Screw Reagan!
President Barack Obama has shown, over the past 2 and a half years, an amazing amount of contempt for Great Britain. From the earliest days in the White House, Obama sent the bust of Winston Churchill packing. He traded gifts with the Royal Family, giving them ipods of all things. Then, the lack of manners and customary protocol in the quasi-groping of the Queen by the First Lady. A possible simple mistake, but a lack of protocol and respect nonetheless. Fast forward a few years, and you have the worst toast in the history of the world, again showing his lack of manners and protocol – but now showing an odd willingness not to care about such things in regard to England.
Most recently, however, the insult to England has international implications. This weekend, as America celebrated Independence Day, a statue of President Ronald Reagan was unveiled in London. Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others were on hand for the dedication. The bronze statue sits in the same park as a statue dedicated to the memory of Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, which was dedicated in 1989 by the Iron Lady herself, Margaret Thatcher. The Reagan statue is part of the world-wide celebrations celebrating the centennial of Reagan’s birth.
That night, a dinner was held in honor of Reagan. It capped a day of events that celebrated the life and extraordinary achievements of the 40th President of the United States. Yet, missing from the dinner – clearly the biggest event of the day – was United States Ambassador Louis Susman. While he did host a VIP breakfast that morning, Susman was absent from the grandest event, where speeches were given and the memory of Reagan was put forth – reminding everyone of his impact, and his legacy.
Once again, Obama and his cronies can’t think their way out of a ripped-open paper bag. First, the appointment of Susman as Ambassador to England shows the level of disregard Obama has for these positions and engagements. While promising during the election to fill ambassadorships with top level people, Susman got the job (in very large part) to the fact that he was a long-time Democratic fundraiser, spending a decade on the DNC and working on both the Kerry campaign in 2004 and Obama’s run in 2008. The Huffington Post was crowing about this back in 2008 (including a requisite dig at former President George Bush:
…the big-money types and “bundlers,” the fundraisers who helped put together Obama’s stunning financial advantage, are expecting their reward — say a nice, cushy ambassadorship in Rome or Paris or London…But the chatter is that they’d better not count on it. The traditional sale of most ambassadorships, so aptly carried on during the Bush administration, may not continue…
Second, what could the Ambassador to England have on his schedule that is more important than attending a celebration and commemoration of a US president? Isn’t this, in part, part of the job? When a foreign country goes out of its way to honor your country, doesn’t that give you a unique leverage that should be capitalized on? Doesn’t it follow that the only way to capitalize on it is to actually be there?
From all reports, Susman was not sick, stricken with illness or involved in a really intense game of Farmville. He simply didn’t show up, as the representative of the United States, to an event honoring one of the greatest presidents in US history. Susman didn’t show up to honor the long standing relationship that the US and Great Britain have; one that solidified in World War II, and was made stronger through the Cold War and its eventual end — and end that was percipitated by the man they were there to honor! The event itself served British lamb and California chardonnay…not a coincidence, but a reminder of that relationship.
The London Evening Standard reported this quote from the event:
“Our ambassador should be here,” said Lynn de Rothschild, the American entrepreneur who is married to Sir Evelyn de Rothschild and was one of Hillary Clinton’s key fundraisers in 2008 as well as a supporter of several Republican presidential candidates. “This was an historic dinner to mark Reagan’s centenary and to celebrate him as the man who ended the Cold War. What could not be more important?
This says it all. The event wasn’t about politics, or partisanship. It was about the recognition that the world is a better place because Ronald Reagan helped make it a better place. Not just for Republicans or Conservatives, but for all people, in every corner of the world.
Obama doesn’t care about that, and the skipping of the event by Susman proves it. Obama is beyond partisan. He is a manipulative ideologue. And Susman’s no-show at the event speaks very loud and very clear. It says, “Screw Reagan.”
We say, “2012.”
I don’t think the British will miss Obama.
Amazing how the people complaining loudly of cronyism during the Bush years are dead silent on this issue now.
Obama dislikes the USA just as much as he dislikes the UK. This is no surprise.
And, like here, the UK has more than its share of residents who hate the country they live in. Its a very sad sign of the times.
Reagan has a legacy so distorted by the Conservative idolization of him that we may never have a clear picture of the real man behind the television. Did he rid the world of commie scum? Check out my portrait of The Gipper in commemoration of his 100th birthday at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.com/2011/02/happy-100th-gipper.html
Brandt you are, in part, what’s wrong with America.
Your shameless plug into your worthless and untalented art is a prime example of just how useless you are.
You are someone who cannot think outside of the paper sack your socialist leaders have placed over your head. For some unfathomable reason, you are unable to realize you have a sack over your head or, even worse, you are complacent.
Either way, you and your leaders seek only to tear down instead of build up. Apparently you think that is how progress is made. Apparently, you are a dumbass.
You see, the problem is this.
Americans don’t read. Or at least they don’t read what they need to read.
We had a Democrat candidate who’d (supposedly) written a couple books.
