Hard as it may be to believe, this is a real public service announcement that ran recently on CBS. Seriously. It’s not a Saturday Night Live parody.
Hard as it may be to believe, this is a real public service announcement that ran recently on CBS. Seriously. It’s not a Saturday Night Live parody.
So much for the Tiffany network.
Source: Ken Levine
The DVDs President Obama gave British Prime Minister Gordon Brown are the gifts that just keep on giving. At least they keep giving us new stories.
First, the Prime Minister was offended that he had been given a gift he could get down at the corner Blockbuster. Then, the was offended that the Obama administration hadn’t bothered to learn that he’s not a film fan.
End of story, right? Wrong.
One night last week, Brown got home from a long day of doing whatever it is the British Prime Minister does, plopped down in his comfiest chair, and popped “Psycho” into his DVD player.
Instead of seeing Janet Leigh in the shower, he saw the words “Wrong Region” on his TV screen.
Turns out the diplomatic and technological geniuses in the Obama administration didn’t know the DVD format in the United States is different than in England. So those 25 DVDs Obama gave Brown were not only insulting, but worthless.
(As an aside, we didn’t know about the format difference, either. But we’ve never held ourselves out as glittering geniuses. Glittering smartasses, perhaps, but not glittering geniuses.)
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
Looks like newspapers on the other side of the Atlantic didn’t get that “laudatory coverage only” memo from the White House. The President and everyone around him have been sliced and diced by The Telegraph this week.
The paper’s latest article starts off by reviewing all the president’s gaffes – his poorly thought out choice of gifts, his insulting return of the Churchill bust, his hastily-prepared joint press conference with Gordon Brown. Then things got really nasty:
“Something, suddenly, seems to have made the Obama White House perk up and start to take an interest in the Brits. The Queen has invited the President to tea when he’s here for the G20 in April. And he’s in through the front door of Buckingham Palace faster than a Harley Davidson roaring along Route 66.”
“Note how the coolness of Team Obama disappears when a bit of regal glamour is introduced into the equation. He might not like the Brits, but he can recognise a global superstar when he encounters one. He wants to be associated with her. He’s shameless.”
“If Obama, or someone in his inner circle, had spent two minutes thinking about what present to get Brown then they could easily have come up with something appropriate. He likes books. He loves American history. Get him a signed first edition of a good Robert Dallek book such as the brilliant Flawed Giant on LBJ. Come to think of it, Obama should read it too, if he hasn’t yet, as it reveals a great deal about how a Presidency can go so wrong.”
We’re surprised Obama didn’t schedule tea and crumpets with Prince Charles since they have so much in common:
They both have two kids. Both believe in global warming, yet whip around the world in private jets. And both have domineering wives who make them jump through hoops like trained chihuahuas.
Link: Telegraph
British Prime Minister Brown wanted to make a good first impression in his first meeting with President Obama. So he gave him an ornamental penholder hand-carved from the timbers of a Victorian anti-slave ship once called the HMS President.
President Obama reciprocated by giving Brown a handful of DVDs. Seriously. President Obama gave the prime minister of our closest ally, a nation that reveres the “special relationship” between our two countries, a bunch of DVDs.
In Obama’s defense, they were all classic American films. And they came in a special boxed set. And Michelle was probably up half the night making sure the ribbon looked real pretty. Unfortunately, it turns out Brown isn’t much of a film fan.
Britain’s Daily Mail reports that Brown could have gone to the Blockbuster store down the road from 10 Downing Street and picked up the same DVDs for about $352 (plus tax).
As they say in Hollywood, “Take two.”
And as we say at IHateTheMedia.com, “Aw, crap.”
Link: Daily Mail
Why isn’t this story the headline on every newspaper? Why isn’t it leading off every newscast? Why is it not even considered newsworthy?
According to local Pakistani police, Taliban militants beheaded an Afghan citizen after accusing him of spying for the United States. The man was kidnapped a week ago and his body was discovered Thursday in North Waziristan.
“He was slaughtered overnight. His headless body was put on the roadside,” police official Munir Khan said.
A note found on the man’s body said “Whoever spies for the US will face the same fate. This is a gift to (US President Barack) Obama.”
“See how much the world loves us,” an Obama spokesman somewhere likely said. “They’re already giving us gifts.”
Source: AFP
