The continuing foreign policy gaffes of President Obama and his administration just seem to keep coming and are an embarrassment to the United States.  Since taking office the Obama team has had a continual string of blunders ranging from rather tasteless and poorly thought out gifts given to foreign dignitaries to breaches of protocol when meeting a foreign head of state.  See below the video for a recap of just some of the gaffes. 

Now, in a gaffe that should raise eyebrows, we see the President of the United States  bowing to Saudi King Abdullah.  233 years ago, we fought a war against a monarchy and since that time, the United States has bowed to no one.  Well, apparently under President Obama that is no longer the case – we even bow to Saudi Arabia. 

Editor’s note – Since posting this the White House has said President Obama did not bow.  An Obama aide is quoted as saying, “It wasn’t a bow. He grasped his hand with two hands, and he’s taller than King Abdullah.”  That is interesting.  If the king was three feet tall I might buy that but there is NO WAY that is what happened.  Click here for that story.

Recent Presidential Gaffes an Embarrassment

The mainstream media here in the United States chooses to ignore these events but they are significant embarrassments and have been noted by press across the world.  In an article on Salon.com, Camille Paglia, an avowed Obama fan, even took note of it saying:

Obama’s staffing problems are blatant — from that bleating boy of a treasury secretary to what appears to be a total vacuum where a chief of protocol should be. There has been one needless gaffe after another — from the president’s tacky appearance on a late-night comedy show to the kitsch gifts given to the British prime minister, followed by the sweater-clad first lady’s over-familiarity with the queen and culminating in the jaw-dropping spectacle of a president of the United States bowing to the king of Saudi Arabia. Why was protest about the latter indignity confined to conservatives? The silence of the major media was a disgrace. But I attribute that embarrassing incident not to Obama’s sinister or naive appeasement of the Muslim world but to a simple if costly breakdown in basic command of protocol.

Obama Administration Foreign Policy Gaffe Recap

President Obama sends a bust of Winston Churchill given to former President George W. Bush back to the British embassy. The embassy was apparently a bit surprised to see the gift returned.

During British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s visit to the United States a customary gift exchange took place.  PM Brown gave Obama an extraordinary ornamental pen holder made from the HMS Gannet, which was once called HMS President.  This was significant because as London’s Daily Mail described, it was a, “unique present delighted Mr. Obama because oak from the Gannet’s sister ship, HMS Resolute, was carved to make a desk that already takes its place in the Oval Office in the White House, after being presented by Britain to the U.S. in 1880.”

In return our president, in symbolizing the special relationship we share with Britain, gave the PM a 25 DVD collection of American classic movies.  The problem is that Mr. Brown is known not to be a fan of movies and because DVDs are coded by region and only playable in DVD players for a given region, they cannot be played on British DVD players.  The Daily Mail said, “It was the equivalent of receiving a pair of socks from an unfamiliar aunt at Christmas – and a less-than-glowing affirmation of the UK-US bond.”

Similarly, Sarah Brown (the PM’s wife) gave Sasha and Malia Obama well thought gifts including books by British authors not available in the United States and clothes from the trendy British boutique Topshop, which just opened up its first American store in New York City.

What did the first couple do in return?  Michelle Obama gave Mrs. Brown two toy models of the president’s helicopter, Marine One for their children Fraser and John.  These can be purchased in the White House gift shop for $15.00.  The London Times noted, “Short of giving the boys Action Man models of her own husband smiting the evil forces of neoconservatism, Mrs. Obama’s gesture could not have been more solipsistic or more inherently dismissive of Mrs. Brown.”

Reset or overcharge?

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton presents Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov a present meant to symbolize a new era of cooperation.  The red button was supposed to say “reset” in Russian but instead the word, properly translated, meant “overcharge.”  The foreign minister continued to jab at Clinton during her entire visit over the embarrassment.  I guess our State Department doesn’t have anyone properly versed in the Russian language.

Now let’s look at President Obama’s trip to Europe and the G20 summit.  In truly thinking of a unique gift to present to Queen Elizabeth the second, the White House pulled out all the stops and presented her with an iPod.  I guess consumer electronics are the latest way to show you care the very best about those foreign relationships.

Despite the mainstream media’s fawning all over our First Lady, Michelle Obama too could use a bit of a lesson in etiquette.  Not to be outdone, Michelle Obama when meeting the queen made a breach of protocol by apparently attempting to hug the queen.  The queen took it all in stride however if you saw the video you saw the queen pull away with a bit of a surprised look on her face.

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