Brown visit unravels

Colin

How utterly dispiriting and humiliating this all is for the nation. The indignity of number 10 having to "negotiate" to try to get the PM of the US government's most reliable ally some "face time" with the President is sad.

It's in the same league as having a home secretary living in the back bedroom of a terraced house in the burbs.

Jonathan

In fact Gordon should be thankfull for there being no joint press conference - why?

Well surely one of the hacks would have asked President Obama whether he agreed with Gordon Brown's (often repeated) analysis that the global repression both started in America and was Washington's fault.

It might have turned embarassing...

mac

Fraser, your post is a welcome dose of reality after the ever so neutral report and genteel avoidance of the obvious by Robinson, desperately anxious not to upset the Brownites, on Today this morning!

HJ

Well, would you want to spend more than 30 minutes with Brown?

Charles

Audacity of Hope 1
Slough of Despond 0

mckenzie

The Scorpion has landed.

mckenzie

The Scorpion has blamed America in every sentence he has spoken so far. He reminds me of a stark lesson you learn as a kid..."it wasn't me, they made me do it"!

Then he has the audacity to lecture about protectionism. I think the Yanks got Gordon's Darwinian message a while, its everyman for himself in the jungle where the only real law is survival of the fittest.

Hysteria

he could have stayed home and done it by video conference - and saved some monry to boot!

Fraser

Fraser, step back and ask yourself, is it really hilarious that No 10 are claiming the conference is postponed because of snow? My sides are still firmly un-split. It is just a circus run by a clown.

Peter Wilson

I suppose, if you insist on keep blaming America for the financial troubles to save your own skin, then the welcome from them is hardly ever likely to be warm

Kevyn Bodman

I commented a few weeks ago that it really shouldn't matter who meets the Chosen One first, and I still think that.

But Brown seems not to agree.
Given that he thinks meeting the President is important shouldn't the details have been worked out beforehand?

What are the Foreign Office and the Embassy for?
What had Brown told them to accept?

Still, at least Brown wasn't met by the Vice-President, the President having bruised his thumb.

Diswiss

It's exactly what he deserves.
He's pathetic. Absolutely pathetic.

JONNY

'Robinson, desperately anxious not to upset the Brownites'
Because if he did MAC he'd be a dead dead duck.
Poor sod.

oldtimer

The Brown desire to be "First!" is/was utterly puerile - it reminds me of those posts at the start of each thread on PoliticalBetting.com.

Max Kaye

Boy scouts are the future.

Brown is the past.

RW

Hubris, with attendant Nemesis. What a joy to behold.

"How utterly dispiriting and humiliating this all is for the nation"

Nay, Colin, it's great news, one giant step for mankind in the UK on the long and tortuous path to a much desired goal - Seeing the back of Brown.

Austin Barry

It really is a pity that Tony Hancock cannot be resurrected to play Brown in a bio-pic.

Verity

At the same time, Obama's a international illiterate. As satisfying as it is to see the unelected Gordon Brown get a punch to the ego, this was an insult to America's most dependable ally.

And of course the details should have been worked out ahead of time and if what was offered was not acceptable to our standing, the visit should have been cancelled. No explanations as to why. Obama's a thug from the back alleys of Chicago, not an international politician.

Patrick Casey

What's the betting Obama will find some reason not to come to the G20. Then Brown will really throw some phones at the wall.

Tiberius

Lovely post in great style, Fraser -it's given me a good laugh after another tough morning in the office.

I just find myself think what's going through Brown's mind. Again, rejected at the alter of political Incarnation.

RW

"If they hear a Scottish voice saying "Dib dib dib" then things will be getting really desperate"

Bless you Fraser, the best laugh I've had today. I bet Brown would even manage to stick his woggle in the wrong place.

Um, on second thoughts, best not go there...

The Masked Marvel

But..but...but I thought an Obama Administration was going to be friendly and reaching out, not isolationist. Is this wonderful man we were told was going to change the world so cold and callous and calculating that he won't even bother having a real dialogue with international leaders if he thinks they won't be around in two years?

After all, it's not like Aso or Brown will be out of office by Easter. Yet this President is acting as if he's the one in charge and everyone else must lap at his feet. Looks like Verity has it right.

dearieme

Bloody midgets. Bring back Ike. And Maggie.

JONNY

I only hope when the beautician powdered Brown's nose on the plane, she told him not to pick it.

Tariq

Obama's first foreign trip as president was here to Canada, where he spent just seven hours. No joint press conference with prime minister Harper, just some working sessions and a photo op, then back onto Air Force One. Harper came within a hair's breadth of losing office in December thanks to some clumsy political manoeuvering, so maybe there's a pattern here: if you're on the way out, Obama won't spend much time on you, no matter what country you lead.

Verity

I liked the photo. Only Gordon Brown could look furtive walking down the steps of an executive jet.

Verity

After they've shaken hands for the cameras, Obama, with a small back-up trio in the background, could segué into song:

"I beg your pardon!
I never promised you the Rose Garden ...
"Along with the sunshine,
There's got to be a little snow sometime."

(For those who remember the song.)

Polly and Alice's mum

Actually, looking at the picture of him descending the steps, I found myself feeling really sorry for him.
This feeling comes over me from time to time as I witness the slow train crash that is McBroon. I can usually get over it by thinking about my stolen pension, the state of our once great country etc etc etc etc (oh yes, and the treatment of our heroic troops) but this time it has taken a bit longer. I really felt sorry for the poor deluded fool.

I have spent a moment thinking about our troops, my pension, the lies, the spin - and I have got over my moment of weakness. Once more, I loathe the man and all he stands for.
Phew!

RW

Has No 10 been suffering from the Audacity of Hype?

