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
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Kensington, you’ve got a great idea.
Since half the people don’t know who the President and Vice-President are anyway, we should just pretend that McCain and Palin won the election. Then, as you say, just let the bylines rip:
“McCain thanks himself for inviting Irish Prime Minister to White House for St. Patrick’s day.”
“Palin threatens to ride into every town in America that wastes stimulus money.”
When the prescient remind us that McCain and Palin did not win the election, we can respond, “Oh. But those things really happened, didn’t they?”
Stepan on March 19, 2009 at 8:18 PM
Not blue ray?
getalife on March 19, 2009 at 8:19 PM
I was wondering about that myself. After all, they dissed the Brits earlier when they gave them back Churchill’s bust.
Either way, its embarrassing in the extreme.
-Dave
Dave R. on March 19, 2009 at 8:25 PM
Most likely.
Upstater85 on March 19, 2009 at 8:28 PM
i’m sure this has already been said, but what a dumb s***
kelley in virginia on March 19, 2009 at 8:28 PM
What? What? Who? Which one? Uh… hmmm…
Upstater85 on March 19, 2009 at 8:30 PM
Obama is Amateur Hour? I think even less than Amateur Hour. At least the guys on Amateur Hour did their homework and put their best foot forward. This Obama performance is an unready-for-prime-time embarrassment.
Worse than embarrassing us, it looks like Obama’s engineering the end to America as we know it.
petefrt on March 19, 2009 at 8:33 PM
What can you expect from an administration this incompetent?
mad scientist on March 19, 2009 at 8:37 PM
A DVD is a DVD. Did they not have a picture on the case and on the DVD and the list of the cast and crew on them? Did it not say Dolby Digital or something like that as well? Was there no synopsis of the movie on the case? What more do you want? wHAT? THE DVD TO PLAY!!
OneConservative on March 19, 2009 at 8:38 PM
I see a pattern here………
Seven Percent Solution on March 19, 2009 at 8:42 PM
And Obama’s been given the nuclear launch codes?
BuckeyeSam on March 19, 2009 at 8:43 PM
Wow, we just passed a bill out of the House that will force conscripted service on Americans and we get this useless post?
The world is ganging up against the Dollar and pushing for world currency, the UN just kicked it to the curb today and we are worried about DVD’s?
The MIAC report is exposed (days after we conspiracy kooks discovered and tried to warn the “conservatives”), a draconian report that targets law abiding militias, Libertarians, and Ron Paul supporters as domestic terrorists, and we worry about insulting Gordon Brown?
I love this place and dig some of the posts, but I see why we are in such trouble, we just don’t pay attention to the important things that are occurring right underneath our nose.
Wake Up America!
True_King on March 19, 2009 at 8:49 PM
Leftists…
If they weren’t embarrassed by the killing field of Cambodia, they won’t be embarrassed by this tool…
phreshone on March 19, 2009 at 8:50 PM
One more embarrassment. Hey, what can you expect? He told his kool-aid drinkers today not to expect too much out of the government.
Did anyone see this? Of course it’s already being deemed as “racial” rather than a merely a vote of no confidence for someone that hasn’t “earned” the honor suggested…
Georgia House Republicans Block Obama Honor
SassyDarlin on March 19, 2009 at 8:51 PM
bbbbut Facebook says his IQ is 125…/sarc
bluelightbrigade on March 19, 2009 at 8:56 PM
So much for having a near-foreign president who lived overseas and understands other cultures so well and all that other rubbish.
Maquis on March 19, 2009 at 8:58 PM
Didn’t Hillary give the Red Button to the Ruskies?
Maquis on March 19, 2009 at 8:59 PM
Ready to lead from Day 1 alright.
Browncoatone on March 19, 2009 at 9:03 PM
Mark Steyn on the DVD fiasco: He’d joked about this, not believing that the WH would be so clueless as to send the wrong format, but now he wonders what the British brand of payback will be:
INC on March 19, 2009 at 9:10 PM
It’s worse. Many players will let you change region codes, but only a few times (usually three). The idea is that if you take your dvd player to a new country, you can reset its region code to match that of your new residence (the assumption: you aren’t taking your library with you). Once you have reached the change limit for a player, you cannot again change the region code — the current one is permanent.
On early players, there was a trace on the circuit board you could cut to allow an infinite number of region changes, but they’ve long ago wised up to that — the stuff is now in an ASIC so you can’t fool the player by messing with the circuit board; cutting traces now means bricking the player.
All this stuff was done in an era where DVD players were a few hundred dollars apiece. Now, with players hovering at the $30-50 range, you could buy and dedicate one for each region.
unclesmrgol on March 19, 2009 at 9:11 PM
Wow. How could anyone vote for that with a straight face?
