We’re less than two months into the Obama administration, and already there’s more than enough grist for one of those scavenger-hunt feature stories, or maybe an entire coffee-table book, on “Where are they now?” You know the genre — the lists of icons, props, characters, all past their 15 minute shelf-life in the headlines and consigned to the oblivion of last week’s news cycle, or even the ancient history of last year… “We are the change we seek” (haven’t heard that lately); the fake stage columns at the Denver convention; Tom Daschle, Rev. Wright, Tony Rezko, Bill Ayers (well, actually, in his own special way, Ayers keeps turning up…and so does Wright).
The latest candidates for this Obama scrapbook are two inanimate objects – recent tokens of diplomacy-made-new (both of them swiftly disappeared from public view). They are President Obama’s offering to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown of a boxed DVD set of 25 “classic American movies,” and Hillary’s gift of a mistranslated “Reset” button for Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
We’ve all read about the awkward encounters in which these items were with handed over. But where are they now? What did Gordon Brown do with the Obama presidential-gift DVD set? (The U.K.’s Daily Mail has the full list of the movies ). Is he tucked up with the Chancellor of the Exchequer at 10 Downing Street for a marathon and timely viewing of Vertigo, Sunset Boulevard and Star Wars: Episode IV?” Did he quietly donate the DVDs to Oxfam? Offer them to the collection at the Tower of London? Or is he maybe using them — as I once used a copy of Das Kapital — to prop open a malfunctioning window? If anyone knows, it ought to be the Daily Mail, which reports only that “his reaction to the box set is unknown.”
As for Hillary’s gift to Lavrov of a toy Reset button, with its gaffe of a label and its unfortunate resemblance to a detonator – once the FSB gets done checking this item for implanted eavesdropping devices, what will Lavrov do with it? Cherish it on his desk as a sample of American diplomatic juvenilia? Install it among the treasures of the Kremlin? Give it to the Spetznaz to play with?
Who knows? But I have an vision of that Reset button resonating somewhere down the line, like “Rosebud” in that vast warehouse of debris and disillusion at the end of Citizen Kane. It’s a chilling vision. If you don’t remember that final scene in the movie, ask Gordon Brown. It’s in his boxed set.
Hello Claudia,
I’ve come to the conclusion that this (political, economic, moral gaffes (whether intentional or unintentional) simply boils down to a grab for raw power.
I am the organizer of the Vancouver Washington Pork Protest, and people ask me what these protests against the stimulus bill and (insert your own litany of reckless government spending plans here) will accomplish. The purpose of the protests is to wrest power away from callous elected officials in 2010 and 2012). I am heartened that the protest in Fullerton drew 8,000 to 15,000 protesters.
I appreciate your dogged perseverance in informing us about the UN, State Department and other subjects. We will slog on. Victory is far away, but it is coming closer.
Thanks,
Laine Johnson
Claudia, you have been clearly confused by the administration’s Chauncey Gardiner gifts to prominent people. Chauncey likes to watch.
Here is a hint. Go to your family room coffee table or bedroom nightstand and grab the universal remote. Begin looking closely at the buttons. Imagine that you create gifts from each button. Voila! You have our entire plan for domestic policy and foreign relations.
1)”DVR list” This pesky historical tie to Mother England has run its course. The new motherland is someplace else. Not sure if “Being There” was on the list. But “Go Back There” was clearly the message.
2)”Reset”. This message is self-explanatory. If you are having trouble with the message, Bill Ayers, Frank Marshall Davis, Michael Klonsky can explain it to us. Or the KGB. Or, as with most newfangled things, any four year old.
3)”Mute” This button has been handed to Rush Limbaugh. And Sean Hannity. And in a Fairness Doctrine coming soon in your neighborhood, you may receive your very own. There was a time when I thought Joe Biden might get one, but apparently not.
4)”Return” Malley, Power, Brzezinski, Rashid Khalidi, and the aforementioned Klonsky at one time during the campaign made to disappear. Not sure whether Wright received his yet or not.
5)”Edit/Learn” Given to the entrenched media, academia and Hollywood. Apply to facts, photos, truth. Liberally.
6)”Split” Given to “cowards” and “the rich”…you can’t have a good class or racial warfare without putting names on the uniforms of the opposition.
7)”Unwind” Given to Wall Street and the Dow. Income redistribution apparently means we lose our 401k’s (and our granddaddy’s 401ks, according to Dear Friend Pfleger), our nest eggs, our retirement funds, our life savings…and the Chinese get the interest on whatever’s left!
8)”Select” This went to anyone with a tax problem. And, apparently…nobody in the 11 positions beneath the Treasury Secretary.
9)”Exit” This one was sent to Iraq, not sure if “Enter” is intended for Afghanistan or Pakistan. (Guantanamo was sent “Freeze” by mistake, I believe)
10)”Power” This one…oh, yeah…this one…stays right where it is. Never to be given or shared with anyone or anything…ever. Except maybe if Pelosi sleeps over.
What Do You Do With Last Week’s “Reset” Button?
Follow the directions on the button – turn it to the right!