OK, OK. Coat.

Sir Graphus

It's OK to have a laugh, but what Obama wants is more British troops in Afghanistan. How many have we promised?

How many did Brown have to promise so that he could be "the First". How many more would he have had to commit to get a press conference photoshoot.

It's important we know. Our boys deserve to know they're not dying in vain.

Wilhelm

The British people have been kiddiing themselves on that they have a special relationship wih America, its rather pathetic, bit like the school swot saying Im teachers pet. It has never ever existed, just ask any American and you'll get a bank stare.

simon t

"It really is a pity that Tony Hancock cannot be resurrected to play Brown in a bio-pic".

Austin, you nailed it. The delusion of the man is remarkable.

se1man

and this from the people who said that they were putting an end to the age of spin?

as if the format of a press conference, sorry 'media event', actually makes any difference or solves any of our nation's problems. how pathetic.

Wilhelm

Austin Batty

As some else said on this forum I cant remember who, it might have been Verity

'' Tony Hancock meets Sydney Poitier ''

dave, surrey

spot on Wilhelm, the special relationship is something that exists only in the British media's mind and is probably a hangover from the 1980's when Thatcher and Reagan did have real common ground and understanding.

Max Kaye

According to Al-Beeb, instead of a press conference there will "still be a media availability"

Such tortuous language for 'jilted'.

Verity

Wilhelm, no, that remark was not made by me. I have plenty of material to work with re Obama without bringing his hue into it.

David Ossitt

The first comment above from Colin mentions.

It's in the same league as having a home secretary living in the back bedroom of a terraced house in the burbs.

He could have added; or a deputy Prime Minister who was incapable of speaking English.

Austin Barry

Wilhelm - That remark was made by me - I'm a great fan of the Lad Himself - and really, what perfect casting.

Moraymint

The humiliation just keeps piling on. Brown really is a dreadful little man, isn't he (is what I imagine to be the Obama camp's assessment)? It's a sad indictment of our political system that such a Machiavellian, deluded, self-important, semi-detached individual such as Gordon Brown can inveigle his way into the highest office in the land and only then get found out. And some. Oh boy, is this man's eventual political end going to be messy, or what? All of his own sweet making too.

Wilhelm

My apologies to Austin Barry and Mrs Verity.

George Laird

Dear All

It seems that the "special relationship" isn't all that special.

A 30-minute chat, what a slap in the face.

Blair gets to do his little religious bit and Brown gets nothing.

Still Brown got a free plane ride and all that it cost him was his tail between his legs; he should have went on to Disneyland and took the kids with him.

Obama certainly distanced himself from Brown.

He must have been told the mood of the British people for wanting him gone!

Now, that is what I call a historic visit!

Yours sincerely

George Laird
The Campaign for Human Rights at Glasgow University

Verity

Has Brown had his speed-dating 30 minutes with Obama yet? Is it over yet?

Anne Young

The fact that Brown has been given the 'star' treatment and being allowed to address the two houses of Congress is just by the by.....

Verity

Wilhelm, there is no person posting here as "Mrs Verity". My nom de blog is Verity.

I see that the White House told Gordon's people that if he wanted to give a press conference, he'd have to go across town to the British Embassy. To me, that is studied rudeness and, taken with Obama's sending the Winston Churchill bust back to the British Embassy last week, I think we can read the runes. Whoever is prime minister should steer clear of this cheap Chicago mobster. Of course, he may not know who Winston Churchill was. He didn't know Alaska and Hawaii were states, after all.

Tankus

Im a tad worried over what he will sell in Afghanistan, in order to buy an Kodak moment , too !
Gordon's mentally invested too much into this trip , he needs to walk away thinking that he is admired by all and sundry !

ruaqtpi2

President Obama does NOT represent the views of the average cultured American. He is an egotist with an agenda. Regardless of whether he is all that well liked in the U.K., he is a head of state of a very important ally. He should have received a more formal welcome, with an official press conference and the President's undivided attention for at least a few hours.

Please accept my apology as a token of the true appreciation for the special relationsship that our two countries share. Obama campaigned on a message of inclusion, but his actions have been exactly opposite, much to my dismay and that of the majority of my country's well-mannered citizens.

With my humblest regards,

J. Verive
Illinois

David Ossitt

ruaqtpi2 writes.

Regardless of whether he is all that well liked in the U.K., he is a head of state of a very important ally. He should have received a more formal welcome, with an official press conference and the President's undivided attention for at least a few hours.

Thank you J.Verive for your kind words but Gordon Brown is our Prime Minister he is not our head of state.

Our much loved Queen is head of state.

I loath Brown; but treating him in this way was a discourtesy to the United Kingdom, however it was Obama who was rude not the people of the USA.

discourtesy

Embarassed American

Sorry folks. Some of us Americans still appreciate how much you've done (and continue) to help us over the years. We appreciate the relationship our countries have built and have every hope that it will continue.

Shaun Oakford

Much more would have been achieved if Broon had simply stayed at home and sent, in his place, Winston Churchill's bust as special envoy to the US.

Despite being dead these past 44 years, Sir Winston has done so much more for Britain in that time than Broon has.

Free2speak

I too would like to add my apologies to the UK for the disrespectful and obviously inexperienced way the president of the US treated Prime Minister Brown. No matter what your politics, there is no place for type of for this social ineptitude and lack of protocol on such a grand scale. England has been and hopefully will continue to be America's staunches ally. The vast majority of all Americans feel this way and have all been surprised and taken aback by the presidents treatment of our longtime friend. Please know that Mr. Obamas treatment of Prime Minister Brown and your country does not reflect the personal feelings of the citizens of the US.