More Fallout From the Gordon Brown Visit

I mentioned yesterday that the Brits are more than a little bit upset at the perceived snub of their Prime Minister during his visit to the White House this week. Most of the anger concerned the way Mr. Brown was treated during his meetings with Obama, but today there's another complaint from the UK Times Online regarding the meeting between the Mrs. World Leaders:

It was all going so well. The dresses, the brains, the Vogue cover shoot – everything so far about Michelle Obama has left us wide-mouthed in admiration. It seemed there was no end to her fabulousness. Then Mr and Mrs Brown came to stay.

Like all good guests, Sarah Brown arrived bearing gifts for the children, Malia and Sasha. And they were really nice presents. A bit of thought had clearly gone into choosing them: Top Shop dresses (with matching necklaces) and a selection of books by British authors. Lovely.

Mrs Brown may have two boys but she certainly knows the way to a little girl’s heart. These were gifts chosen in the true spirit of present-giving: to please the recipient, not the giver.

In return Mrs Obama gave the Brown children, Fraser and John, two toy models of Marine One, the Presidential helicopter. Fair enough on the helicopter part, always a popular choice with small boys; but Marine One? It’s not as though anyone needs reminding that Barack Obama is President or that he has his own helicopter. Short of giving the boys Action Man models of her own husband smiting the evil forces of neoconservatism, Mrs Obama’s gesture could not have been more solipsistic or more inherently dismissive of Mrs Brown.

Not only did she demonstrate that she spent approximately three seconds contemplating the needs of the Brown boys (having an aide pop to the White House gift shop for a piece of merchandising does not imply a great deal of thought), she appeared to show a most uncharacteristic lapse of judgment.

As a person of the male persuasion I don't think Mrs. Obama's gift was all that bad. In fact, I have a model of Marine One and Air Force One sitting on my desk right now. I got mine at the Reagan Library. They are, however, admittedly inexpensive so I guess you could dismiss Mrs. Obama for a lack of effort.

However, I think the Brown boys will have a jolly good time with their Marine One choppers. They can pretend like they’re strafing Parliment (boys can make weapons out of anything).