out on Amazon, prolly.
Comment by Dan Collins on 3/5 @ 10:35 am #
I hope they’re for the right zone.
Comment by alppuccino on 3/5 @ 10:36 am #
Good one meya:
“Hmmm…what to get little Frazier and what’s his name…..hmmmmm…….let me give it some thought…….how about we send John Boehner and Rush Limbaugh over to be their personal butlers for the next four years?”
“Can’t do it? Hmmmmm…….”
“I just keep coming back to the gift shop whirly birds. See to it.”
Comment by Roland THTG on 3/5 @ 10:37 am #
Oh.
click
Comment by alppuccino on 3/5 @ 10:42 am #
Ooh! Was Weird Science in there?
Comment by alppuccino on 3/5 @ 10:46 am #
I bet House Party and Big Mama’s House was.
..don’t hit the “Say it” button, don’t hit the “Say
Comment by Andrew the Noisy on 3/5 @ 10:47 am #
Not to be Captain Contrarian, but it’s entirely possible that Michelle asked what the boys might like and gave them that.
I mean, it’s not impossible…
Still, the One is turning out to be less a masterful diplomat than a dull, well-meaning neophyte.
If only we had been warned.
Comment by Bob Reed on 3/5 @ 10:48 am #
What more is there to say…
She’s proven that not only does she look like a cross between sasquach and a klingon, but now we know why she generally has the sour-puss look on her face…
Because of her mean spirited, self-centered, resentful heart…
If it’s not about her, or perhaps her family, then she’s not all about it..!
While all the white-guilt liberals in the country will praise her, simply because she is black and Barak’s wife, the sad truth is she will probably be among the worst first ladies-EVAH!
Yep, her husband is setting the mark, and she’s living up to it all right…
Comment by Bob Reed on 3/5 @ 10:50 am #
Oh, and by the way…
Yes, I’m a h8ter…I drink the h8ter-ade daily…It’s the only way I can innoculate myself against the palavering of all the kool-aid drinkers…
I denounce myself…
Comment by Rob Crawford on 3/5 @ 10:51 am #
Dolly Madison is spinning in her grave.
Comment by alppuccino on 3/5 @ 10:53 am #
Dolly Madison is spinning in her grave.
So that’s how they get that chocolatey-drizzly look?
Comment by Sdferr on 3/5 @ 10:56 am #
For some reason, I suspect today’s article on gifts is a sly revenge for the slights detailed in yesterday’s articles on Obama’s reticence with the foreign press. nttawwt, mind you. goose, gander
Comment by Pablo on 3/5 @ 10:57 am #
Surely, she gave them some pie.
Comment by comatus on 3/5 @ 10:58 am #
“It took a near-Kantian level of thought to send a flunky…”
How ironic. Mrs. Darth Cheney, consort of the worst VP evah?
She had a PhD. in Kant. Another stupid Rethuglikkkan.
Barbara Bush heard about this, and it broke her heart.
No, really.
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 10:59 am #
Well if Geitner keeps running his yap she could give the kids 1000 shares each of Citibank for less than a hundred dollars.
Comment by Carin on 3/5 @ 11:02 am #
I’m just so pleased we finally have someone elegant in the White House.
Comment by Carin on 3/5 @ 11:03 am #
I’m dying to know what Baracky considers classic American movies.
Comment by Roland THTG on 3/5 @ 11:03 am #
Movin on up…..
tooooo the East Side!
To a delux apartment, in the sky.
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 11:04 am #
79.
Blackula
Comment by Roland THTG on 3/5 @ 11:04 am #
Verily, for I am become denounced.
Comment by Pablo on 3/5 @ 11:09 am #
Coming to America
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 11:10 am #
Berry Gordy’s The Last Dragon.
Bruce Leroy is his hero.
Comment by BJTexs on 3/5 @ 11:13 am #
Has Timmy filled us in on the inspiring details of exactly how the bank bailout is going to stabilize the markets?
Oh, wait, I’m sorry. He was too busy ripping oil and gas companies about global warming. That’s ever so much more important.
I’m sure there is a reason why I walk around all day, every day, feeling nauseous.
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 11:14 am #
How about “Surf Nazis Must Die”? Here is a quote from that cinematic masterpiece for those of you not familiar with its brilliance.
Eleanor “Mama” Washington: I wanna buy a gun… Keep talkin’ white trash, but I’m more interested in something that’ll take the head off a honky at 20 paces!
