Prospect of Barack Obama show causes UK to clear its decks (Staff of 500 for G20 Conference)

Guardian.Co UK/The Observer ^ | Sunday 29 March 2009 | Paul Harris in New York and Robin McKie

[Texas Fossil]

With an entourage of 500 staff, an armour-plated limousine and a fleet of decoy helicopters, America's new president will arrive for his first visit to Britain amid huge razzmatazz on Tuesday for the G20 summit.

[Texas Fossil]

He just fired the President of GM and now he thinks he is the ruler of the World.

[armymarinemom]

Travel cost almost equal to AIG bonuses.

[raybbr]

Gee, I wonder if, at the climate summit next month, the EU will have the balls to ask the one about the carbon footprint of bringing 500 people with him?

[Pelagius of Asturias]

I hope the Brits make him use the servant’s entrance - payback.

[Texas Fossil]

It does not matter. The rules only apply to us, not the new ruler.

Welcome to New Kenya (Africa U.S.A.)

“Where the law of the jungle has replace the Law Of The Land”

[CRBDeuce]

Somehow, reading this, provided me with an image from “Chicago”...Broadway play...the version I saw was George Harrison, who had a very dark tan! Yep, Razz-ma-tazz it is!

[livius]

Yeah. Typical African thug. Maybe he also realizes how much people are starting to hate him. He deals with it the way all thugs do, by buying more armor plating for his limo.

[Cicero]

This is only the beginning. Wait until he really gets going.

As I recall, Bill & Hill traveled to India with an entourage of 2,000 people, and rented 4 or 5 entire hotels.

[mcshot]

Oh how hard I want to post but my built in editor deletes all.

Lord did some get sold a bill of goods and the rest are paying for it.

[HollyB]

Geez, ya think it’s a little over the top?

Should be interesting with the G20 meeting again this week. I believe they are planning to provide more definitive information and decisions concerning the economy.

I really am concerned with the outcome of this meeting. I can only imagine how our world may change after this week. ‘Change’ that is a word I could do without. He applies it to anything he chooses to do and then says ‘that is what America voted for’. BS - that is not what America voted for!

[PERKY2004]

Hmmmm.... wonder how much it costs to travel with 500 people?

[tiki]

Do you have any idea how many Bush traveled with to these meetings?

[BluH2o]

Hmmmm.... wonder how much it costs to travel with 500 people?

Don't know ... but Clinton did it all the time.
It's a 'Rat thing ... you know, the over inflated sense of self worth.

[Joan Kerrey]

Do you have any idea how many Bush traveled with to these meetings?

---

don’t know about so many but I do know that the absolute minimum is about 100 rooms, some double up. I worked for a hotel that hosted heads of states. Just communications, USSS and military alone needed 60 to 70 rooms or more total. Immediate staff 30 or more rooms bare minimum. Other staff had to stay at other hotels when we had to hold them to 100 rooms. They screamed and yelled when only alloted 100 rooms.
Then there is press rooms, 40 rooms or so, more with camera people coming along. Then the state big wigs always want rooms, fire department and medical emergency staff and city police control rooms. Many pay their own way. Military pays their own (Dept. Defense), communication and WH staff billed to WH. Press pays own way. City and state pays own way. USSS pays seperately. But travelling with 500 is something I’m not familiar with. That’s a mob and I imagine really hard to coordinate and control. My guess it’ll be the usual 100 to 200 rooms and then advisors, hangers on, more press and other government departments getting involved like enviro and economic offices of this and that department. Secret service also needs rooms, numbers depending on location and the state of the political climate at the location. I would imagine London will require double or triple the usual number of rooms for USSS.

[Cicero]

No. But Bush didn’t travel with hundreds of hangers-on and sycophants the way clinton did. And the media all seem to agree (it’s repeated here) that because Obama is black, he needs more secret service protection. His inauguration was the biggest in history, with massive Secret Service and law enforcement.

I don’t know why; most of the famous assassins of the past hundred years or so have been leftists, but there it is.

When Bush went to his first European meeting the press were too busy saying how the Europeans were all making fun of the hick Texan cowboy to get into details like that, as I recall.

[Texas Fossil]

I can dream of the following:

Obozo meets the Queen of England in a private setting, she says not a word to him, but simply presents him with a gift copy of his original Kenyan Birth Certificate.

[beaversmom]

I can dream of the following:

Obozo meets the Queen of England in a private setting, she says not a word to him, but simply presents him with a gift copy of his original Kenyan Birth Certificate.

And some DVD's.

[Unicorn]

Clinton did the same thing took everybody and there brother on our dime.

[444Flyer]

After G20 we will see if Obama the “Citizen of the World” is for a global currency of the World. Geithner may have already leaked his intentions. We'll see...

[a fool in paradise]

Wonder when the People’s House will be moved to Kenya. DEVELOPING...