Confirmed: DVDs that Obama gave Gordon Brown are the wrong format
posted at 4:50 pm on March 19, 2009 by Allahpundit
Via Media Blog, one final cringeworthy indignity from the gifts that keep on giving. Until now I thought Obama’s team had spent about five minutes brainstorming on what to get Brown. I was wrong. It was more like two minutes.
What’s that term The One’s been using for his foreign policy? Ah, right. “Smart power.”
Alas, when the PM settled down to begin watching them the other night, he found there was a problem.
The films only worked in DVD players made in North America and the words “wrong region” came up on his screen. Although he mournfully had to put the popcorn away, he is unlikely to jeopardise the special relationship – or “special partnership”, as we are now supposed to call it – by registering a complaint…
A White House spokesman sniggered when I put the story to him and he was still looking into the matter when my deadline came last night.
By the way, when Obama’s unlikely gift was disclosed, a reader emailed me to ask if Clueless was among the films. Funnily enough, it was not.
What’d he get the Irish PM for St. Patrick’s Day, a kilt? Exit question: Seriously, as minor as this is, doesn’t someone deserve to be fired for it?
Update: Iowahawk e-mails to remind me that he called this 10 days ago, but, he says, “In Obama’s defense at least they weren’t Betamax.”
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »
Im smelling re-gift
VTWaldrup on March 19, 2009 at 5:24 PM
Please, clue Barry’s folks in. Tell them to send a power converter and outlet adapter, so the Browns can view the DVDs the Obamas gave them!
/Shhhh!
Christien on March 19, 2009 at 5:24 PM
That joke would have played in a British formatted blog.
Loxodonta on March 19, 2009 at 5:25 PM
Whoa! Obama gave the Brits DVDs on the NTSC format (National Television System Committee, or Never Twice the Same Color), when the Brits and much of the Commonwealth of Nations use PAL (Phase Alternating Line).
Kenya should be on PAL as well.
Ha! For a President who majored in International Relations at Columbia, he seems globally and woefully uninformed!
newton on March 19, 2009 at 5:25 PM
Obama must have forgotten to check with TOTUS.
TOTUS, LMAO
booter on March 19, 2009 at 5:26 PM
Wasn’t Obama suppose to be our hip, trendy, “geek” President?
Oy.
Enoxo on March 19, 2009 at 5:26 PM
Obama probably wasn’t too worried about making sure they were the right region, he was just happy to find a set with subtitles.
And the Telegraph deserves props for the article title:
Gordon Brown is frustrated by ‘Psycho’ in No 10
29Victor on March 19, 2009 at 5:27 PM
You know, he must know they have different formats over there.
When he went to Europe he would’ve had to get a Teleprompter that uses DC electrical current, as opposed to AC
jp on March 19, 2009 at 5:27 PM
Anyone know what the gifts for the wives were?
SheofTwoMinds on March 19, 2009 at 5:27 PM
Oh man, just when I thought I couldn’t be more embarrassed by this clown in the White House….
What a joke
Norwegian on March 19, 2009 at 5:27 PM
Funny, I heard they were Laserdiscs.
TheBigOldDog on March 19, 2009 at 5:27 PM
It’s odd that Obama’s Teleprompter didn’t warn him about the region problem when TOTUS interfaces with DVD players on a regular basis. It seems like there’s a rift developing and the TOTUS wants Obama to fail.
econavenger on March 19, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Ya know i thought “no way they would not know about the difference in regions and we would learn that they were the correct region.” I gave them too much credit.
Greed on March 19, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Yup, the JournoList slurs would write themselves:
Senile Old Man Doesn’t Understand Technology: Grampa McCain Gives Unplayable DVDs. Symptomatic of A Broken Foreign Policy?
And oh, how they’d throw it at Palin, too. “You mean Caribou Barbie didn’t know they’d need PAL DVDs? What a ditz! You’d think someone who loves shopping as much as she does would know!”
The McCain/Palin Administration has made us a laughingstock in Europe!
Kensington on March 19, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Ed, youngTXcon and myself called this 14 days ago when this was first posted.
carbon_footprint on March 19, 2009 at 5:30 PM
I will send the PM my old VHS tapes
Tremmy on March 19, 2009 at 5:31 PM
Our Ministry of Information is in full suppression mode. Anyone know of video of the Irish PM/Obama/teleprompter farce?
ddrintn on March 19, 2009 at 5:32 PM
Just rebuilding
America’sAmerika’s image in the world.darwin-t on March 19, 2009 at 5:34 PM
We should make a spectle out of this, especially since the MSM will not cover this and if they do in any sort of negative way like they would had Bush done it.
jp on March 19, 2009 at 5:34 PM
I’m not sure which is more mind-boggling: the incompetence or the arrogance. Anyone care to vote?
redfoxbluestate on March 19, 2009 at 5:35 PM
I suspect most people here were aware of the speculation… the story is the confirmation.
malclave on March 19, 2009 at 5:36 PM
We have to choose?