Comment by Carin on 3/5 @ 11:17 am #
I can’t wait to see what gifts the Obamas will give Angela Merkel. Perhaps a collection of WW II movies, Schindler’s List, The Pianist … stuff like that.
Comment by Pablo on 3/5 @ 11:20 am #
I’m Gonna Git You, Sucka!
Comment by Pablo on 3/5 @ 11:21 am #
Triumph of the Will
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 11:23 am #
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1159627/Just-wanted-Barack-Obamas-blockbuster-gift-25-DVDs-Brown-reaffirm-special-relationship.html
Hehe
Comment by ThomasD on 3/5 @ 11:27 am #
I’m afraid that last bit is so bad I can’t even muster a laugh.
Truly a national embarassment.
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 11:30 am #
What a disgrace to the office. What, did one of Obama’s staffers make a $250 or higher pledge to PBS last month or something?
10:1 they were Region 1 DVDs too, legally unplayable in the UK (Region 2).
Comment by ThomasD on 3/5 @ 11:31 am #
Maybe the PM can ring up MI-5 to come around and crack the encryption.
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 11:32 am #
What is not funny about snubbing a head of state from one of our closest allies? This is our “smarter” foreign policy.
The gifts Brown gave to Obama make it even more priceless.
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 11:34 am #
This is the “smart diplomacy” I was told so much about? Snubbing our closest ally? Using our newest allies (Czech Rep. and Poland) as bargaining chips with Russia?
I want Cowboy Diplomacy back.
Comment by ThomasD on 3/5 @ 11:34 am #
Gifts from PM Brown: Historic, one of a kind, yet highly personalized.
Gifts from the Presentdent: Leftovers from White House move in day.
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 11:35 am #
Who cares about this though seriously? I want to hear more about a radio talk show host and how Obama’s hair is going grey.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/04/AR2009030403008_pf.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/us/politics/05gray.html?_r=1&hp
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 11:36 am #
I’m also shocked he didn’t spring the extra $30 and upgrade to Blu-Ray. I guess it is a recession and all.
Comment by alppuccino on 3/5 @ 11:38 am #
“Please accept this commemorative pen-holder, hand-carved from the timbers of the HMS Gannet.”
“Please accept these 25 DVDs which come in this faux-leather case that looks kinda like a book.”
“Oh, and Jamie Leigh Curtis’s bare boobs are in there somewhere. Huh? Huh? Huh?”
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 11:39 am #
I wonder if one of those DVD’s was The Patriot with Mel Gibson?
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 11:42 am #
Actually, I’d say the big story of the day is the FDIC saying it could go broke, effectively rendering the US insolvent.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=washingtonstory&sid=alsJZqIFuN3k
But, WaPo and NYTimes, do go on about Rush and the President’s hair.
Comment by cranky-d on 3/5 @ 11:43 am #
If it had been me, I simply would have asked someone who knows what they are doing to come up with some ideas for a good gift and then chosen one of them. They have people to help them out with this kind of thing.
This whole incident is mind-numbingly stupid.
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 11:44 am #
Techie can’t Obama just bail them out too? What is another 3.5 trillion between friends.
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 11:46 am #
UK to America: Priceless historical artifact worthy of immediate inclusion in the Smithsonian.
America to UK: Around $115 on Amazon.com or at Wal-Mart.
But, too bad nothing about Obama is funny, Jon Stewart will just have to make do with Rush jokes for another night.
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 11:49 am #
Thank Gaia we dodged a bullet with that ignorant hick Palin.
(My final venting)
Comment by Roland THTG on 3/5 @ 12:00 pm #
Our new Prezzint is teh awesome!
Obama! Obama!
He love you like yo mamma, yo mamma
Gotz POTUS on his ‘jamas, his ‘jamas
Comment by Matt on 3/5 @ 12:03 pm #
BJ I was listening to Geitner and the only thought I had was “The administration asked smart people how to fix the economy and after they were told what to do, they did the opposite.” I’m sorry, global fucking warming is important when there’s snow in Vegas and the FDIC will run out of money in 6 months. No, I don’t think so.
Or maybe its “We must first burn the village to save it.” Because really, nobody in politics should be this stupid. Could you imagine if the economy was tanking like this with Bush as president ?
