Barack Obama 'too tired' to give proper welcome to Gordon Brown

The London Telegraph ^ | March 7, 2009 | Tim Shipman

[2ndDivisionVet]

Barack Obama's offhand approach to Gordon Brown's Washington visit last week came about because the president has facing exhaustion over America's economic crisis and is unable to focus on foreign affairs, the Sunday Telegraph has been told.

Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.

British officials, meanwhile, admit that the White House and US State Department staff were utterly bemused by complaints that the Prime Minister should have been granted full-blown press conference and a formal dinner, as has been customary. They concede that Obama aides seemed unfamiliar with the expectations that surround a major visit by a British prime minister.

But Washington figures with access to Mr Obama's inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters, let alone the diplomatic niceties of the special relationship.

Allies of Mr Obama say his weary appearance in the Oval Office with Mr Brown illustrates the strain he is now under, and the president's surprise at the sheer volume of business that crosses his desk.

A well-connected Washington figure, who is close to members of Mr Obama's inner circle, expressed concern that Mr Obama had failed so far to "even fake an interest in foreign policy".

A British official conceded that the furore surrounding the apparent snub to Mr Brown had come as a shock to the White House. "I think it's right to say that their focus is elsewhere, on domestic affairs. A number of our US interlocutors said they couldn't quite understand the British concerns and didn't get what that was all about."

[GBA]

Thanks for that. Just when I thought I couldn't be any more disgusted, you took me to new depths.

And that reminds me...those campaign ads with Paris Hilton apparently were closer to the reality of the Obamassiah than I would have guessed. Clearly, I have overestimated Barry Oh.

[Polybius]

Thanks for posting. I had forgotten about the Super Bowl party.

Are you referring to my Trauma Surgery post?

A long time ago, I had posted about it and had said that the time when the Super Bowl was played was eerily quiet. We actually had time to sit in front of the TV and watch the Super Bowl.

Every gang banger in Miami had taken three and a half hours off from stabbing and shooting to watch the Super Bowl game.

Fifteen minutes after the Super Bowl was over, the resident's beeper went off.

It was like "Radar" on M*A*S*H ..... "Incoming."

Things were then back to "normal" and stayed "normal" for the rest of the month ..... Stabbings, shootings, shootings, stabbings.

Another memorable Chief Resident quote from that rotation:

"The next gang member that comes in shot in the gut is going to get a colostomy whether he needs one or not! That'll slow 'em down!"

I spent eight years on active duty during the Reagan Administration and served aboard a warship and served with Marines but that month in Miami on Trauma Surgery was the closest I ever got to an actual war.

Looking back on it, I had no "life". Life was reduced to the bottom level "Maslow Hierarchy of Needs" for food, sleep and bodily functions crammed in between the stabbings and shootings and shootings and stabbings. (Forget the sex at that Hierarchy level or the fact that somebody called a "girlfriend" even existed.)

Yet, we were on a month-long adrenaline rush and I guess I was more "alive" during that month than I ever was before or have been since.

The human psyche is a strange thing.

[o2bfree]

I think that Obama really doesn’t want to support the Labor Party. They’re not Liberal enough for him.

He wants to help elect Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrat party. Their beliefs mirror the Marxist policies of the Obama White House.

[Bertram3]

I was just hoping. I just researched it. For the 25th amendment disability clause to be appled over the president’s objections requires a two-thirds vote of both houses. It is a higher hurdle than impeachment.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"Is the London Telegraph a tabloid?"

I have no idea how it is categorized, but you can plainly see in the article that there is not a named source. It reads like something in a grocery store checkout lane.

[Just A Nobody]

The job description is well defined (Constitution)

See, there is the problem, the Constitution is not on his reading list.

[mad_as_he$$]

lol...Sad butt true...

[Atlantian]

I was just commenting on your post #449 about Obama entertaining, including the Super Bowl party at the WH.

[SuziQ]

Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.

LOL! You mean President Bush, who is almost twenty years older than That One was able to handle the single largest attack on our soil, and the economic crisis that followed, THEN was able to prosecute a war on at LEAST two fronts, at the same time!

