Well that's one way to cut costs Mr. Obama
From Ed Morrissey at
Hot Air comes this wonderful story about gift giving between the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of England, Mr. Gordon Brown.
Mr. Brown visited Washington earlier this week -- Ed notes:
Obama the Cheapskate: 25 DVDs for Gordon Brown?
The British have begun to worry about the �special relationship� in the Anglosphere since the election of Barack Obama. First, the visit from Gordon Brown failed to get the usual Rose Garden joint-presser treatment from the White House this week. Now the Daily Mail reports that Obama cheaped out on the traditional gift exchange, rustling up some DVDs in exchange for a thoughtful gift from Brown:Gordon Brown has been given a collection of 25 classic American films on DVD as his official gift from Barack Obama.
The Prime Minister flew home from his successful trip to Washington this morning with the �special collector�s box� of films hidden in his luggage.
No 10 had tried to keep the present a secret, refusing to answer reporters who asked what President Obama had given to mark the reaffirmation of the special relationship.
And Mr. Brown's gift to Obama (from the Daily Mail article linked to above):
Mr Brown�s gifts included an ornamental desk pen holder made from the oak timbers of Victorian anti-slaver HMS Gannet, once named HMS President.
Mr Obama was so delighted he has already put it in pride of place in the Oval Office on the Resolute desk which was carved from timbers of Gannet�s sister ship, HMS Resolute.
Another treasure given to the U.S. President was the framed commission for HMS Resolute, a vessel that came to symbolise Anglo-US peace when it was saved from ice packs by Americans and given to Queen Victoria.
Finally, Mr Brown gave a first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert.
Ed notes that Gordon Brown also brought gifts for Obama's daughters.
Talk about having a deaf ear when it comes to politics and relations with allies. It's like Barry sent a Secret Service agent to Costco with the instructions to spend no more than $200...
Posted by DaveH at March 6, 2009 1:47 PM