HornetSting on March 19, 2009 at 5:36 PM
If we were liberals, we would make a website saying we are sorry and take our pictures.
“Sorry World”
Given United Kingdom’s history and our relationship to them, and Obama’s background in the radical “Anti-Imperialism” stupidity that is rampant. It really makes you wonder if this wasn’t on purpose, along with sending Churchill back to them.
He probably hates “British Imperialism” and all the good it has spread throughout the world.
jp on March 19, 2009 at 5:36 PM
Yep, I was just commenting toward Ed’s update about Iowahawk calling this 10 days ago.
carbon_footprint on March 19, 2009 at 5:37 PM
Right you are – equal measures of both!
redfoxbluestate on March 19, 2009 at 5:37 PM
A little from column A…. a little from column B….
29Victor on March 19, 2009 at 5:37 PM
I love the headline to the article though:
Ahhh, the British. LOL
ddrintn on March 19, 2009 at 5:38 PM
All of the above.
Knucklehead on March 19, 2009 at 5:40 PM
Did you know that, on top of every other protocol failure, Gordon Brown is going blind?
Buy Danish on March 19, 2009 at 5:40 PM
Merci beaucoup.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on March 19, 2009 at 5:41 PM
You NeoCons know that the EvilBushitler was the stupid one, right?
John D on March 19, 2009 at 5:41 PM
Yawn… wake me up when the movie is over.
WHAT!
bigskinny on March 19, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Democrats? Fired?
ddrintn on March 19, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Guess I will have to get a bittorrent file and download
a version that plays.
bigskinny on March 19, 2009 at 5:44 PM
Right now, I’d like to dedicated “Nobody Does it Better” to our president.
herrevery on March 19, 2009 at 5:44 PM
I pointed this out immediately. What buffoons.
marklmail on March 19, 2009 at 5:44 PM
What’s the correct DVD format for someone who is almost blind, I wonder?
DarkKnight3565 on March 19, 2009 at 5:46 PM
So what should Obama get Brown for his next visit?
I’m thinking a book of Carl’s Jr. gift certificates.
29Victor on March 19, 2009 at 5:47 PM
remember when bush was in china and door was locked and he couldn’t get out. MSM kept playing clip over and over and over.
So where are the clips of Obama’s teleprompter faultering.
Where are the stories about this insult to the British?
jp on March 19, 2009 at 5:47 PM
Well, we are now 60 days into this ass clown’s presidency, and things have never looked so good for the GOP. In fact, all the GOP has to do is keep breathing, and the dems will lose by default in 2012, not to mention 2010.
Obama is like the Messiah. What he giveth, he also taketh away. Like obama himself said during the campaign, people project onto him what they want him to be. He’s a tabula rasa. A blank slate. He admitted to that. He thought that was a selling point. That is why he won. What they didn’t realize was that he really is blank inside. Once he shows himself to be the idiot socialist he is, that projection will cease. And if that doesn’t do it to make him a footnote in American presidential history, the second Great Depression certainly will.
keep the change on March 19, 2009 at 5:48 PM
Dear Leader must be shown in the most glorious light.
ddrintn on March 19, 2009 at 5:50 PM
Tacky AND stupid. Can it get any better than this?
capitalist piglet on March 19, 2009 at 5:50 PM
Brown has the same identical eye problems that I do. The correct format is to sit 2 feet away from my big screen TV and a foot away from the computer……with my coke bottle glasses.
Knucklehead on March 19, 2009 at 5:51 PM
You may be a domestic terrorist fro the critiqing of The One
larvcom on March 19, 2009 at 5:52 PM
It’s incompetence due to arrogance. Arrogant people think that if they don’t know something, it’s because it’s not worth knowing. Therefore, they miss out on innumerable learning opportunities.
SheofTwoMinds on March 19, 2009 at 5:53 PM
there’s a good post on Big Hollywood about how the GOP needs to play hardball and paint Obama as dumb with this stuff.
its exactly what the MSM and Dems did with bush, every single chance they got.
jp on March 19, 2009 at 5:55 PM
Gordon Brown is frustrated by ‘Psycho’ in No 10
Brits’ wit is the best.
