An Open Letter to the People of Great Britain
Dear Friends
Our long relationship is one born in adventure, raised in fealty, matured in blood, but yet still lived for nearly two hundred years in close, brotherly friendship.
For decades American and British sons and daughters have stood together to face dangers from all across the globe. Side by side, sometimes back to back, our blood and tears have run together, soaking the ground of far-away continents and unforgiving battlefields.
Though Presidents and Prime Ministers may come and go, our friendship--our Resolute friendship--has endured unwavering.
It is with this rich, invaluable history in mind that I offer my sincerest apologies for the affronts recently perpetrated against Great Britain and her Prime Minister by the United States government and her current President. Though our media will neither report on nor even acknowledge these shameful events or our horrified reaction to them, please trust that the complicit silence of our media does not reflect an endorsement of these offensive acts by the American People.
The symbolic and heartfelt gift of the Churchill bust in the days following the 9-11-01 attacks on the United States was a clear, obvious, and loving gesture of solidarity during one of the darkest times in our history. President Bush displayed the bust proudly in the Oval Office, allowing it to stand as public reminder of who our friends truly are.
Why President Obama attempted to return the bust immediately after taking office is a question troubling to many of us. At first, it could be supposed that a simple misunderstanding of the piece's significance was to blame. However, the President still insisted that the bust be collected by the British Government even after its significance was well-established and explained--an act wholly contrary to the goodwill so long in place between our respective nations.
During the recent visit to the United States by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, there came time for the traditional exchange of gifts between the two principals. From the Prime Minister came a custom-crafted pen made from wood originally part of HMS Resolute. Resolute, herself a truly noble British vessel for the ages, played an integral part in the forging of the strong bond between us. The two Resolute Desks, also made from her wood, that stand today in the Oval Office and in the Queen's personal study signify the roots of our relationship. The gifted pen from Prime Minister Brown made a handsome statement, an affirmation that we would see to the future just as we had seen to the past.
President Obama's gift to the Prime Minister, as I am sure you know, two dozen DVD's of American movies. Farcically impersonal as well as technically useless--the discs not even formatted for your European players.
I am no fan of your Prime Minister or of his politics, which I believe are as ill-considered and destructive as those of our own new President. However, no matter who leads your government and no matter what their policies, that person should always receive the utmost care and respect at the hands of our President and government.
Please know that millions of Americans feel as I do, and that we are regretful and embarrassed at the recent actions of our President.
With Brotherhood.
May God Bless Great Britain and The United States of America.
Dear Friends
Our long relationship is one born in adventure, raised in fealty, matured in blood, but yet still lived for nearly two hundred years in close, brotherly friendship.
For decades American and British sons and daughters have stood together to face dangers from all across the globe. Side by side, sometimes back to back, our blood and tears have run together, soaking the ground of far-away continents and unforgiving battlefields.
Though Presidents and Prime Ministers may come and go, our friendship--our Resolute friendship--has endured unwavering.
It is with this rich, invaluable history in mind that I offer my sincerest apologies for the affronts recently perpetrated against Great Britain and her Prime Minister by the United States government and her current President. Though our media will neither report on nor even acknowledge these shameful events or our horrified reaction to them, please trust that the complicit silence of our media does not reflect an endorsement of these offensive acts by the American People.
The symbolic and heartfelt gift of the Churchill bust in the days following the 9-11-01 attacks on the United States was a clear, obvious, and loving gesture of solidarity during one of the darkest times in our history. President Bush displayed the bust proudly in the Oval Office, allowing it to stand as public reminder of who our friends truly are.
Why President Obama attempted to return the bust immediately after taking office is a question troubling to many of us. At first, it could be supposed that a simple misunderstanding of the piece's significance was to blame. However, the President still insisted that the bust be collected by the British Government even after its significance was well-established and explained--an act wholly contrary to the goodwill so long in place between our respective nations.
During the recent visit to the United States by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, there came time for the traditional exchange of gifts between the two principals. From the Prime Minister came a custom-crafted pen made from wood originally part of HMS Resolute. Resolute, herself a truly noble British vessel for the ages, played an integral part in the forging of the strong bond between us. The two Resolute Desks, also made from her wood, that stand today in the Oval Office and in the Queen's personal study signify the roots of our relationship. The gifted pen from Prime Minister Brown made a handsome statement, an affirmation that we would see to the future just as we had seen to the past.
President Obama's gift to the Prime Minister, as I am sure you know, two dozen DVD's of American movies. Farcically impersonal as well as technically useless--the discs not even formatted for your European players.
I am no fan of your Prime Minister or of his politics, which I believe are as ill-considered and destructive as those of our own new President. However, no matter who leads your government and no matter what their policies, that person should always receive the utmost care and respect at the hands of our President and government.
Please know that millions of Americans feel as I do, and that we are regretful and embarrassed at the recent actions of our President.
With Brotherhood.
May God Bless Great Britain and The United States of America.
posted by last one home at 7:43 PM
3 Comments:
Wow... Just wow...
I am utterly stunned to read this and thank you for writing it.
I'm Canadian and even I am embarrassed to find out that our neighbor's new leader is so, how shall I put this... pathetically tacky. How insulting to the British to have such a gift returned!
Ack.
And DVDs??? Does he think they don't have them accross the pond? It's just ridiculous. Just the idea of giving movies to a country's leader is just about the most assinine thing I've ever heard!
Sweet Lord...
Thanks.
Can we have our desk back now please?
Come on, I'm sure the return was done tactfully. It's not as if they gave us the bust to keep and put in a museum or something like that. It was loaned to Bush after 9/11. It was expected to be returned some day. Why not now? Obama certainly has personal reasons to be uneasy with Churchill sitting in the White House given what Churchill did to Kenya. Although I know many Americans like to ignore the mistakes that we and our leaders make and focus on only the good things (however few and far between those good things might have been).
And do you really believe that the Prime Minster of Great Britian wouldn't have access to a multi-region DVD player?
Post a Comment
<< Home