INC on March 19, 2009 at 9:12 PM
Shoulda got Brown some Blu-rays(along with a player in case he doesn’t have one). A lot of those are multi-region and the NTSC/PAL conversion is no longer an issue.
But it’s not like the Obama Administration knows anything about technology, right?
Doughboy on March 19, 2009 at 9:16 PM
It’s even better, according to Wikipedia:
That means that if Brown tries to overcome the region limitation, he’s breaking British law!
unclesmrgol on March 19, 2009 at 9:17 PM
Biden: “Stand up, Stephen!”
When Putin visits (and you know that he will) he’ll receive the best vodka money can buy–no Value-Rite, unfortunately, because that would be funny.
The
stupidObama part, however, is that it will be vodka at all.baldilocks on March 19, 2009 at 9:22 PM
When I saw that post by Mark Steyn at The Corner, I also saw a link to this WSJ article:
The Dissing of Laura Bush
It gives a few instances of the crassness of Michelle O, her social secretary and the press. Evidently MO and her soc/sec feel that Michelle is the first to discover that military families exist. The press takes their usual snarks.
These people are so without class or graciousness.
INC on March 19, 2009 at 9:25 PM
And so much for the tech-savvy guy who can’t live without things like his PDA.
highhopes on March 19, 2009 at 9:28 PM
Some of us called it from the beginning. Obama is a filthy (corrupt) liar and his wife is a hard shrew who has no style or sense of her role- most of that coming from the fact that she hates white people. Their kids are “too cutesy black” to be taken seriously [ask the Washington Post fashion editor about that comment since she attacked John Roberts' kids as being too cutesy white]. Even the filthy liar’s pet was determined by the teleprompter and is a choice that all the vets are saying is not right for an active family without the time to actually bond with the dog other than for photo-ops.
highhopes on March 19, 2009 at 9:32 PM
Barry and Michelle. Buffoons.
jdflorida on March 19, 2009 at 9:34 PM
Doesn’t K-Mart have a return policy? Does Great Britain have K-Marts? Maybe he could just swap them that way. Or maybe just switch them for something of equal value like a Clapper and/or a Chia Pet.
MB4 on March 19, 2009 at 9:37 PM
Oh, who the he77 cares if 0bama gives tacky, useless gifts to Heads of State. The guy is destroying America right before our eyes through his Marxist policies, and the only thing people seem to want to talk are his social gaffes and Rush Limbaugh.
Like the fire department arguing if the accelerant came from a Shell station or a Chevron station, while the fire is raging.
LegendHasIt on March 19, 2009 at 9:41 PM
I know just how PM Brown must feel, as I also got gypped by President TelePrompter:
A $13 tax rebate
It’s only costing me $28,000
TN Mom on March 19, 2009 at 9:49 PM
The PDA was probably only for playing Tetris anyway…
Maquis on March 19, 2009 at 9:49 PM
Good point…about Joe. Where the hell is he anyway?
Isn’t Joe the one who said he would be the VP only if he was the last one in the room during POTUS policy meetings? Extolling his vast experience in foreign relations?
Has Joe even been in the White House this year?
Joe…Hey Joe….hello…..are you there, Joe……?
BobMbx on March 19, 2009 at 9:50 PM
Obama is from the ACORN Community Orgainzer thugs:
They are accustomed to taking, NOT giving.
TN Mom on March 19, 2009 at 9:52 PM
Keep your eye out for any evidence of POTUS touching that dog without a glove or something between his hand and the dog.
BobMbx on March 19, 2009 at 9:53 PM
Our president is afterall undergoing “on-the-job” training. We really should cut him a bit of slack. His background in community organizing simply didn’t prepare him for such difficult tasks.
NotPC on March 19, 2009 at 9:53 PM
I’d pay money (all 13 of my stimulus dollars) to see Pooty give O a gob-smackin’ old-fashioned, Russian hello kiss. Maybe even put him in a friendly headlock, ya know, hamming it up for the cameras.
BobMbx on March 19, 2009 at 9:57 PM
President Pinnochio garnering all that goodwill from our friends overseas, friends the evil Booosh pissed off?
Whos’ reaaly the CHIMP?
Presidente Pinnochio the CHUMP CHIMP!
dhunter on March 19, 2009 at 10:02 PM
Nothing but the best for a fellow socialist. Wait till Brown comes to Region 1 for healthcare and finds out it changed to Region 2.
Feedie on March 19, 2009 at 10:29 PM
Oh Man. That’s cold.
Sapwolf on March 19, 2009 at 10:37 PM
Other wrong format items:
1 Economic Rescue Packages
2 Illegal Aliens Remedies
3 Treatment Of The Military
4 All Cabinet Members
5 Judicial picks
6 Press Secretary
7 Occupant of The White House
8 Vice Presidential Toy
Take them all back to the store and get replacements.