Comment by Silver Whistle on 3/5 @ 12:09 pm #
Don’t be too hard on the Obamas for their cheesey, tacky, graceless gifts - they are having to do without Michelle’s $300,000 salary, and, if the papers are to be believed, times is hard.
Comment by LTC John on 3/5 @ 12:16 pm #
#107 - ouch. I think I am with you on this. We get to hear about toned arms, how evil some EIB radio dude is - the collapse of the entire financial sector, “smart power” looking like “cluelessness and naivety”, and the like, not so much.
Thank God I get to see a little CNBC and use the internet…
Comment by Mikey NTH on 3/5 @ 12:24 pm #
You’re doin’ a heck of a job there, Baracky.
Comment by Sdferr on 3/5 @ 12:26 pm #
Ouch, that #110 could stick and hurt, Mikey. Nice job indeed.
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 1:20 pm #
OT but have you seen this yet John?
http://www.blackfive.net/main/2009/03/the-difference.html
Comment by Rob Crawford on 3/5 @ 1:24 pm #
Dear freaking lord.
Comment by happyfeet on 3/5 @ 1:28 pm #
And she didn’t even have to pay shipping. I always get more better gifts when I get free shipping. They’re a pretty low-rent couple and we knew that but I don’t want to hear about any more wagyu beef. More and more they’re letting the mask slip and acting like the Chicago street trash they are what found a winning scratch-off ticket.
Comment by happyfeet on 3/5 @ 1:40 pm #
Also… what kind of stupid piece of shit buys a nearly blind person movies for a present? I dunno, really. meya’s trashy socialist dipshit president is all I can think of what would be so stupid.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 3/5 @ 1:46 pm #
On the other hand, at least he didn’t just sign Brown up for the Columbia House DVD Club.
So we got that going for us.
Comment by urthshu on 3/5 @ 1:48 pm #
>>I’m dying to know what Baracky considers classic American movies.
Seriously. Brown should read the titles aloud during Questions
Comment by urthshu on 3/5 @ 1:51 pm #
hf would’ve at least given the boys turtles.
Comment by urthshu on 3/5 @ 1:56 pm #
oh, last -
Bear in mind that the Obama’s actually DO know how to give classy gifts.
Remember that ferengi Barry got klingon Michelle some hideously expensive cold-pressed latinum ring when he won…
Comment by happyfeet on 3/5 @ 1:59 pm #
I’ve been wanting to give nephew person a turtle for years but they live in the arctic so it would be a lot of work to care for properly.
Comment by Carin on 3/5 @ 2:01 pm #
Honestly, it is so exceptionally tacky. Obviously the Brown looked up Baracky as historic and all that shit, so put a lot of thought into the gift. Who wants to give Teh One a thoughtless throw-away gift?
Memo to the world ; He’s just not that into you. But, he’ll take your adulation, just ’cause.
PW is slow today - I blame Pixy and his broken server. Or, I could just blame Barack. Yes, I will.
Comment by lee on 3/5 @ 2:02 pm #
Mr. Pink, I bet those guys in both instances reacted as they were ordered to.
Not to say the exuberance for Bush was phony, just that they weren’t kept at attention by order, as I’m sure Obama wanted it.
I’m not military(though I’m close to some who are), but my gut tells me all those men wouldn’t have restrained themselves if they didn’t have to. Also, Bush walked into the audience shaking hands and grinning, Obama was on a stage trying to look elegant.
You can make what you want out of that, but I don’t think you can judge the spontaneity of the enlisted in Obamas case.
At least I hope the enlisted weren’t glowering with rebellion.
That would be just too, too banana republic to bare.
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 2:03 pm #
In retaliation someone needs to build a device that scrambles O!’s teleprompter.
Comment by LTC John on 3/5 @ 2:03 pm #
112 - can’t yet, at work we don’t allow streaming video (too much bandwidth would go a missn’ otherwise).
Comment by geoffb on 3/5 @ 2:23 pm #
#55 MarkD
At least the attempt was made to do a good dub. Now if she got them the dub of “Bubblegum Crisis”, that would be cruel.
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 2:24 pm #
My money would be on Pokemon.