Lord, what a WEENIE That One is!

[Polybius]

Then little Obama-Turtle would have to admit to his worshipers that he was groomed to abuse the natural desire of many Americans for a black President,

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” ..... Dr. Martin Luther King

Sorry, Dr. King. Your four children may die of old age before your dream is realized.

[patriciaruth]

What else are they screwing up real bad, but no one has noticed quite yet?

Putin is happily picking up the pieces of the old Soviet empire behind Obama's back, taking over bases we had and getting Clinton to nix missile defense of Eastern Europe for nothing in return.

Dear Leader in North Korea has said forget it to the nuclear control agreement forged with Bush.

Iran has enough fuel for 50 nukes and is testing the missile delivery systems.

Chavez has become the new Fidel Castro in a major oil producing state, stealing companies and lands owned by foreigners, and the price of oil is creeping up again.

The "power sharing" PM in Zimbawe was almost assassinated by mass murderer Mugabe via a truck that "veered" head-on into the car and killed the poor guy's wife.

I'm sure there's more out there, but already I know more about what's going on than the guy who gets a threat assessment report from the CIA every morning.

[patriciaruth]

Hell, I miss Bill Clinton!!!!!

I did advise people to vote for Clinton rather than Obama in primary states we weren't in.

[JustaDumbBlonde]

If an article that does not name any of the many friend of a friend of an insider’s cousin sources is your cup of tea, I am very pleased that you got to enjoy this one!

[behzinlea]

We knew this petty community organizer and adjunct law professor wasn’t up to the toughest job in the world when he got elected to it. Still, it’s sobering and even frightening to witness his lack of preparation and inability in real time on the job. America’s enemies smell vulnerability and weakness and are circling like buzzards over a crippled animal.

[Tenniel2]

"If Obama is this incompetent, he won't be able to be a very effective Stalin or Hitler."

He wouldn't have to be a Stalin or a Hitler. All he'd have to do is keep on following his minders' orders... but then again, he hasn't shown himself to be very good at that either, has he.

[patriciaruth]

GWB in church two Sundays ago. He looked tanned, fit, relaxed and smiling broadly

You haven't read the tabloids that say he's suicidal. @@.

He's probably too suicide to beat up Laura and that's why she hasn't divorced him yet.

[1010RD]

So for you Frank Marshall Davis = Found My Daddy?

[JustaDumbBlonde]

"It would be easy to dismiss if there weren't evidence to suggest otherwise."

It is certainly the case that there is much evidence, which is why I do not necessarily trust or see the need for quotes coming from persons twice removed from the action. Again ... my point was that this type of article would have been blasted had it been written about a conservative, but is taken as nearly the gospel truth because it is knocking Obama. Why do we want to endorse this type of journalism simply because it meshes with our own opinion. I try to remain consistent in my criticism. Obviously frowned upon around here these days.

[patriciaruth]

the birth certificate...

hmmmm...

Maybe the Dems have a way out after all...

Wonder how long it will take before they start to talk to Joe about the birth certificate.

[Polybius]

To all the Brits who fathers died next to our fathers in Normandy and Holland, all I can say is I’m sorry the American people chose to elect such a worthless POS as our President. I don’t care much for Gordon Brown’s politics, and it would seem that politically he and 0bama should be soulmates. Regardless of Brown’s politics, he is Prime Minister of the country that has been our most dependable ally for over half a century. To see him publicly humiliated as though he were less than the 3rd shift assistant men’s room attendant shows that our leader has no class whatsoever. Again, my heart breaks for the British people.

Clean up the "worthless POS" part (too crude for a proper British publication) and that would be a good Letter to the Editor to send to The Daily Telegraph.

Your letters to the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph and Telegraph.co.uk. Letters should be sent to dtletters@telegraph.co.uk (Daily Telegraph) or stletters@telegraph.co.uk (Sunday Telegraph). Please include name, address, and work and home telephone numbers.