Did Obama make a fair trade with Gordon Brown? Would you be offended?

Mr. Brown gave Obama priceless gifts: The framed commission for HMS Resolute and a first edition of the seven-volume biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert. In addition, 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. Oak from the Gannet's sister ship, HMS Resolute, was carved to make a desk that has sat in the Oval Office in the White House since 1880. Obama gave Mr. Brown 25 DVDs. Brown is not known to be a film buff. Was it intentional that Brown gave Obama the Churchill biography after Obama returned the Churchill bust that had been in the White House? Oh, did the US mainstream media fail to properly cover that gesture? Here is a link. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/4623148/Barack-Obama-sends-bust-of-Winston-Churchill-on-its-way-back-to-Britain.html Joan S: The loan was extended, but Obama refused. Obama's staffers said of their snub that Britain was not special and just like any other nation. Who is being myopic? Okay, let's focus on the big picture: Everything McCain warned us all about during the debates has come true: Obama is not able to do everything at once, and the 95% tax cut is completely untrue. If anyone understands the relationship between a W-4 and filing taxes, they know that we are not getting any additional money. We could do this on our own by changing the W-4. McCain also warned about $1 trillion in new spending outside of the bank bailout. Most of the country did not believe him, because he seemed kind of angry and did not project his voice well. I'm no McCain fan, but "WOW!" he is looking better every day. Even major Democrats are warning about the proposed Health Care spending. How does $0 for a rail project between Anaheim and Vegas go to $2 billion in the Senate and $8B in the compromise? REID.

Public Comments

1. I think Mr.Brown got the better deal. Mr.Obama is not into history, he is into making history.
2. His excuse was, "I was tired".
3. rathair
4. I doubt Mr. Brown is worried about what gift he may or may not get... Sometimes you find a great gift for someone, other times you don't. Personally, I give gifts because I enjoy doing it, not because I expect a comparable gift in return. grow up people.
5. Hmmmm...gifts to Prime Minister...I'm trying to muster a modicum of sh!t to give. Nope, can't do it. Sorry, don't give a sh!t.
6. Did you really think that Brown or Obama picked those gifts? I assure you both were researched and were appropriate to the recipient. The bust was on LOAN. Of course it was returned. The Right needs to focus on the big picture.
7. According to the White House staff, it was a deliberate snub. They went so far as to CALL their U.K. counterparts to be sure they understood that. BTW: The DVDs were a "re-gift" that Obama had recently received from a Hollywood lefty. - and they're NTSC so won't play in Europe.
8. Brown is trying to line up a bailout for the bankrupt, exploitative, feudalistic British financial system (which, now that the North Sea oil is running out, IS the British economy) paid for by US taxpayers, so I'm damn glad Obama snubbed him. On top of that, Obama (for obvious reasons) has intimate knowledge of British atrocities in Africa, particularly how MI6 continues to fuel tribal and ethnic conflicts so as to preserve Africa's resource base for the benefit of the neo-imperialist UK - which is sort of what we rebelled against them for. F*** Gordon Brown, f*** the British Financial Empire - they exported financial liberalization to the whole world during the Thatcher days, and now they're going to reap the consequences. We desperately need to revise our standing towards our current allies, many of whom no longer have interests aligned with ours. The future lies with the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China), not with a bankrupt empire of parasitic speculators. Oh, and by the way - do you know why the HMS Resolute was commissioned? It isn't because the British Empire discovered a sense of morality and ceased the slave trade out of altruism. Far from it - they merely discovered that their slave ships could be more profitably used transporting Opium into China, and they didn't want anyone to take their old income stream.
9. While I am critical of Obama's economic policies, I'll be the first to admit that being an inexperienced President who is overwhelmed by an economic crisis doesn't leave much time and energy for entertaining and gift giving. On the other hand, if Brown was the CEO of a bank he would have received the gift certificate that's good everywhere...money, and lots of it!