Comment by urthshu on 3/5 @ 2:26 pm #
LOL SDB should do a post about which anime to get ‘em
Comment by David on 3/5 @ 2:29 pm #
I know you’re being sarcastic, but this idea that Michelle Robinson (Obama) is “working class” or even WAS working class needs to die. She was the daughter of a South Side ward heeler who had a make work job in the famous Chicago “Department of Water Management” where all the really good ward heelers get to pretend to work while they go off to their second jobs. For his service to the Daley machine, he got paid $43K/year, which was darn good money back in the day, on the South Side (probably equivalent to around 70K+ these days, never mind his get out the vote bonuses that always get slathered around the party hacks at election time). She was solidly middle/upper middle class, and like all good black children of the middle & upper classes, she got affirmative-actioned into her education, and then her U of C “job.” She learned well from her daddy. Don’t bother working, just get politically connected and suck from that gov’t teat.
Comment by pdbuttons on 3/5 @ 2:30 pm #
take away food in a doggie bag
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 2:34 pm #
I can make a try:
Lucky Star
Azumanga Daioh
Maria-sama ga Miteru
Magical Girl Pretty Sammy S
Pretty Cure
Hamtaro
Strike Witches
Comment by Mr. Pink on 3/5 @ 2:36 pm #
Lee the officers were clapping to his left and right. I seriously doubt they were told to stand at attention when you can see the officers clapping. Maybe it was a miscommunication I will give you that. I just posted the link I didn’t give my opinion on what it contained. All political disagreements aside I would not clap once considering the President sat in a church for 20 years where the words “God Damn America” were considered an applause line.
Comment by LionDude on 3/5 @ 2:38 pm #
>
Is there really an Obama action figure ? Does it come with Economy-Fu grip ?
>
I don’t think an Obama Action Figure would have much of a grip on anything.
Comment by lee on 3/5 @ 2:40 pm #
Yeah, I’m with you on that, Pink.
Comment by Rob Crawford on 3/5 @ 2:42 pm #
The Obama Action Figure, unfortunately, does not come with his sidekick, Teleprompter, so it’s incapable of doing anything.
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 2:43 pm #
Here it comes……….
Dow down over 300pts. diving towards 6500.
Comment by LTC John on 3/5 @ 2:46 pm #
“Mr. Pink, I bet those guys in both instances reacted as they were ordered to.”
You do not get “ordered” to react to anything. You maybe asked or invited to go to the event, but you are never told “applaud at so and so time,” etc.
Comment by lee on 3/5 @ 2:46 pm #
I would not clap
I would not grin
I would be lucky
Keeping the vomit in
Comment by geoffb on 3/5 @ 2:47 pm #
Techie,
Your list shows me what happens when you drop off of things for, oh six or seven years. Only the Sammy one rings a bell and that was OAV’s spun off of Tenchi Muyo.
Whatever you do however, be respectful to Pixy Misa.
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 2:49 pm #
A few of those listed are actually good, but I stuck some absolute crap in there too as little surprises for the PM.
Comment by Carin on 3/5 @ 2:53 pm #
Oh, I like Pixy. I was just mentioning he’s got a broken server so people would know why the site is acting slow today.
Or, we could just blame Baracky.
Comment by Carin on 3/5 @ 2:54 pm #
The Obama Action Figure, unfortunately, does not come with his sidekick, Teleprompter, so it’s incapable of doing anything.
HA!!!
Comment by lee on 3/5 @ 2:55 pm #
Yeah, I tried to smooth that out LTC. I was trying to say I imagine the different circumstances dictated the different responses, and had Obama gone into the crowd, the reaction probably would have been different.
Sorry for the clumsy wording…
Comment by LTC John on 3/5 @ 2:56 pm #
“Hamtaro”
Aiiieeee!
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 2:56 pm #
“Pixy Misa” is a character from Magical Girl Pretty Sammy. Mu.nu is kept running by apparently a hard-core Otaku.
Comment by LTC John on 3/5 @ 2:58 pm #
“I was trying to say I imagine the different circumstances dictated the different responses, and had Obama gone into the crowd, the reaction probably would have been different.”
Possibly - some people would be excited to see the Prez - no matter who it is/was. However, I don’t think they would be getting that “I like you, I admire you” vibe we used to get from the last Prez.
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 2:59 pm #
Behold your new nightmare:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7i1-yqxNtY
I dare you to get that out your head.
Comment by lee on 3/5 @ 3:04 pm #
oh, I see what you mean.
Ha! I could see him looking like Monk being dragged by his assistant into a mob of homeless people.
