The Gifts of Diplomacy

So as we enter into this new administration of CHANGE, one of the first changes that was made in the White House was apparently the quality of gifts given to visiting dignitaries both at home and abroad. While I realize gifts given vary, and there are no hard and fast rules about gift giving to foreign dignitaries. However, one would assume that since Britain is an important ally for us, we would want to give them impressive or symbolic, even sentimental gifts to mark the historic alliance of this new administration. Apparently not..
When Prime Minister Brown came to visit last month, the reception the Brits were met with was not as cordial as had been the custom of previous administrations. While Brown brought with him an array of sentimental, and historical gifts, Obama returned the gifts with a feeble attempt at gift giving. The British article below says it all. If you think about the fact that Brown's pen holder is made out of wood from an anti-slave ship, and Obama is our first black president, it is a largely sentimental gift. However, we return England's throughfulness with a collection of our 25 best films, which if you check out the list, I think some of those movies selected could have been better. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2009/mar/06/obama-dvd-brown

Now many people could say.. so it was the first real meeting.. Give them a break, they'll get the gift giving thing down. After all the flack they received from both sides of the Atlantic, you'd think the gift the Obamas would give the Queen would be something sensational.And so the White House has had a month to think long and hard about what would be appropriate to give the Queen. (I know the Obamas do not pick their own gifts for dignitaries) so a month has come and gone, and now its time for the G20, and the meeting of the Queen.

When I think of sensational IPod definately tops my list! They gave the Queen a gift that could easily be picked up at any local Best Buy! Yes, it was personalized with songs and pictures, but in reality I could do the same for any good friends if I wanted.. Ok seriously.. the person picking these gifts needs to find a new job or needs to discover GOOGLE.. It does wonders for you, as a smart 7th grader informed me this week! Now the Queen gave a standard gift that she gives to all dignitaries, now you may say who wants a signed picture of the Queen of England, but remember, you can't just pick that up at your local store.Even the NY Times is jumping on board this one.. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/02/world/europe/02ipod.html

Now you may say, Bush gave some dumb gifts too, but I looked up what the Bush administration gave to the Royals when they came in 2007 to celebrate the founding of Jamestown..
as from http://rightwingnews.com/mt331/2009/04/obama_gives_queen_an_ipod_seri.php

"President and Mrs. Bush gave Her Majesty a bronze statuette "High Desert Princess" with a personal inscription on the bottom of the base. It is a replica of the original life size statue that is located in front of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas.
President and Mrs. Bush gave The Prince Philip an exclusive sterling silver eagle box by Tiffany & Co. with personal inscription on the inside lid.
President and Mrs. Bush gave Their Majesties a leather presentation box filled with a collection of documents from the National Archives. One of the items was a copy of an original letter from President Roosevelt to her father, King George, written in 1938. There were also photos from previous royal visits and a DVD of the footage from the Queen's visit to the United States when she was Princess Elizabeth in 1951."

Now that's a sentimental gift!
Someone please bring back that gift organizer!!

Just some of the CHANGE we are beginning to see in our national policy.