MaiDee on March 19, 2009 at 10:37 PM
Marxist Alinskyite gives crap gift to Socialist Elitist that doesn’t work. Another one of those:
“Liberal Dilemmas”.
:)
Sapwolf on March 19, 2009 at 10:38 PM
Gordy should have called Barry at 2:00AM and chewed his ass!
custer on March 19, 2009 at 10:42 PM
Heh, a couple of beers does that to me. Keep the rum away.
Feedie on March 19, 2009 at 10:43 PM
he should have got the irish PM a bottle of cheap whiskey…and I wish obama would have said to him, ‘since all you irish micks are a bunch of drunks, thought you’d like this’
its a ‘nuanced’ foreign policy…
right4life on March 19, 2009 at 10:45 PM
The films were The Manchurian Candidate and The Grifters.
Mojave Mark on March 19, 2009 at 10:46 PM
I would’ve presented Brown with a bill for the original White House they burned down.
But, that’s just me I guess.
LOL
Dr. ZhivBlago on March 19, 2009 at 11:07 PM
Wine & Dine at the Kennedy Center. Invite the IRA. Ugh — I’d better stop.
Feedie on March 19, 2009 at 11:30 PM
I think Gordon Brown misunderstood the intent of the gifts. They were not meant to be viewed back home in Britain; clearly they were meant to be viewed here, in the U.S., during his trip, as a way to keep himself occupied while Mr. Obama couldn’t be bothered to see him.
Just before the election, I remember some overly aggressive web ads for IQ tests claiming “Barack Obama’s IQ is 147″, “Joe Biden’s IQ is 148″, and “Sarah Palin’s IQ is 118″. (!) Are Barack Obama and Sarah Palin really separated by two standard deviations? Did anyone else smell a rat / get to the bottom of those claims?
As I recall the ads were everywhere. A pretty good way to smear your election opponent, if you ask me. (Or is there something to it?)
RD on March 19, 2009 at 11:31 PM
Oh, that explains it!
Feedie on March 19, 2009 at 11:41 PM
Leave the Obama children alone, highhopes. They can’t help who their parents are. Who cares what some Leftist said about some the Roberts children? You sound like a pervert.
baldilocks on March 19, 2009 at 11:48 PM
Who cares what some Leftist said about
somethe Roberts children?baldilocks on March 19, 2009 at 11:48 PM
Actually kilts are part of the cultural heritage of both the Scots and the Irish.
This is very important in my opinion. Whether or not this was a deliberate act of disrespect or just a mistake, this gift was very telling. It’s an omen. And a bad one.
tartan on March 20, 2009 at 12:01 AM
With interest & inflation, that should come out to about… $1,000,000,000,… budget problem solved!
—-
Hi baldilocks – OT (sorry): I know someone who wants to travel to Kenya. Am concerned about the level of security over there. Is it okay if I ask you a question or two about it? (Would I can send e-mail or get in touch via your website? Thanks!!)
RD on March 20, 2009 at 12:26 AM
That will be a Passover Present for Iran’s first visit;)
Laura in Maryland on March 20, 2009 at 12:38 AM
This story sounds a bit fake because Gordon Brown is nearly blind. Totally in one eye and partially in the other .
I don’t see him as a big movie watcher. More importantly for the caring, in touch folks in the White House:
But Obama is so understanding. Maybe Brown should have ask The One to spit on the ground and make some mud for his eyes.
deadman on March 20, 2009 at 12:55 AM
Oh crap.
petunia on March 20, 2009 at 1:10 AM
Comedy of errors, folks.
Rollie on March 20, 2009 at 4:21 AM
You know, even my mother knows that there are different DVD regions. She’s older than Obama, never went to university, doesn’t have a fancy degree, and is “just” a “stupid housewife” (that’s how our “brave” feminists here would put it.)
So my mother’s smarter than the whole Team O?
Oh dear.
As for Gordie. He’s already blind. Blind towards the needs and wishes of his own people. He’s blind towards Great Britain and her people. He’s a bloody traitor.
Penguin on March 20, 2009 at 5:06 AM
I blame Hollywood.
hawkdriver on March 20, 2009 at 5:30 AM
I don’t care if the slight was an intentional insult or idiotic ineptitude. It was pure Obama all the way. How long before his name becomes a verb?
SKYFOX on March 20, 2009 at 6:12 AM
Someone want to tell us again about how tech savvy this guy is?
The Oh bomb, eh? administration continues to make Bush look good!
DannoJyd on March 20, 2009 at 6:41 AM
Do you lay awake all night thinking of tiny little things you can rip Obama on? No wonder the gop is in the gutter. They have no new ideas, all they know how to do is bellyache and tell each other how smart they are. The gop is like a ship without a rudder. Like little pesky gnats on a dogs you know what.
athensboy on March 20, 2009 at 7:13 AM
If I had to choose, I’d say the incompetence is the most amazing. I never thought anyone would out-inept Carter, but O is on track for a new record.