Comment by Adriane on 3/5 @ 3:10 pm #
I am wondering if anyone here has ever read ‘The Bollo Caper’ by Art Buchwald (i think).
The reason being, there is a scene where the Emperor of Ethiopia presents the President (presumably Nixon) with the world’s largest diamond as a gift & the President’s aides are frantically whispering, ‘What do we have for him?’
The answer: a pen set with an autographed (by the President) pen from, as I remember, the White House gift shop.
For those of you still reading, Bollo saves the day.
But for myself, maybe Jive Jumpin’ Jugears McTeleprompter read the book as a child and thought it was a user’s manual…
Comment by Matt on 3/5 @ 3:10 pm #
I’d kinda like a Top 25 movies in the gift box post. Though I suspect “racist” would be bandied about too much by our resident trolls.
I’ve seen the real list (the UKGuard has it) and I was shocked there was no Blazing Saddles.
I denounce myself.
Comment by BJTexs on 3/5 @ 3:12 pm #
Techie: No offense but you pretty much need to rot in hell for all eternity as a result of posting that link.
(so dizzy)
Comment by Matt on 3/5 @ 3:12 pm #
*I don’t think an Obama Action Figure would have much of a grip on anything.*
Lol. Michelle’s action figure however, would have a grip on Obama’s balls. And with those toned arms, the boy would be singing soprano.
Comment by Matt on 3/5 @ 3:15 pm #
*However, I don’t think they would be getting that “I like you, I admire you†vibe we used to get from the last Prez.*
I give them credit for even tolerating him. I’m not sure how you feel John but I’d be pretty bitter about anyone from the democratic party at my base, after 8 years of “the troops are cold blooded killers” (Murta), “they murdered babies and millions of Iraqis” (Rosie O’donnel) and they “failed in their mission”. (Dingy Harry).
Comment by dicentra on 3/5 @ 3:19 pm #
Well, now that we’ve seen that both the WON and the first-WON are bad gift-givers (except that magnificent swing-set for the first daughters), it confirms my suspicion that we’re dealing with two first-class narcissists.
One narcissist trait is bad gift-giving: because they cannot put themselves in another’s shoes, and because they’re all about taking instead of giving, they tend to give really bland, unimaginative gifts. Unless they mean to impress the socks off of someone they think is worthy of their splendid attention, then they go all-out.
And because it’s obvious that Obama has no use for the Prime Minister of the UK, he gives him DVDs and gift-shop toys instead of something with real class.
Comment by lee on 3/5 @ 3:36 pm #
Baldilocks has an interesting take on the treatment of the British.
Also, it seems PM Brown isn’t totaly innocent either:
Comment by geoffb on 3/5 @ 3:42 pm #
Techie, So kawaii, it rots the teeth.
Comment by geoffb on 3/5 @ 3:45 pm #
From the Brits, that was no accident, it had intent.
Comment by ccoffer on 3/5 @ 3:49 pm #
The mighty Mau Mau being put upon? Well, Michelle was just standing up for her little brown brothers.
Comment by Mikey NTH on 3/5 @ 4:00 pm #
There should be protocol officers in the White House and in the State Department to advise on these things. These events are completely scripted - nothing happens spontaneously. IIRC from descriptions of meetings of the Combined Chiefs of Staff, and Roosevelt and Churchill’s meetings, the ’spontaneous time’ was scheduled.
Someone obviously didn’t take the advice from the advisors and has created an unnecessary incident with a close ally.
I wonder what’s next? Give the Emir of Kuwait a Jimmy Dean gift basket?
Comment by bigbooner on 3/5 @ 4:37 pm #
Maybe the little fellas would have enjoyed a couple of toy V-2 rockets.
Comment by RonF on 3/5 @ 5:13 pm #
The meeting with the Boy Scouts was scheduled well in advance and includes the presentation of the BSA’s Annual Report, which it is required by law to file with Congress and the President by a specific date each year. It’s a great privilege for the highly accomplished young men and women (yes, women, young women ages 14 - 21 can and do join the Venturing program) who get to meet the President and present the report.
Comment by Spies, Brigands, and Pirates on 3/5 @ 5:26 pm #
Thanks, RonF.
So the Obama White House is simply incompetent at scheduling, you’re saying?
Comment by Mikey NTH on 3/5 @ 5:47 pm #
RonF.: There are protocol people who deal with this. The Bush administration certainly had no problem dealing with protocol or scheduling.
