Downing St left embarrassed after President Obama scales down meeting with Brown

[Wretched Excess]

amateurs.  this is the exact opposite of "repairing the reputation of the united states with the rest of the world", or whatever he was blathering about in the campaign.

Downing St left embarrassed after President Obama scales down first meeting with Brown

Downing Street was left scrambling to avoid a diplomatic embarrassment today after the White House ruled out a formal press conference to mark Gordon Brown's first formal meeting with Barack Obama.

Officials denied the Prime Minister was being snubbed after it emerged that the new president would not make himself available for the traditional joint appearance before the White House media.

Mr Brown's aides are trying to make the best of what is a distinctly low key visit compared to the family hospitality lavished on Tony Blair by George Bush when they met for the first time.

Although Sarah Brown flew to Washington today to join her husband, there were no plans for the two couples to meet and she will instead have a brief one-to-one meeting with Michelle Obama.

After overnight protests from British diplomats, the White House agreed to allow journalists into the Oval Office later for a brief round questions with Mr Obama and Mr Brown after their talks.

More

[DumbAss Tanker]

Nice present for the Conservatives across the pond, even if it does reflect poorly on our own alleged Administration.

[Eupher]

I suspect The Exalted One is exhausted after his last four or five days in the Oval Orifice. It's probably time to visit the kiddies in school again or maybe even a quick trip out to Camp David.

yeah, that's the ticket! Camp David! (I don't think he's been there yet....)

[formerlurker]

Great Britian = our closest ally.

Good one Messiah! 

   

[Wretched Excess]

he would bend over backwards for IwantaDinnerJacket, but apparently the PM of our closest ally isn't worth a press conference afterwards.


several possible explanations, just off the top of my head:

He is avoiding the media, lest they ask him a question about the depression that he can't or won't answer

He can't stand to share the moment -- remember, he specifically left washington to sign the stimulus bill and avoided the sort of photo op that normally accompanies the signing of a major piece of legislation.  that was just odd.

He doesn't want to suffer by comparison.  brown is, by all reports, a smart guy.

Brown is dirty war monger.  (was brown in favor of going into iraq?)

[thundley4]

he would bend over backwards for IwantaDinnerJacket, but apparently the PM of our closest ally isn't worth a press conference afterwards.


several possible explanations, just off the top of my head:

He is avoiding the media, lest they ask him a question about the depression that he can't or won't answer

He can't stand to share the moment -- remember, he specifically left washington to sign the stimulus bill and avoided the sort of photo op that normally accompanies the signing of a major piece of legislation.  that was just odd.

He doesn't want to suffer by comparison.  brown is, by all reports, a smart guy.

Brown is dirty war monger.  (was brown in favor of going into iraq?)

I think it's wanting to avoid questions. If this meeting is supposed to be about spending more money on world poverty, I think there could be some seriously uncomfortable questions. The MSM probably wouldn't ask them, but why take the chance?

Then again, maybe his handlers have realized that every time he opens his pie hole the market drops even more quickly.

[bijou]

Nice present for the Conservatives across the pond, even if it does reflect poorly on our own alleged Administration.

Oh it is, and we are enjoying it.  Gordon Brown is so hated here, by such a large number of people he has to keep going abroad for some relief.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Flashback : Brown Visits America - 2008 v 2009

2008 Gordon lands in America in the morning and the dollar crashes to an all time historic low by lunchtime:


2009 Gordon lands in Washington and the Dow crashes to an historic low by teatime:

Once again the Jonah effect is felt transatlantic, God punishes all those who come into contact with the accursed one-eyed son of the manse.
http://www.order-order.com/2009/03/flashback-brown-visits-america-2008-v.html

Could it be said that Obama is snubbing him?

Clearly Barack Obama or his advisers can read opinion polls and it appears that they have made their minds up about Gordon Brown. For not too long after the British party arrived in Washington news came through that there will be no joint press conference between the two leaders.

Instead Brown is going to have to make do with what’s described as a a “pool spray”. This is where – a few shouted questions are put from pool reporters during a photo-opportunity.

British journalists covering the trip are already contrasting the treatment that Brown is getting with what happened to Tony Blair.

    The Times reports: “Mr Brown’s predecessor and long-time rival, Tony Blair was unfailingly accorded the honour of a joint press conference during official visits in both the Clinton and Bush eras. Indeed, with the diplomatic groundwork completed in advance, the main point of such visits is the chance to appear side-by-side with the most powerful man in the world, national flags standing proudly behind.

    To add insult to injury, Mr Blair appeared with Mr Obama at a “national prayer breakfast” in Washington last month at which Mr Obama praised him as “my very good friend”. There is now unlikely to be any such endorsement of Mr Brown during the current visit.