Random Numbers (Brian Epps) on March 20, 2009 at 7:24 AM
I live in London and I buy most of my DVDs in Region 1 format as the bonus contents are usually better than Region 2 European ones. Codes are usually available freely and easily on the internet for most DVD players.
Gordon Brown would have no problem watching his freebies. He can buy more than one DVD player with a different region setting.They are so cheap the kids pour milk and hot cocoa over theirs.
You partisan dumbheads are really pathetic with your inbred stupidity and George Bush mentality to seek to make a fuss out of fluff while your country is floundering from its 8 year Repugs misgovernment.
kokobin on March 20, 2009 at 7:48 AM
Gordon Brown still loves President Obamateur.
Basilsbest on March 20, 2009 at 8:26 AM
Listen up kokohead. Dumbheads are those like you who don’t understand that because of his clueless deficit spending the Obamateur recession will last until he is turfed in 2012.
Basilsbest on March 20, 2009 at 8:31 AM
Aw, athensboy, you’ll toughen up to the criticism of the Juvenile in Chief. Give it a few years. Take our word for it.
Oink on March 20, 2009 at 8:31 AM
As in “I think we’ve been BHO’d!?”
Oink on March 20, 2009 at 8:33 AM
Obama responds to the controversy: “You know, I didn’t mess with those people’s chromosomes. This administration has inherited these genetic anomalies.”
There are more, many more…
Mr. Joe on March 20, 2009 at 8:48 AM
Clue — Kilts are, in fact, Irish as well as Scottish (clue #2, not “Scotch”)
tkmcp on March 20, 2009 at 9:01 AM
Dammit, what’d I do with that stinking reset button.
Kissmygrits on March 20, 2009 at 9:13 AM
He should have went with the Circuit City gift certificate.
Mr Purple on March 20, 2009 at 9:28 AM
Well, glad we’re all professional here. Is the White House turning into the Frat House?
“Dude, did you finish filling out your brackets?”
“Yeah, after some retard called about his DVDs not working. Hey, can I bum a cigarette? “
hawksruleva on March 20, 2009 at 9:53 AM
Embarassing…..about as bad as green fountains this week.
AnninCA on March 20, 2009 at 10:33 AM
Obama – Dumber Than Bush
That slogan will really piss-em off.
Bleed_thelizard on March 20, 2009 at 12:38 PM
In the War of 1812 the Americans burned the government buildings of Canada FIRST. The British were getting revenge when they burned the White House. I just wonder how they will exact some type of revenge for this DVD foul-up that probably insults them even more. How about a frying chicken dinner with collard greens and watermelon as dessert.
SC.Charlie on March 20, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Multi-region DVD players cost around $100, which I’d assume the Prime Minister can afford.
So much for this latest bit of manufactured outrage… ;-)
starfleet_dude on March 20, 2009 at 1:12 PM
I bet the DVD works in Africa, oops
workingforpigs on March 20, 2009 at 1:38 PM
So if the Prime Minister of Great Britain wanted to clear the “wrong region” announcement off his screen, he needs to go purchase another player, one that specifically plays American formatted DVDs…
Whether merely vacuous or openly disrespectful, Obama’s gift is foreboding. He appears to be truly out of his league in matters of foreign diplomacy.
tartan on March 20, 2009 at 1:56 PM
It’s so reassuring to know that the AZZHATS won,, as they’re so fond of reminding us every day with their daily barrage of blunders, gaffes, fumbles, and stumbles.
This is more entertaining than a freak show…oh wait!
Sweet_Thang on March 20, 2009 at 3:56 PM
Hey kokobin,
Think back a little more than 2.2 centuries or so: we won!
Go spew your socialist agenda somewhere else. Most of us here want nothing to do with it.
Sweet_Thang on March 20, 2009 at 4:05 PM
Mark Steyn suggests the perfect revenge for Gordon Brown. When Obama speaks to the G20, on his teleprompter, nothing but the words “wrong region”.
hawksruleva on March 20, 2009 at 4:20 PM
So?
It’s not like they could find a Third World piece of junk that wouldn’t have that problem.
sethstorm on March 20, 2009 at 5:30 PM
+1
sethstorm on March 20, 2009 at 5:31 PM
I see that the short bus from the Karl Marx Elementary School has dropped all of its passengers off, and their mommies left their computers on again, while out looking for their crack dealers.
LegendHasIt on March 20, 2009 at 7:07 PM
Huh, A “Weekly Reader” Troll?
You poopie-head, Marxist not-wantin, stoopits you….
Get used to it Slappy. I’ve been listening to your traitorous side for 8 long years. We’re only getting warmed up.
hawkdriver on March 20, 2009 at 8:07 PM
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