“Oooh, he’s an AUTHOR, he must be INTELLECTUAL…”
Well, I’m betting that not one in a hundred American voters who pulled the lever for Barack Obama ever read ‘Dreams From My Father’.
I did, and it took me maybe half an hour to conclude that he and I had irreconcilable worldviews. And that especially included his position on Reagan and Reagan’s term in the White House.
I find it interesting that Obamas defenders will respond to incompetent cronyism stories like these, with a defense that “well, Bush, and other US presidents, did the same things”, when the whole point of their campaign was that they would NOT do it the way Bush did, and they were better than that. But now of course we know that was a line for the rubes. Obama has carried cronyism, politicization, and incompetance far beyond anything Bush had ever done. That is a large part of the intense reaction against Obama, especially by independents. Not that his administrration is so crappy, but that their 2008 campaign was built on so many extravagant promises, that we now know he had no intention of meeting. Of course I knew from the start that his campaign was false, but many independents did not.
This is just another indication that the White House realizes that any chance of running as some sort of moderate is gone. They’ve decided that this is a base election, and they are going to do whatever it takes to get their guy elected. If it means denigrating Reagan, that’s cool (“We hated him anyway!”). If it means playing the race card against any Republican, that’s OK. (“EVERYONE who’s anyone knows they are!”). If trashing the economy seems like a good idea at the time, go for it. (“The bitter clingers won’t bother to vote anyway, they’re too stupid to be allowed to live.”) It’s going to be a long time until November 2012.
Obama, a narcissist, appointed a syncophant to be ambassador to a country he believes beneath his attention. This is yet another example of a small man finding even a smaller man to work for him so that neither does his job well and the appointee does not quibble about being being expected to disgrace his country on the altar of Party partisanship. Reagan was head and shoulders above Obama and this move is just another example of how Obama not only lacks class, he is totally clueless on how to honor the hero that ended the Cold War. What a sad commentary on our Country that sufficient people voted for “Hope” and got “Present” instead of a President.
“And Susman’s no-show at the event speaks very loud and very clear. It says, “Screw Reagan.”
It says “screw the United States of America” IMO. The same message we get from all the leftists.
@#4. Don’t give up your day job. I’ve seen better “art” painted on t-shirts at Six Flags.
Chardonnay with lamb???
I would have been hesitant to attend. Maybe if they had served a full-bodied Cab or Zinfandel from California the dinner would not have been so offensive.
Seriously, the Democrats never miss an opportunity to both politicize and personally attack any who differ from the party line. A lot like Stalinists in that regard…
This was not an unforced error. This was intentional. He was invited. He declined to attend, pleading scheduling conflicts. Here’s how I know it was intentional.
Who was at the unveiling of the statue? Honoring our country and one of our Presidents? British bigwigs? A dinner? Priority #1.
But he attended a luncheon earlier in the day honoring the centenary! This was a lower priority event. Fig leaf.
Here’s the intentional smoking gun. He could have sent SOMEBODY to fill in, some representative of his office,if there were really something more important going on. Protocol requires it, but he did not send someone. Also, one does not plead unnamed scheduling conflicts, as if you are trying to avoid some dull meeting. You have to name the event you are attending, so others can see how you cannot attend.
I understand it to some degree. Would I want to attend some unveiling of a statue to Obama? No. Still, it’s the guy’s job. Well, maybe not. It may be his job to snub Britain wherever he can. The British know it’s a snub, I can guarantee that.
Maybe someone should tell that guy that he should reconsider raising money for Democrats, because this is what it looks like in the end. Nice work, dumbass! Well, I imagine his wife has been telling him exactly that.
This is typical of the “rage against my allowance” types now in control of our government. They are hacks who don’t get the concept of duty and loyalty, and make a joke out of our Nation’s institutions on a daily basis. The US Ambassador to any country is the DIRECT REPRESENTATIVE OF THE PRESIDENT. Should (God forbid) teh won and Say it ain’t so Joe be run over by a high speed train or have a safe full of newly borrowed dollars fall on them, the Ambassador’s job would be to faithfully represent President Boehner until properly relieved. That is his duty. I don’t think Comrade Susman understands any of that, being the craven political apparatchik that he is.
Despicable
Nihilistic
Contemptible
Surely the majority of Democrat voters are realizing that they do not buy into this crap…if only they were aware of it.
Barry “The Weasel” –if only it was a statue of Karl — then they could represent !
PamK has it exactly right: we have a sycophant working for a narcissist.
I think even Bill Clinton wouldn’t have made this mistake — whether or not he liked Reagan, he would have realized this made him look petty. His ambassador would have made some polite left-center tribute to Reagan and left the over-the-top stuff to the Thatcherites.
While the British media picked up on the snub, the US MSM is covering for the Anointed One. The NYT makes it sound like Susman participated in the celebration.
Petty people do not know they are petty.
Obama and his lackey Susman are exactly in character. None should be surprised the guy wouldn’t show to honor a great man and President? Both follow the Obama doctrine which states, It shall be in the interest of the United States not to act in the interest of the United States.