INC on March 19, 2009 at 5:57 PM
Stephen Hawking is coming to visit the White House, and Obama has already picked out a lovely pair of tap shoes.
Jim Treacher on March 19, 2009 at 6:01 PM
AP, you can tell IowaHawk that one of your readers called it ELEVEN days ago.
This one lofted toward the batter like a hard-thrown wiffle ball:
unclesmrgol on March 19, 2009 at 6:03 PM
The O is winnin’ all kinds of confidence votes all over the world, eh? – NOT!
CynicalOptimist on March 19, 2009 at 6:05 PM
Best Administration, evah! Just chock full of intelligentsia.
White House bathroom’s probably have posted instructions on how to wipe your ass.
GarandFan on March 19, 2009 at 6:07 PM
He’s got more than one?
unclesmrgol on March 19, 2009 at 6:08 PM
Shoulda’ read before posting.
beat me by four days.
unclesmrgol on March 19, 2009 at 6:10 PM
In happier times, this was how wars started.
TexasDan on March 19, 2009 at 6:15 PM
Give em one o them triple-decker bus rides to see London Bridge e will.
hawkdriver on March 19, 2009 at 6:17 PM
This why I am so rapidly turning off politics and turning into a dude who wishes to live in a cabin on Baffin Island and eat whale blubber: Imagine the hours of fun Bill Maher and John Stewart and The MSDNC crew would have if Bush had done something this thoughtless and embarrassing.
Janene whats-her-name and the dude from West Wing would be on Maher’s show non-stop for months, puking blood with anger and ridicule. Bush would be Olby’s WPITW in perpetuity.
On top of that, we’d see innumerable screeds and rants from Beltway-to-NYC elites offering sage Ivy-league warnings about what a dumbass Bush was and how this will “needlessly hurt our relations with an important ally.”
As it is, you wont see one second of chastisement of the Diaper Dandy about this from any of the media types I mentioned.
Obama’s “What if Bush Had Done It?” moments are stacking up like bodies outside the Kremlin after one of Stalin’s infamous Vodka orgies.
Mike D. on March 19, 2009 at 6:18 PM
I just hope they get the right size.
Loxodonta on March 19, 2009 at 6:18 PM
See how this outfit works, they probably had the clerk at Best Buy fired.
BigWyo on March 19, 2009 at 6:20 PM
BTW, this doesn’t mean his administration is going to have a hard time retasking the satellites to fool the terrorists in the desert training camp right before the big attack does it?
(apologies to Mr. Clancy)
hawkdriver on March 19, 2009 at 6:21 PM
If he doesn’t know how many states are in the U.S., how can he be expected to know technical details such as video format?
Laddy on March 19, 2009 at 6:24 PM
President of the World … FAIL!!
ihasurnominashun on March 19, 2009 at 6:25 PM
Wow.
Just wow.
Embarrassing is the least word to describe this.
Magnus on March 19, 2009 at 6:35 PM
Not to split hairs hawk, but London Bridge is in Arizona.
thomasaur on March 19, 2009 at 6:37 PM
And they only have “double”-decker buses in Great Briton wink wink
hawkdriver on March 19, 2009 at 6:41 PM
I just hope when Chancellor Merkel visits he can keep from mentioning the war.
29Victor on March 19, 2009 at 6:42 PM
Obama knew that.
ScottMcC on March 19, 2009 at 6:43 PM
For a tech president, he sure is dumb about technology. I have bought DVDs from Australia so I have the same #$&^@! region problem.
HotAirJosef on March 19, 2009 at 6:43 PM
Aw, you got me too. 8 P
thomasaur on March 19, 2009 at 6:43 PM
I heard he’s inviting the Israeli ambassador over for a nice Passover Ham.
TheUnrepentantGeek on March 19, 2009 at 6:58 PM
Thanks, I watched the whole wretched scene.
I notice the Leprichaun is played by Warwick Davis , who played the Ewok Wicket in Return of the Jedi. This may sound cruel, but he desveres his fate.
I heard Barry got him a rad new skateboard!
omnipotent on March 19, 2009 at 7:01 PM
Aren’t these the same people who were complaining about the White House’s archaic technological systems?
At least Bush’s staff knew how to set the clock on a VCR.
The Ugly American on March 19, 2009 at 7:03 PM
FAIL
MarcusBrody on March 19, 2009 at 7:03 PM
Corrine Brown (D, FL) further embarrassing the country. This is really a must watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N2uQ7Fg_Uk
brogers on March 19, 2009 at 7:15 PM
Finally a President who can really make us look good in the eyes of other nations.
