President O'Bama's European tour
President O'Bama's European tour
President O'Bama's European tour#1
Posted: 5/23/11 at 6:18pm
How are things in Moneygall? Well, the Guinness seems to have gone down well! Statesmanship or electioneering? After all he's got many sets of great-great-great-…-great-grandparents.
https://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/23/obama-visit-jubilation-moneygall
Tomorrow and for three days, he's in Britain for an official state visit, before heading off to Poland and France. The “official state visit” means he's the guest of the Queen rather than the government and will be sleeping at Buckingham Palace. Will he take the public carriage ride (a convention of such visits) – President Bush declined this when he was here for security reasons, even though the President of China and the Emperor of Japan have both done so.
More importantly he will be accorded the rare honour of addressing both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall. I can't recall any other US President being invited to do this and only Nelson Mandela and HMQ within my adult lifetime.
And, as not a natural atlanticist, what will he actually say? Will the UK be squirming as Israel did last week? And if so, will David Cameron have the balls to stand up to him like Bibi?
PS Looking forward to some apostrophe abuse. 
Updated On: 5/23/11 at 06:18 PM
President O'Bama's European tour#2
Posted: 5/23/11 at 8:34pm
"And, as not a natural atlanticist, what will he actually say?"
I already know what he'll say:
I...blah blah blah...me...blah blah blah, I...blah, blah, blah...me...blah, blah, blah...I...and in conclusion I want you to remember...me, me, me.
President O'Bama's European tour#2
Posted: 5/23/11 at 8:39pmYou're just not used to leaders who lead, goth.
President O'Bama's European tour#3
Posted: 5/23/11 at 9:13pmOr leaders for whom "blah blah blah" aren't actual talking points.
President O'Bama's European tour#4
Posted: 5/23/11 at 10:09pm
Crikey, he's already started.
“I think,” the president said, “what the Queen symbolizes — not just to Great Britain but to the entire commonwealth and obviously the entire world — is the best of England. And we’re very proud of her.”
Obama is proud of Queen Elizabeth? Not being a British citizen and not having anything to do with her upbringing or success as a monarch, why is Obama proud?
The definition of proud must include some self satisfaction. Once again, Obama has to point back to himself.
Link
President O'Bama's European tour#6
Posted: 5/23/11 at 10:21pmWhat do you want him to say, Goth? "Buh-buh-buh but Prince Georgie W. Bush"???
President O'Bama's European tour#7
Posted: 5/23/11 at 10:34pm
Since the media think he's the greatest POTUS ever and they get thrills up their legs when they hear him speak, is it too much that he master very basic English?
He could have said "We admire her" "We honor her service and dedication to her country" "We respect her". But he can't say he's proud of her because he's done nothing to claim pride for.
It just goes to show that Obama is nothing without his teleprompters telling him what to say.
President O'Bama's European tour#8
Posted: 5/23/11 at 10:39pm
Yeah, Obama relies way too much on his teleprompters, unlike Bush or St. Reagan who never, ever used teleprompters.
Oh, wait...
President O'Bama's European tour#9
Posted: 5/23/11 at 10:41pmWhile you're reaching, Goth, I'm wondering if you can get the box of Kleenex off the top shelf?
President O'Bama's European tour#10
Posted: 5/23/11 at 10:52pm
"My name is Barack Obama, of the Moneygall Obamas, and I've come home..."
Snort!
Link
President O'Bama's European tour#11
Posted: 5/24/11 at 12:02amLet's hear it for the rainbow tour...
President O'Bama's European tour#12
Posted: 5/24/11 at 12:08am
"He downed a pint of Guinness with a distant cousin and checked out centuries-old parish records tracing his family to Ireland."
Irish people would of course respond to that.
President O'Bama's European tour#13
Posted: 5/24/11 at 9:53am
As Obama downs his Guinness in Ireland, he sends his sympathy to people who have lost everything in Joplin, MO.
In essence his attitude is "See ya when I see ya"
Link
President O'Bama's European tour#14
Posted: 5/24/11 at 10:02amWere you able to get any straws with that grasp? Didn't think so.
President O'Bama's European tour#15
Posted: 5/24/11 at 10:24am
This is maybe the funniest series of posts ever, from one of BWW's most accomplished satirists.
Goth is actually criticizing Obama's speaking ability AND his reaction to a natural disaster.
Of course, he's actually aware that Bush's speeches made him an international laughing stock. AND he's aware that Obama is on a state visit and will be going to Joplin on Saturday (whereas Bush continued his VACATION while people died in New Orleans).
Priceless!!!
P.S.
Updated On: 5/24/11 at 10:24 AM
President O'Bama's European tour#16
Posted: 5/24/11 at 4:44pm
Well, in his address at the State Banquet I think he went out of his way to correct any previous perceptions of faux pas (much discussed on this board already). Not that I would consider them to be faux pas - I'm certain that was the British media deliberately misinterpreting things to make trouble for Gordon Brown (who has been emptied out of his coffin for tonight's occasion).
And I have to say, whilst ignoring politics, I think he's an excellent orator and is blessed with a magnificent voice.
And good to hear HMQ specifically acknowledge the mutual theatre exchange and American musicals in particular. Kevin Spacey was there and, maybe I'm going mad, but I thought I saw Kristin Chenoweth as well.
President O'Bama's European tour#17
Posted: 5/24/11 at 5:08pm
The first time Obama tasted a Guinness, he knew immediately that they tasted better than the ones he had never tasted in the US.
"The first time I had Guinness," Obama said, "is when I came to the Shannon airport. We were flying into Afghanistan and so stopped in Shannon. It was the middle of the night. And I tried one of these and I realized it tastes so much better here than it does in the States."
Link
President O'Bama's European tour#18
Posted: 5/24/11 at 5:42pmIt's funny watching you parse the president's statments. To, you know, diagram them. And questioning the meaning behind the words he's using. It's a real change from the way things used to be.
President O'Bama's European tour#19
Posted: 5/24/11 at 8:17pm
Call me thick, but I'm honestly missing the point here.
They taste the same? They taste better here? He drank a beer? Michelle was in the ladies' having a lobster? What?
President O'Bama's European tour#20
Posted: 5/24/11 at 8:23pmThe first problem is that he said he had his first Guinness in Shannon, which apparently implicitly means that he's never had another one since, so how would he even KNOW what they taste like in the US?
President O'Bama's European tour#22
Posted: 5/24/11 at 8:33pm
But he was referring to an earlier trip, not this one.
So he should have said "I came to realize . . ." etc.
President O'Bama's European tour#23
Posted: 5/24/11 at 8:34pmOr something. I haven't devoted too much attention to this because I was at the gynecologist allowing him to practice his love.
President O'Bama's European tour#24
Posted: 5/24/11 at 8:37pmWhat he should have said was "Give me a Guinness once, shame on---shame on you. Give me--you can't give me a Guinness again."
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