Is Obama snubbing another foreign leader?

Fri, 03/13/2009 - 9:40am

After the Gordon Brown debacle, you would think the White House would put a little more thought into planning for visits by visiting heads of state. But Brazil is already grumbling about the treatment of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who will sit down with Obama this weekend and is the first Latin American leader to visit the White House under the new administration.

Silva aides said the trip was pushed forward from Tuesday because of the St. Patrick's Day holiday - making Latin America once again look like an afterthought. Then, the White House announcement misspelled his name as "Luis Ignacio" and put "Lula" - a nickname that decades ago became a legal part of the Brazilian leader's name - in quotes.

I'm sure he'll feel better when he gets his DVDs.

I know Obama's got bigger things to worry about, but there is a whole office of protocol that's supposed to take care of these things. If they can put together a Stevie Wonder concert, they should be able to arrange White House visits from the world's most important leaders with a little more class than this.

Joshua Keating | Permalink | | Comments? Login or register
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Obama the technocrat

by jgarzik on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 10:16am

Throughout the campaign, and now post-election season, it was my impression that Obama simply does not care that much about observing the details of protocol required of all POTUS's.

Viewed through my own "lens" as a software engineer, I can see how the observation of protocol could be viewed as a waste of time to a technocrat, who Just Wants To Get Things Done.

Unfortunately, that simply does not suit the stature of the office. Major issues requiring global diplomacy demand far more attention than a multi-tasking, distracted president can give, it seems.

Jeff @ Armchair FP

(and no, conspiracy theorists, I did not vote for McCain)

right...

by Joshua Keating on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 12:46pm
but it's not like he has to run out of his meeting with Larry Summers to write invitations and buy presents. There's a protocol office so that he doesn't have think about this stuff. They're not making him look very good right now.

If anything...

by Curious observer on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 12:03pm

...Brazil is even more important in the emerging order of things than Great Britain. I'd want to stay on the good side of a country in our own hemisphere, teeming with natural resources, with ambitions to be a regional leader... even more than an vestigial empire that's nearly a century past peak and whose pathetic finance sector was (incredibly) even more levered up than our own.

A DVD box would be a curious gift...

by brandizzi on Fri, 03/13/2009 - 12:40pm

Some years ago, President Silva was embarrased after saying that have watched the successful Brazilian film "Dois Filhos de Francisco". The problem is, he watched the film DVD in the official plane but the film was not released in DVD yet - so, he watched a pirate copy. I'm not still sure if a DVD box would be a good gift or a bad gift in this context...

dont understand why

by ndass on Sat, 03/14/2009 - 10:15am

there had to be pomp and glamour when it came to the reception of UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Former President Bush set a precedent by "rewarding" friendly leaders by inviting them to his ranch. UK didnt serve the US well by joining us in the misbegotten war with Iraq and by torturing their citizens on our behalf.

schadenfraude

by AllanGreen on Mon, 03/16/2009 - 8:18am

I am a gadfly when it comes to badmouthing this kid from Chicago. I've been pretty consistent in predicting he would be a total flop. So far, that's exactly what he is. Just wait for it to get worst. Because it will.