What Does Barack Obama Have Against Great Britain?

Does President Barack Obama harbor anti British feelings. Not just one, but three diplomatic slights inflicted upon America's oldest ally, would seem to indicate so. Or they might have been caused by Barack Obama's extreme narcissism.

First one of Barack Obama's first acts as President was to unceremoniously return the bust of Winston Churchill, which was loaned to President George W. Bush eight years ago by the British government, to the British Embassy in Washington. At the time, this slight raised eyebrows as it suggested not only a lack of care for a heartfelt gesture on the part of Great Britain, but a kind of disdain for Churchill, often considered the man who saved civilization by standing against Hitler alone for over a year between the fall of France and the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in the early part of World War II.

Next there were two diplomatic faux pas committed during the recent visit of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Prime Minister Gordon Brown did not get the traditional joint press conference in the Rose Garden that visiting heads of government usually receive.

But the real diplomatic slight, the one that has tongues wagging on both sides of the Atlantic, is the matter of the gift exchange between the two world leaders. Prime Minister Gordon Brown's gifts to President Barack Obama were heavy with symbolism for the special relationship that has existed between the United States and Great Britain since World War I, nearly a century ago.

"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.

"Mr Obama was so delighted he has already put it in pride of place in the Oval Office on the Resolute desk which was carved from timbers of Gannet's sister ship, HMS Resolute.

"Another treasure given to the U.S. President was the framed commission for HMS Resolute, a vessel that came to symbolise Anglo-US peace when it was saved from ice packs by Americans and given to Queen Victoria.

"Finally, Mr Brown gave a first edition set of the seven-volume classic biography of Churchill by Sir Martin Gilbert."

In return President Barack Obama gave Prime Minister Brown a "collectors set" of twenty five DVDs of American classic films. These can be bought on Amazon, often at a deep discount.

Why the slights, including the tacky gift? Some have suggested that the whole matter stems from Barack Obama's narcissism and his lack of regard for others. Canadian writer Mark Steyn has a more sinister explanation:

"One is that (as several alleged experts have told me) in this area the president genuinely differs from his predecessors. Take that Martin Gilbert biography of Churchill the Prime Minister gave him: I'll wager Obama will never read a word of it. To him, Sir Winston is not the great wartime leader, the indispensable man in civilization's darkest hour (1940-41), but the post-war leader responsible for the ruthless suppression of the Mau-Mau rebellion in his father's Kenya. Churchill is not the way to Obama's heart.

"And, in a broader sense, he has no particular attachment to "the west" - to the transatlantic partnership, the Anglo-American relationship, any of it. As I touched on in NR the other week, to his admirers he represents a cooler post-western 'hybridity'. And, given where he chose to spend his entire adult life, that seems entirely likely."

James Delingpole, a British writer, puts the blame squarely on Michelle Obama.

"Her broad-brush view of history associates Brits with the wicked white global hegemony responsible for the slave trade. Never mind that a white, Tory Englishman - William Wilberforce - brought the slave trade to an end. Judging by her record, Michelle does not make room for such subtle nuance."

Whatever the explanation, President Obama's slights against Great Britain, deliberate or no, do not constitute a good continuation of the "special relationship" between the two countries. President George W. Bush maintained a warm relationship with then Prime Minister Tony Blair, which bore the fruit of British cooperation in the War on Terror. One cannot escape the irony of how the "cowboy, frat boy Texan" was able to behave with diplomacy and grace toward one of America's best allies, whereas the "cool, sophisticated" Barack Obama treated the British with cold disdain.

One other thing, which perhaps would be a good thing to ask at the British Parliament's Question Time, when British Prime Minister are grilled on a variety of subjects by members of Parliament. Were the DVDs formatted for Region 1 NTSC, and therefore not compatible for viewing in Great Britain which uses Region 2? The answer might be illuminating.

Sources: Obama the Cheapskate: 25 DVDs for Gordon Brown?, Ed Morrissey, Hotair.Com, March 5th, 2009

Gordon Blue, Mark Steyn, National Review Online, March 5th, 2009

Was 'Lady Macbeth' Behind Barack Obama's Snub of Gordon Brown?, James Delingpole, The Telegraph, March 5th, 2009