So far the media coverage has been nothing like that which Brown Central had been hoping for. If at the end of the day the impression in the UK is that he’s been snubbed then that will surely add to Brown’s problems. Not good.

-------------

How was Brown’s visit ever going to help him in the polls? Political leaders meet each other all the time as the perfectly normal and unremarkable process of governing. A news conference on the telly isn’t going to make people revise their opinions of Brown.

The thing is, the more Brown seems to enjoy his global grandstanding, the more hopeless and out of touch it makes him look.
     by Wiganer March 3rd, 2009 at 2:05 pm

Dear god! And we’ve got to endure another 15 months of Brown.

Please, Your Majesty, may we have that election now??!
     by Millsy March 3rd, 2009 at 2:18 pm

On thread - it’s all sadly predictable. Brown is a political corpse, and Obama’s aides are well aware of this. Indeed they must be mildly embarassed at Brown’s desperate attempts to cling on to Obama’s leg, like some kind of randy puppy.
     by runnymede March 3rd, 2009 at 2:18 pm

38-40 — Weathercock said it well in the LT:

“It’s a most definite snub. No press conference? The iconic image we all have of visits to the White House is the visiting leader - whoever it is - striding up to the twin podiums, alongside Bill or George or Dubya etc, with all the flags behind.”
– by seanT

The Great Messiah is only acting to type. This president hasn’t/dosn’t govern in the usual sense or mode, this because this Messiah is incapable of governing.

Ever since Jan 20th 2009 Obama has been on an EXTENDED PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN. He knows no other way of fulfilling his dream, which is postrate the country that voted him in.

I know this sounds farfetched, but all his acts, foreign, (see aproach to Russia, vis Iran today) and domestic, (the Bankruptsy of the USA), bear me out.

All the while the Liberal press and most Democrats are dancing to their doom.

Of course The Great Messiah couldn’t care a tinkers abour Our Great Leader, and I fully expect more sh*t to be heaped on Brown.

http://politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2009/03/03/is-certainty-to-vote-where-labour-is-being-killed/#comment-956370
     by Philippe Magnan March 3rd, 2009 at 2:30 pm

37- Paul Krugman must be having a tough time rationalizing it all, though. How is it possible that Gordon Brown, the Savior of the World, and Barack Obama, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary, would coexist in anything other than blessed harmony?
     by Stars and Stripes March 3rd, 2009 at 2:38 pm

http://politicalbetting.com/index.php/archives/2009/03/03/is-the-washington-visit-going-wrong-for-gord/#comments

[Lord Undies]

The ObamaClown will do whatever it takes to avoid a side-by-side comparison with a real person of intellect and substance.  This "news" story will be downplayed, but really, it is a big deal.  It is a major blunder and a huge embarrassment for our nation.

But we must remember:  Obama is a puppet and no puppet can perform alone.    

[JohnnyReb]

4 years is ample time for Turn-about, "Sorry dude, it's high tea time. Maybe next time you're in London we can get together......maybe."

[Wretched Excess]

the last-minute, 3 question mini-press conference in the oval office isn't going well.  treat the press like trash at
your peril, even if you are The BarackStar!

Holding the meeting in the Oval Office for a pooled press is having its logistical issues - and causing a row, if you will.

The WH press pool and dozens of British reporters have to make their way through a small doorway in the briefing room, causing a bottle neck. Because Obama decided to hold the event - 3 questions from each nation's press pool - in the Oval, not the East Room, the pool has to go into the meeting in waves: first still photographers, then reporters. Lots of angling. -- Carol E. Lee (11:41 a.m.)
The British press, by the way, are cranky about this. WH aides trying to appease them by letting them have a couple extra in their pool. This has delayed the meeting and gone on for a half hour.

WH aide directions to reporters: No walking in front of the table with the lamp on it. It's going to be crowded. There's not much space.

2 waves of pool:
1. still photogs
2. Reporters and pool photographers (stay) -- Carol E. Lee (11:51 a.m.)
Awesome show. Multiple guys named Ben disageeing over logistics. Lotsa pushback. -- Carol E. Lee (11:56 a.m.)

Link

[Wretched Excess]

well, we know one of the reasons that he was avoiding the media.  he can't stop saying stupid shit like this.  between this, and the retarded statement about "rebooting" relations with russia, I think he should avoid the press for the next 3 years, 10 months or so . . .

Obama says not focusing on markets day-to-day

WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he was not focusing on the day-to-day gyrations of the stock market, the day after U.S. stock prices slid to a 12-year low.