Speakup on March 19, 2009 at 7:17 PM
Should have added a 120 Volt electronic device to the gift bag. Shows how much this administration knows about the world.
Was the inauguration DVD included as well?
JayJay123 on March 19, 2009 at 7:19 PM
The White House and the Executive Branch are both full of career employees whose job it is to prevent this sort of thing from happening.
So, I need somebody here to convince me that Barack Obama really is that incredibly stupid and pig-headed to avoid all the professionals whose job this is, and that this was not a deliberate demolition of the US-British relationship. ‘Cause the more I think about it, the more it appears to me that his daughters couldn’t have been that stupid. Even Biden couldn’t have been that stupid. This has to be deliberate.
And if it’s deliberate — boy, he did a great job of telling the Brits that they didn’t matter as much to him as the paper he uses in the toilet. But… what does that say about his intentions?
philwynk on March 19, 2009 at 7:23 PM
It says that he truely thinks no one will fault anything he does – so if he wants to flip off our allies – so what? Remember HE WON.
katiejane on March 19, 2009 at 7:27 PM
Getalife will be along any moment to prove that this is George W. Bush’s fault.
Or something like that.
Conservative_SAHM on March 19, 2009 at 7:28 PM
OOOOHHHH No! This debacle with the most loyal of America’s allies is the gift that will haunt the entire administration of the filthy liar from the January 20th to the end which (hopefully) will result in a prison sentence.
highhopes on March 19, 2009 at 7:38 PM
As Jeff G. just said: Because so far, [Obama] may as well be wearing big floppy shoes a red nose and trying to stuff a record number of his “team” into a Volkswagon Beetle.
Perhaps like this or this or this.
Hey maybe that Jeremiah Wright? I can’t keep these players straight anymore.
Mr. Joe on March 19, 2009 at 7:39 PM
As Jeff G. just said: Because so far, he may as well be wearing big floppy shoes a red nose and trying to stuff a record number of his “team” into a Volkswagon Beetle.
Mr. Joe on March 19, 2009 at 7:39 PM
Perhaps like this or this or this.
Or is that Jeremiah Wright? I can’t keep these players straight anymore.
Mr. Joe on March 19, 2009 at 7:40 PM
Next gift to the Brits- a “Reset Button” which hopefully won’t be misspelled. This time.
highhopes on March 19, 2009 at 7:40 PM
The Peter Principle incarnate.
technopeasant on March 19, 2009 at 7:42 PM
What really happened.
geckomon on March 19, 2009 at 7:44 PM
+1!
ProudPalinFan on March 19, 2009 at 7:45 PM
I wonder if Joe Biden chose the DVD’s and he thought he was giving them to Winston Churchill who was scheduled to appear with Harry Truman in Fulton, Missouri and could view them while relaxing before and after the speech.
technopeasant on March 19, 2009 at 7:46 PM
Let me see, didn’t this wittle “woman” cross dressing blogger of ours write a glowing post election write up on the messiah Obama’s first coming?
Sucking up air never felt so good did it Walla Wpundit?
On his second coming (2012) do ou want to try it again?
Mcguyver on March 19, 2009 at 8:01 PM
Yes, when it is revealed that PM Brown only has a Blu-ray player.
Apparently he’s been getting his energy policy mixed up with the foreign policy stuff. Aren’t we supposed to be driving cars powered on “Smart Power” and baby farts?
unwashed minion on March 19, 2009 at 8:06 PM
Don’t worry. Vivek Kundra’s office posted a request on Sourceforge for a free open source DVD ripper program the White House can send to 10 Downing Street.
Preferably a Mac version, but Linux is okay too–the Brits have Linux, don’t they?
ScottMcC on March 19, 2009 at 8:13 PM
That’s one issue, though most DVD players have no problem playing both NTSC and PAL these days. The issue is the Digital Rights Management (DRM) built into DVD players that prevent them from playing DVDs made for one region in another region. For example, the DVDs given were from North America (Region 1), so they would have the region 1 code. England, I think (could easily be wrong) is Region 2. So DVD players in England (which are set to play only Region 2 coded DVDs) will refuse to play a Region 1 DVD. NTSC vs. PAL has nothing to do with it.
In case anyone isn’t totally bored with this minutia, the whole reason behind this region coding is because the movie industry wants to be able to sell DVDs here, without cutting into the potential profit of releasing a movie in the theaters somewhere else in the world at some later date.
taznar on March 19, 2009 at 8:15 PM
Probably Bootleg copies bought off the street in Chicago from his ACORN Homies.
old trooper2 on March 19, 2009 at 8:16 PM
Comment pages: « Previous 1 2 3 4 Next »