Nile Gardiner - November 29, 2011

It is gratifying to see President Barack Obama condemn the disgraceful storming of the British Embassy in Tehran by thugs acting at the behest of the Iranian regime. After all, Obama has been notoriously slow in the past to criticise the brutal actions of the Iranian government after initially extending the hand of friendship to it. But did he really need to make another embarrassing foreign policy gaffe while doing so?

In a press conference this evening, the president referred in stumbling fashion to the “English Embassy” in Iran instead of the British Embassy. One can only imagine the kind of howls of derision that would greet any presidential contender if that kind of basic error were made before, say, the editorial board of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. You can watch the video above.

In case the president is unaware, England forms part of Great Britain, which also includes Scotland and Wales, though not Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. There is no such thing as an “English” embassy anywhere in the world, and there hasn’t been one for several centuries.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by this latest slip-up by President Obama. After all he recently described France as America’s closest ally, and famously declared that he has traveled to no less than 57 states. But it would be nice if the leader of the free world bothered to look at a map once in a while, or even paid a visit to the British Embassy in Washington, currently housing the Churchill bust that Mr. Obama unceremoniously threw out of the Oval Office soon after his inauguration.

Obama’s latest gaffe also raises questions about his overall approach to the Special Relationship. This has been a presidency that has significantly downgraded traditional US alliances, from Britain and Israel to eastern and central Europe, while appeasing brutal enemies like Iran as well as strategic adversaries such as Russia. All too often, Washington’s allies have been taken for granted, and even undermined. As a senior State Department official put it in 2009, in the eyes of the current administration: “there’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.”

From siding with Argentina on its call for UN-brokered negotiations over the sovereignty of the Falklands, to placing “a boot on the throat” of BP, Britain’s largest company, the Obama administration has downgraded relations with America’s closest friend and partner on the world stage. The Special Relationship still matters greatly on several key fronts for the United States, from the NATO-led operation in Afghanistan to the global war against Islamist terrorism. US-British military and intelligence cooperation remains vital to the defense of the free world, and cooperation between London and Washington will be imperative in standing up to an increasingly aggressive Iran. The White House will no doubt dismiss this latest faux pas by the president as a slip of the tongue, but it cannot disguise the fact that it has on many occasions treated Britain and other key allies with an air of disdain, and even contempt.

Posted in American Leadership

Maybe that's one of the 57 states??

ya, for a guy who was supposedly born in Asia you'd think he'd looked at a globe a time or two.... 😟

Meh. I didn't know that until I just read it here... can't criticize him for not knowing something I didn't know either... but then, I ain't the president.

I'd be willing to bet it was something I learned in school that was recently pushed out by stuff I am learning in college.

8-[

Let's pause and give credit where credit is due. It's not often a nation elects a president that combines all the virtues of Neville Chamberlain, Jimmy Carter, and P.T. Barnum.

Bro,,
you're having trouble with Algebra 1...

[ram27bat]

Oh, and I suppose you're a mathematical genius, right. 🙄

I haven't taken a math class in 24+ years. When I WAS in a math class, I was frequently stoned. I think I'm entitled to be a little rusty.

For the record, I doubt I'll get an A in the class, but I did get 100 on my homework and the quiz.=;

Great Britain...England....who cares.

They're full of stinking English. Same for the United Kingdom.

well,,
since you asked...

Math,Algebra,Geometry were easy for me...
I studied Fortran in college,,,
27 yrs ago...

=d>

What the F#ck is Fortran ?

An early, computer language used and taught in the 70's and 80's, which was more sophisticated than Basic. It was an upper level class.

Those clever English types devised a way to make them seem...well, less brutish.

After centuries of being laughed at for poor proper dental hygeine the English people were in a deep quandry. Every time the mention of England came up it was with connotations of limp wristed men playing soccer, crossdressing and missing and yellow teeth. one day during a session in Parliament it was decided that they would change all that. They tried playing a new game called Rugby but got their heads handed to them by the Aussies. They tried wearing mens underware and denim pants but they just appeared more butch and they had town criers and leaflets posted extolling the benefits of actually brushing their teeth and seeing a dentist more than once in their lifetime.

All of these efforts failed miserably.

It was after having their mighty military defeated...AGAIN on the field of battle that they decided to simply come up with a new name for themselves so they could hold their heads up with some kind of an amount of dignity and developed the term "Great Britian".

Great, well that just sounds awesome! She has great tits or I just had a great meal are examples of the word.

Britian, well it takes you back to yesteryear when Merlin was conjouring spells and Arthur was palooking knights on a round table.

Mix the 2 words together and you have at least decades of cover from unsuspecting dignitaries, tourists and buffoons like the Kenyan King that don't know the difference.


This has been another DrMaddVibe History lesson on the CBid Station.

Odumbo = clown.

No doubt, Duhmericans will re-elect him.


🍺

jetblasted ET ALL


I DONT RECALL ANY MENTION OF THE LITTLE PRINCE GEORGE'S GAFFES AS HE TOOK US TO AN UNFUNDED WAR BASED ON WHAT HE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN WAS BS INTEL THAT HE AND HIS SIDE KICK INVENTED AND THEN HIDING THE3 DEAD BODIES OF THE COUPLE THOUSAND LIVES DESTROYED AND RESULTING DESTRUCTION OF WHAT WAS THE GREATEST EXPERIMENT IN FREEDOM FOR EVERYONE THE SAME SOB WHO COULDN'T READ. SO THEY GAVE HIM AN EARPIECE AND HE COULD REPEAT SHORT PHRASES USING GRADE SCHOOL GRAMMER INCORRECTLY AND WHO LEFT RHE BUILDING JUST AS THE POT WAS BOILING OVER

.

Yes, a mathematical language that was a pain to learn.
That & Cobol caused me more dumps than I care to discuss. (insert sad game show host face here)


Sorry for the threadjack. I think Rick was making a joint, er, point.

Uncle Rick. The media played lil G's gaffs over and over and late night t.v. writers had premature O's putting scripts together with his material. Do you recall anyone DEFENDING Georges intellect?

I think he was genuine in his beliefs much like the current destroyer n chief. I saw G speak in person and he delivered an inspiring intelligent speech.

There are the same party same person with a different paint jib and better wax.

lmao, Cobol? I remember that. Took that in college. What a pain and a waste.

That is understandable.

Yeah, well... my son did trigonometry and calculus in high school. You want a cookie?

Obama makes a little gaffe with England/Britain and somehow within a few posts people are discussing FORTRAN and COBOL???

I......LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!