I doubt the visit of the PM of the UK was a last minute thing either. It was scheduled well in advance, so well in advance that the Brits were able to decide upon, and locate, appropriate gifts. One of a kind gifts for the president.
Comment by B Moe on 3/5 @ 6:00 pm #
In Dreams from My Father, President Obama says that his grandfather was tortured by the British during the conflict, though he was not a Kikuyu but a Luo.
So we are going to open negotiations with Iran and Palestine, and give the finger to Britain.
Sweet. Too bad he wasn’t related to anybody the fucking terrorists have killed. Didn’t the libtards go apeshit over Bush being motivated by threats against his father?
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 6:15 pm #
Wow, good thing he’s not Irish, imagine what’d he do to the British……
Comment by Techie on 3/5 @ 6:28 pm #
Also, George H.W. Bush was shot down by the Japanese, with two of his co-crew members killed.
I, too recall, the “snubbing” that Bush the Elder put upon the Japanese PM.
Comment by geoffb on 3/5 @ 6:41 pm #
I imagine the scheduling gets more complicated when you have to deal with a boss who is habitually late for everything. WJC had the same problem but he had a reason.
Comment by Mikey NTH on 3/5 @ 6:54 pm #
geoffb: The late for everything issue reinforces the narcissism. ‘You must wait for me’. That works with flunkys, and people who depend on you; it doesn’t work with others. It is seen as a snub, as the British press noted. They may not like Gordon Brown, but they understand that the snub applies to their country, and they are ticked off.
Barack Obama just lost the institutional British left. I wait for the next G7 summit when he will let everyone else cool their heels waiting for him. Or his address to the UN.
You’re doin’ a heck of a job, Baracky.
Comment by McGehee on 3/5 @ 8:02 pm #
O! is lucky it was only the PM. If he did that to Queen Liz, war would be declared.
Comment by Ella on 3/5 @ 8:13 pm #
Honestly, I’m not sure I buy the Kenyan thing. Is there anything, aside from his memoirs, that verifies that his grandfather was tortured? He’s the wrong tribe, for one thing, and O!’s father was given a scholarship to study in the US by Tom Mboya in 1959, at the time Onyango Obama was supposedly being tortured. Mboya was a prominent politician in Kenya, but was not involved with or persecuted by the British as they quelled the uprising, and it just seems unlikely he’d be doing a lot of favors for a political enemy.
It sounds to me that the Obamas weren’t involved, much less oppressed, by the British at all.
Even ignoring the fact that revenge on someone not involved in a war almost 50 years ago that may have harmed a man O! never met is, honestly, psychotic.
Comment by Ella on 3/5 @ 8:14 pm #
(All info from Wikipedia. YMMV.)
I meant to say, I think O! is just rude and classless and immature. I don’t believe that he’s nursing a truly bizarre grudge. That smells like spin to me.
Comment by Geo W on 3/5 @ 8:42 pm #
On the DVDs, I betcha Obama was re-gifting them, too.
Comment by ThomasD on 3/5 @ 9:01 pm #
I, too recall, the “snubbing†that Bush the Elder put upon the Japanese PM.
Well, there was the expense for dry cleaning that carpet…
Comment by Rusty on 3/6 @ 6:05 am #
I really feel sorry for the Secret Service men and women who have to stop a bullet for these two. If I ever run across one of em I think I’ll slip em an extra 20 bucks.
Comment by baldilocks on 3/6 @ 6:15 pm #
“Comment by Ella on 3/5 @ 8:13 pm #
Honestly, I’m not sure I buy the Kenyan thing. Is there anything, aside from his memoirs, that verifies that his grandfather was tortured? He’s the wrong tribe, for one thing, and O!’s father was given a scholarship to study in the US by Tom Mboya in 1959, at the time Onyango Obama was supposedly being tortured. Mboya was a prominent politician in Kenya, but was not involved with or persecuted by the British as they quelled the uprising, and it just seems unlikely he’d be doing a lot of favors for a political enemy.”
This made me suspicious too. (I’m half Luo also). I mentioned these aspects in my post without passing judgment on it, however.
Comment by Toni Stephens on 3/9 @ 11:02 pm #
Surprised no one mentioned the Kleenex-covered inaugural dress. Did she mean tissue paper-covered dress?
In any event, I am delighted that obama and first lady are already laughingstocks. However, he/they will have vengeance!
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