Obama's Latest UK Faux Pas!

The President's visit here has been very well received although his speech to the Houses of Parliament was not terribly inspiring. His faux pas with the glass is minor and not frankly in need of comment, and whilst I agree with others here that he has been poorly advised, nevertheless he has behaved courteously here and respected my nation. Incidentally, the link that you give quotes his car as grounding as it left Buckingham Palace. In fact that event happened in Dublin which you will know is the capital of Eire the day before he arrived here.

The man is a plain fool

You Americans seem to make much of this, not seen anything about it in the British press but we are pretty relaxed about such things. Of course it helps that we like Obama and loathe and detest Bush all the best urban

Lets just relax for a minute to put this into prospective! Tradition like many things is not written in stone, and even though British Royalty goes back hundreds of years, President Obama is unquestionably the most Powerful man in the present world. Every move the President makes is watched by the Elite of humanity. Nothing he would do, could be embarrassing, because he is the stuff Tradition is made of. The Queen is not one to take a back seat to anyone, and she was quick recognize that she had been honored by the most Famous man in the world!

Oh yes, after all, this is the smartest president we've ever had, don't you know?(sarcasm intended). This man hates Great Britain, so whether he did it on purpose, or he's a classless idiot, who knows. I also cringed when his wife 'pawed' the Queen last year. I am so glad neither of these two went to the Royal Wedding last month. I shudder to think of what upholsteried outfit the First Lady would have worn. I bet she would have made Princess Beatrice's outfit look mainstream, lol, 'toilet seat' hat notwithstanding. He should hire a real staff who has knowledge about such things, instead of surrounding himself with clowns.

It was a gaffe. A BBC commentator called it "a minor mishap." George W made stupid blunders everywhere he went and was mostly offered a pass by the media. "Heck of a job, Brownie." "Mission Accomplished." Obama made a protocol error that his Secretary of State certainly would never make, but it is hardly grounds for abuse. And Bush? He is completely indefensible; the Republican party never mentions him except when Obama actually manages to accomplish something, and only to try to somehow give bush credit for what Obama did. The best thing we can do about Bush is try to forget him. He was a moron and a disaster.

I wouldn't worry too much. Most intelligent people would see "Obummer" as a buffoon and no longer pay him much attention...we have better things to do...like mowing the lawn or doing myLot. I really feel sorry for those of you who are totally embarrassed by this fool. I felt/feel the same way about Kevin Rudd, our former Prime Minister who blubbered with trembling lip and all when he was kicked out.

It is what I expected. Obama thinks he is more important than the Queen of England and rather then him bowing to her, she should bow to him. He thinks he is the ruler of the free world. He should have known better and probably does but does not care. The sooner he is gone, the better.

As long as we have a liberal President the media will keep their mocking to a minimum. Sad, but true. "Journalistic integrity" is a thing of the past. Although to be fair we haven't had any honest news reporting in quite some time.

He certainly is under-prepared for every foreign state visit. I used to think his staff must be clueless, but it occurs to me that since we aren't allowed to criticize or disagree with Obama, they might be afraid to even tell him which fork to use for fear of being called racists, too. But in case anyone thinks that Obama loves the UK and just makes silly, provincial mistakes, here's the TOP TEN list of insults to Britain as brought to you by Barack Obama: 1. Siding with Argentina over the Falklands 2. Calling France America’s strongest ally 3. Downgrading the Special Relationship 4. Supporting a federal Europe and undercutting British sovereignty 5. Betraying Britain to appease Moscow over the New START Treaty 6. Placing a “boot on the throat” of BP 7. Throwing Churchill out of the Oval Office (returning the bust of Churchill that was on loan as a gift, showing solidarity in the wake of 9/11) 8. DVDs (that can't be played in Britain) for the Prime Minister 9. Undermining British influence in NATO 10. And Finally - Insulting words from the State Department: "There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment." I am embarrassed to have this man representing the US. They love him in the UK? I should be surprised, but some people in the US are still crushing on him. Chacun a son gout, as they say.