Obama also said the U.S. banking sector had been dealt a heavy blow in the current financial crisis and that an economic recovery was not going to happen overnight.

Obama was speaking after holding talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is on a two-day visit to the United States. They were due to have discussed the global financial crisis and Brown's call for international cooperation to fight it. (Reporting by Caren Bohan, writing by Ross Colvin, editing by Jackie Frank)

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[bijou]

This is hilarious, Gordon deserves nothing more.

Even the No10 folk admit things are going a bit awry. Downing Street and the White House are locked in protracted negotiations about the terms of this visit, and Mr Brown is due to turn up any minute. We are in the White House press room after an hour spent outside waiting to be let in. Every 10 minutes or so a British official would offer words of apology. "It hasn't been an ideal start to the day. There will be something in the Oval Office, we're just fine tuning that with the White House," one said. Actually this is fairly footling, a row about journalists and who gets in to the Oval Office. Even now we are packed around the podium in the press room, watching arguments between a hard-pressed No10 official and very firm White House staffers about pool numbers.

[Wretched Excess]

This is hilarious, Gordon deserves nothing more.

these guys may deserve each other, but offending your closest ally is an unforgivable foreign policy blunder.  even if your guy may be a bigger loser than our guy.

[bijou]

these guys may deserve each other, but offending your closest ally is an unforgivable foreign policy blunder.  even if your guy may be a bigger loser than our guy.

Our guy has (as Chancellor and Prime Minister) followed the same economic policies that Obama has planned. Obama can read the polls (Conservatives are somewhere around 13-15% ahead) and can see our economy is shot and doesn't want anyone to notice what is in your future.

[Peter3_1]

Remember when Obama said "It is above my paygrade." Unfortunately for us, the Presidency is above his paygrade.

[Chris]

Holding the meeting in the Oval Office for a pooled press is having its logistical issues - and causing a row, if you will.

The WH press pool and dozens of British reporters have to make their way through a small doorway in the briefing room, causing a bottle neck. Because Obama decided to hold the event - 3 questions from each nation's press pool - in the Oval, not the East Room, the pool has to go into the meeting in waves: first still photographers, then reporters. Lots of angling. -- Carol E. Lee (11:41 a.m.)

The British press, by the way, are cranky about this. WH aides trying to appease them by letting them have a couple extra in their pool. This has delayed the meeting and gone on for a half hour.

WH aide directions to reporters: No walking in front of the table with the lamp on it. It's going to be crowded. There's not much space.

2 waves of pool:
1. still photogs
2. Reporters and pool photographers (stay) -- Carol E. Lee (11:51 a.m.)
Awesome show. Multiple guys named Ben disageeing over logistics. Lotsa pushback. -- Carol E. Lee (11:56 a.m.)

Link

Do I even need to suggest what the liberal reaction would be if Bush had done this?  The country just promoted the mail clerk to the CEO's job and it's painfully obvious.

[ReardenSteel]

The similarities to "The Hudsucker Proxy" are all too apparent.

H5  The Obama 0 "You know... for kids"

[Peter3_1]

Let me get this stright, Palin, who has for at least two years delt effectively with two Nations and the largest Corperations in the world was too inexperienced to be VP. Obama, who has had no experience whatever, but reads well off a teleprompter, IS qualified to be President? Certainly not true. And the idiot oproves it daily.

[thundley4]

Let's see, this makes 0Bama's second slam at our best ally, the first being the return of the Winston Churchill bust.  What next , fist-bumping the Queen?


Why the hell is Fat Teddy being knighted by the Queen?

[Peter3_1]

She's obviously suffering from Altzheimer's. Teddy's a shanty Irishman my any measure, and most actual Brit. Royalty would prefer to be tortured to death rather than "Knight" any shanty Irish. They don't evel like Knighting "Lace Curtin" Irish, like my Armitage ancestors!

[Wretched Excess]

Let me get this stright, Palin, who has for at least two years delt effectively with two Nations and the largest Corperations in the world was too inexperienced to be VP. Obama, who has had no experience whatever, but reads well off a teleprompter, IS qualified to be President? Certainly not true. And the idiot oproves it daily.

the MSM excuse for obama's lack of experience was that he had been running for president for two years, which means he became "steeped in the issues", and therefore qualified to be president.  (no, I am not shitting you.  mort kondracke said that exactly that.  I guess by that logic, interviewing for a job instantly qualifies you for that job)  if you detect a sickening, self-ratifying circularity to that argument, then you are correct.

I suggested that if this is the case, that Dixiebelle start her campaign the day after the inauguration.  I think she would make a great president.