Like it or not, the U.S. president's job description demands certain de rigueur consuetude to bridge global cultural differences for the sake of diplomacy. It's part of the whole package of dealing with everything presidents have to deal with.
Believe or don't, at this level of international play, trailer court deportment & shopping mall niceties just don't cut it. Apparently, the smartest president evah hasn't figured that out, yet. Or maybe they just have very low thresholds in Chicago:
"President and First Lady Obama gave Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II a video iPod with inscription, songs uploaded and accessories, plus a rare musical songbook signed by Richard Rodgers.Me-Me-Me-Me.
Uploaded onto the iPod:
* Photos from the Queen's 2007 White House State Visit
* Photos from the Queen's 2007 Jamestown, Va., Visit
* Photos from the Queen's 2007 Richmond, Va., Visit
* Video from the Queen's 1957 Jamestown Visit
* Video from the Queen's 2007 Jamestown Visit
* Video from the Queen's 2007 Richmond Visit
* Photos from President Obama's Inauguration
* Audio of then-state senator Obama's speech at the 2004 Dem. Nat'l Convention, and
* Audio of President Obama 2009 Inauguration Address
"Britain's Press Association reports that the Royal couple gave the Obamas "a silver-framed, signed photograph of themselves."Zing!
Could it be that our Merci Beaucoup President's consistent diplomatic faux pas are because he's unaware that the State Dept. has an Office of Protocol??
President Obama might do well to study the decorum of his predecessors in order to win friends, influence people and make the whole world luv us, again.
But I'm just campaign promise silly that way...
Update: From email - Will Smith is a class act. Perhaps he can enlighten our President to the intricacies of int'l social graces.