I blame his staff. Presidents have protocol people who tell them the customs of where they travel and what is expected of them and what would offend. Obama apparently either has no such person or the person he hired is woefully unqualified. I would not know what to do in that case, either, but I would certainly have the common sense to ask before I made the journey. Maybe he did and the protocol person is really stupid?

I think as Obama's blunders and slights to the UK go, this was a minor one but it was definitely a very embarrassing moment for everyone there. I couldn't help but think the field day the press would be having if it was Bush that had done it. Yet, when it's the liberal left media's favorite son, he pretty much gets a free pass. That's pretty much business as usual for the left stream media though.

It's not a big deal because it was Britain. America has been happy to tick off the British Royalty since George III. This "blunder" would get happy laughs and reviews among the flag waiving, America or nothing crowd and since that group is largely coveted by the anti-Obama crowd, it is counter-productive to give this story much play. Obama's mistakes always seem honest and human; GW's mistakes were just goofy, especially for a guy who grew up around foreign affairs situations.

I probably should address each reply and the initial post separately, but am opting to 'save my fingers' by replying to several in this general reply. 'State occasions' are scheduled. Each 'event' is given a certain amount of time, toasts, speeches, even the playing of anthems. The participants are coached as to the order and time for each 'event'. Whether it was Obama who miscued or the orchestra is up for grabs. As for Obama not placing his hand over his heart or saluting, but merely standing at civilian parade rest, sorry guys, he's right. When the US national anthem is played, one is to stand respectfully, if the person is military he/she has the option to stand at parade rest, at attention or to salute, nonmilitary personnel do not do so. Civilian parade rest can be with hands at side in a relaxed posture, hands folded in front or in back. These are considered respectful positions. Comparing Bush's social errs and his language skills to Obama's is like mixing concrete, it takes some sand to get it done.

O play devil's advocate for a minute. All heads of state have to do their best to remember protocol for over a hundred countries. I'm sure even the queen screws up sometimes, and if not, she's almost twice as ok'd as Obama, and had been in power for as long as he's been alive.

I think he either has a poor protocol person or, as in so many cases, he figures he knows best. I truly believe, since he has a habit of jumping in front of people (as in changing his speech this past week from the day after our guest's arrival to the moment Natanyahu got on the plane) that the Queen figured he and Michelle would insist on renewing their vows before the Prince and his bride had their ceremony. This may be "the smartest man in the world" as every Democrat is lauded to be,but he is the rudest, most confused person I have ever seen on trips to or visits from our allies. He bows super low to our enemies showing weakness, his wife woman-handles the queen, he sends an ipod with what he believes to be his best speeches to the monarch and returns a treasured bust of Winston Churchill with an insulting message to her. I can only believe he wants this country to have no allies and be ripe for take over. His narcicisstic ways do nothing to engender friendship on a personal or a worldwide basis. Even if he hates this country, which becomes more apparent each day and with each overprinted dollar, he should have the grace to be embarrassed at playing the fool. But I guess to him "all the world's a stage" and he cannot resist acting - no matter how bad it is.

Hiya heather, Being at School in England we knew what we had to do when the National Anthem was being played and when we had to sing it as well. We did this quite a few times during the time I was there. However I have to admit and suppose that if someone came from outside the Country and had to actually be in the presence of the Queen herself unless they had a really good Official Advisor to inform them properly they would probably make some mistake or other. Not saying that they would toast while the Anthem was being played but I think that they would be wondering what to do otherwise without proper guidance from as I said Official sources. Obviously they would have some notion of what you should do but they might dither and get nervous. Seeing it from my point of view although I would be very nervous if I had to see the Queen and stay there for a while with her being there if I was unsure of myself I would be looking out the corner of my eye to see what others would be doing too and try to follow them. Again as someone here as said I am not the President of anything but I do have a sense suppose it´s common sense and I would wait also to see what the Queen herself did first as well just to make sure I am not putting my foot in it say my "Yeti" Big Foot. Suppose nerves can get the better of you and this goes for most of us. Just my way of seeing it.xxx