The Virginian-Pilot
©
Today we tiptoe through the prickly protocol of picking proper presents for presidents, prime ministers and potentates.
Say that three times.
Remind me. Why do the richest and most powerful people on earth insist on swapping trinkets? It only leads to trouble.
The Obama administration's first foray into this danger zone was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's cringe-inducing gift to the Russian foreign minister last month. With the cameras rolling - big mistake - she presented Sergei Lavrov with an oversized button labeled " reset " in Russian, to symbolize new Russian-American relations. That feeble attempt at humor quickly morphed into an international embarrassment when it became clear that some state department genius had mistakenly slapped the Russian word for "overcharge " on it.
Gag gifts. Never a good idea in the dicey world of diplomacy.
Next came President Barack Obama bestowing a boxed set of Hollywood movies on British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to commemorate his March visit to the White House.
Not only was it an uninspired gift ("About as exciting as a pair of socks," snarked one much-quoted London columnist) but it was useless. The president - or whoever shops for him - seemed unaware that American DVDs are incompatible with British players.
Finally, last week Obama went to Buckingham Palace and famously presented Queen Elizabeth II with an iPod.
What a coincidence. That's what I gave my teenage son for Christmas.
"She already has one," screamed a headline from the Daily Telegraph.
Turns out this iPod was loaded with videos of her majesty's most recent American trip and a selection of Obama speeches.
Oh, yes, it's also packed with Broadway tunes. "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend," is on it, perfect for this tiara-topped recipient. Obama also gave the queen a songbook signed by the composer Richard Rodgers, but no one's talking about that.
If the iPod was a supremely superficial selection, the queen's present to Obama was supremely self-involved.
Perhaps you heard. The monarch gave the president of the United States a framed, autographed picture of her queenly self and her hubby.
Can you imagine the media uproar if the Obamas had given the Windsors a framed photo of themselves? How do these royal cheapskates get away with it?
Seems to me there's a way around the memento minefield. World leaders should do what large families do at Christmas: Put a monetary limit on gifts, say 10 American dollars. Or better yet, go to a Secret Santa system.
Done properly, each leader would only have to buy one gift a year.
The first order of business at the next G-20 summit could be to toss everyone's name in a hat.
Imagine the excitement as names are drawn. Followed by the barely disguised disappointment of those picked by the president or the queen.
Kerry Dougherty, (757) 446-2306, kerry.dougherty@cox.net
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Yahoo
TR . . .
I think you meant the queen, not the queen mum, as the queen mum is dead.
Proves you're not a royalty watcher, right? Protocol, esp royal protocol, may not be very important to you.
Well, it is to some of us and . . . he is the president of *all* the people, right, not just of the Democrats???
Can we please get back to the ...
... meatier political topics of the day such as lapel pins, taking the oath on the Koran, birth certificates, terrorist fist bumps, and other "tough" subjects that have been the mainstay of the right? Alas, this "breaking" iPod news goes directly from the flashing lights of the DrudgeReport frontpage to the front page of the local section of the Pilot. "She already has one!!!" screams the Drudgester (and the Daily Telegraph). Surely a reporter could have noted that the Queen Mum had REQUESTED the video iPod.
As for Hillary's screw up and the DVDs, flog away.
Kerry, I often agree with you but not today . . .
Basically, you are saying if people can't successfully navigate around traditions that are hundreds of years old . . . get rid of the traditions.
I think it's your Irish speaking, dear! They never were big on kings and queens.
Think about where this leads if you run with it. Just dismiss the office of protocol because no one understands protocol anymore. Let everyone make up their own rules for state visits (and in every other area of life) on the fly, as it seems good to them. No common agreement on manners to use--my goodness, how would a state visit even be possible without a common system of manners, considering the diversity of countries on this planet? They all have their own ways and manners. Protocol exists to give everyone one common set of manners to use so they don't offend each other (like showing the bottom of their shoe or offering their left hand to a Muslim).
No, Kerry, I think you missed it today . . . Please recant.
drama queens
Do you need a hug?
What was it that was said about Geeks bearing gifts ??
Methinks it’s just another a generational faux-pas. Since Obama is a ‘Next Gen’ politician, protocol & manners are just ‘old skool’ concepts & carry little social currency with the 20 & 30 something hipsters that now populate the West Wing’s back offices.
Giving the Queen of the British Commonwealth an I-Pod is just the kind of gift that every self-aware Next-Genner would give their grandmas. And since the Queen is just an ancient grandma to these young dandies, then an I-Pod loaded with video clips of Grandma’s Visit to the Colonies was just the way cool means to say ‘Thanks for the Memories.’
But then, President Obama’s Royal Gift could have been an even worse bit of Tchotchkes Americana... Like a Thomas Kincaid painting... Or gold Bling-Bling denture grills & nipple rings...
And I’m sure the London Tabloids would have gone gaga over a set of Truck Nutz for the Royal Coach...