Inkless Wells

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Snubwatch: Duck or you'll get pool spray all over you!

by Paul Wells on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 9:25am - 19 Comments

Joint Obama-Gordon Brown press conference cancelled; instead, the two leaders will get a “pool spray,” described as “a few shouted questions from pool reporters during a photo opportunity.” (Fun fact: last week a senior aide to Stephen Harper told me the notion that White House reporters sometimes shout questions during photo ops is “bullshit.”) The rest of the linked article is a highly amusing attempt to gauge, with precision instruments, the extent to which Brown is held in esteem, or otherwise, in the new White House. Woe: Obama returned Bush’s bust of Churchill!

Tags: Gordon Brown, pool spray

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archangel

Sounds like a “snow” job to me.
http://carnewsandviews.com jwl

Canceled press conference is going to destroy Labour strategists. There was a quote from an un-named Labour source in the papers the other day that said Brown’s trip to US was his “best, if not last, chance” to win next election. It’s hard to imagine but Labourites are putting more hope and spin into this trip than the Cons did when Obama came to Ottawa.

LeenieJ (imho)

good point

http://perdogperday.blogspot.com Jesse

Don’t Conservative staffers watch the West Wing? They yell questions out all the time.
Brammer

“Indeed, with the diplomatic groundwork completed in advance, the main point of such visits is the chance to appear side-by-side with the most powerful man in the world in front of your national flag. ”

I’m seeing a pattern…
http://www.power-to-the-people.co.uk UK Voter

Why oh why do British Prime Minister’s insist that there is a “special relationship” between America and the USA? Yes, there is a bond, but a special relationship it is not. We are no longer an empire, this is just a marriage of convenience and we only humiliate ourselves by pretending otherwise. Please Mr Brown, allow the Brits to salvage some credibility from the situation we find ourselves in, without embarrassing us on the world stage.

Derek Pearce

Ever since I first began to read newspapers I always noticed that both Canada and Britain have continually made the claim that they were the USA’s best friend, or had a “special relationship” with the States. It’s always made me chuckle that the Canadian and British press never called the States a two-timing double-faced heartbreaker for leading us each on soooooo loonnggggg!

Ti-Guy

Ever since I first began to read newspapers I always noticed that both Canada and Britain have continually made the claim that they were the USA’s best friend,

I don’t know if the trope in Canada is that we are the USA’s “best friend.” We are the country’s only “real friend” though…the friend that tells it the truth. British friendship is more fickle and superficial. If the Americans only knew what the British say behind their backs…

lorne

Was the Churchill bust replaced with a Roosevelt or a Truman?

http://carnewsandviews.com jwl

Lincoln I believe.

Lord Kitchener’s Own

And that’s not an “Obama’s obsessed with Lincoln” joke either. The bust was indeed replaced by a bust of Lincoln.

Lord Kitchener’s Own

Getting to address a joint session of Congress is still pretty impressive (though less Obamarific).

Have any Canadian PM’s ever addressed a joint session of Congress?

Derek Pearce

Trudeau in ’77 — where he used the “mouse sleeping with an elephant” phrase– and Mulroney in ’88.

Shenping

I hear some MP’s in Trudeau’s era occassionally addressed a joint or two, & there was some congress between Margaret & Mick. Does that count?

http://www.maderblog.com David Mader

This may be apropos: Gallup: As British P.M. Visits, Britain Reigns as Top U.S. Ally:

“When asked to choose which of five nations is the United States’ most valuable ally, Americans are slightly more likely to choose Great Britain than Canada. Far fewer give this distinction to Japan, Israel, or Germany. . . .

“Two in three Americans choose one of the United States’ primary English-speaking allies — Great Britain or Canada — which are also the two countries that received the highest favorable ratings.

“There are variations in the extent to which Americans name Canada or Great Britain as the United States’ top ally. For example, Republicans are significantly more likely to choose Great Britain than Canada, while Democrats are slightly more likely to choose Canada than Great Britain.”

Would it be too much to suggest that Obama’s recent relative treatment of Harper and Brown is in line with Gallup’s finding?

Lord Kitchener’s Own

I find the Gallup question interesting in that it purports to measure the notion of “most valuable ally”. Now, when I read “ally” I think “alliance” and “war”, so there’s an obvious logic to choosing Britain and her larger armed Forces (not to mention nukes). Of course, our energy supplies to the U.S. make us a highly valuable ally, but when one reads “ally”, I think one tends to think “military” not “trade and strategic resources”. There’s no shame after all in being less powerful and influential internationally than the U.K., and therefore arguably a less “valuable ally”.

Interesting that on favorability, Canada gets a 90% favorable rating, including 39% very favorable (compared to 89%/36% for the Brits).

Critical Reasoning

This must be the Canada-US equivalent of Kremlinology – trying to discern meaning from cancelled press conferences and minor changes to the presidential schedule.

All this speculation about which country is the real American BFF is mildly amusing, but ultimately pointless.

Lord Kitchener’s Own

What’s particularly funny about trying to discern meaning out of the canceled Press Conference is the snow storm. As though Obama is snubbing the Brits by making it snow!

http://carnewsandviews.com jwl

Oh dear. This event do not go very well and UK journos have got their knickers in a twist. Does not look like Brown will get the boost he was counting on.