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Hey Dakka

I was just wondering to our American cousins across the sea what there views are on the relationship between the UK and US. I ask as with the visit of Obama to the UK at present there is a sense that he doesn’t generally like the British.

When he was first elected our prime minister at the time (dumb ass Gordon Brown) had to request 5 times to a meeting with Obama (which I kind of get as he is an arse ). When he did meet him he handed over a gift of DVDs and one of the first things he did was to send back a bust of Winston Churchill from the Whitehouse which was a gift from us to the US for the help they provided in the world wars.

Please note I don’t want this thread to traverse into a slanging match in any way I am asking for the general opinions of the American people as to how they view the alliance between our two nations.

Thanks Dakka

Funny accents.

And soccer.

rubiksnoob wrote:Funny accents.

And football.

Fixed that for you

Its interesting. There was a big discussion of this on the BBC. One American in the UK noted and I think it matches- You almost never hear of the "special relationship" between the US and UK in the US, but you hear it in the UK.

You have cool castles and interesting accents, most of which are excellent on fair maidens but grating coming from your menfolk.

You have no appreciation however, for the fine art of TexMex, and of course doomed because of that.

Frazzled wrote:Its interesting. There was a big discussion of this on the BBC. One American in the UK noted and I think it matches- You almost never hear of the "special relationship" between the US and UK in the US, but you hear it in the UK.

You have cool castles and interesting accents, most of which are excellent on fair maidens but grating coming from your menfolk.

You have no appreciation however, for the fine art of TexMex, and of course doomed because of that.

Me and my lass plan a trip to America in the next 6 months so will have to sample the delight of this TexMex

SilverMK2 wrote:

rubiksnoob wrote:Funny accents.

And football.

Fixed that for you

They tried football in the UK, it didn't take off.

I tend to think that there is a special relationship between the US and UK, simply because of shared heritage.

Obama...yeah, he's kind of a . If it makes you feel any better, the current administration is treating our other allies like gak as well.

Since moving here, I have been constantly congratulated on being British, having an amazing accent (seriously, I have a face like a robber's dog and the amount of poontang I could obtain by dint of simply talking to a woman here, were I not happily married, is mind blowing), instantly listened to as someone learned on a subject whether I know anything about it or not and on several occasions, total strangers who hear me talking have shook my hand and told me what a great ally I am...

Obama spurned the 'New Labour' government that so heavily allied it's self with GWBush and returned the bust of Winston Churchill because Churchill suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather.

I don't think for one moment he 'hates the brits' but has clearly distanced himself from the unpleasantly intimate relationship of Bush and Blair. Aren't you happy your current leader doesn't have a foreign president's hand up his arse?

All this 'he don't like us' whimpering is the result of media stir up from the right wing on both sides of the Atlantic who want that intimacy back. Murdoch controls a good deal of it via Fox in the US and certain of the newspapers in the UK, and then there's the Daily Mail, which is just filth.

This has been talked to death, the OP cant frequent the OT much.

I think Obama dislking the UK is a bit of a myth, and I dont think there is anything "special" about our relationship, were just allies because it makes sense, and it always will do.

biccat wrote:They tried football in the UK, it didn't take off.

Really? Last I heard Football was our national sport

Unless you mean American Football, in which case yes - it is not hugely popular here, though my university had a team (made up mostly of Americans studying in the UK from what little attention I paid to it).

mattyrm wrote:This has been talked to death, the OP cant frequent the OT much.

Nope as you can see from the number of posts I have made I am relatively new to dakka

Also, Obama just gave a speech at a state dinner with Her Madge and quoted Churchill... He spoke about the special relationship etc and gave the British nation the ego stroke it's been pining for.

SilverMK2 wrote:Unless you mean American Football, in which case yes - it is not hugely popular here, though my university had a team (made up mostly of Americans studying in the UK from what little attention I paid to it).

Yes, real football, not soccer.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Also, Obama just gave a speech at a state dinner with Her Madge and quoted Churchill... He spoke about the special relationship etc and gave the British nation the ego stroke it's been pining for.

He also apparently failed at protocol.

biccat wrote:Yes, real football, not soccer.

International Federation of Association Football - the governing body of a game played with a ball using the feet, not a game played with a ball using the hands

biccat wrote:
He also apparently failed at protocol.

Michelle Obama did that last year (or a couple of years ago? I can't remember) when she gave the Queen a hug. To be fair, the Queen hugged her back though.

It's an interesting one...

biccat wrote:

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Also, Obama just gave a speech at a state dinner with Her Madge and quoted Churchill... He spoke about the special relationship etc and gave the British nation the ego stroke it's been pining for.

He also apparently failed at protocol.

No, the orchestral conductor failed at remembering Obama's speech and took the pause as time to strike up. The 'gaffe' was his, not the president's. Don't worry, we take that sort of thing very seriously in Blighty and the poor sod will be on a one-way trip to Tasmania by now.

Do you wait with the tv on hoping for your president to make a mistake? Did you do the same when GeeDubya Bush vomited on the Japanese Prime Minister?

MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Do you wait with the tv on hoping for your president to make a mistake? Did you do the same when GeeDubya Bush vomited on the Japanese Prime Minister?

To be honest, with respects to most Americans, I can say, "Yes, yes we do."

EDIT: As a bit of explanation. American politics is so completely mired in this two-party nightmare that about 70% of the populace can't help but watch and wait for the guy to take a breath that wasn't perfectly timed. Afterwards, we enjoy listening to it on CNN and Fox news for about the next 3 months afterwards. This is mostly done while waiting for him to make another mistake. The other 30% spend this time defending him and justifying each one of these things as something that are actually a genius move that makes perfect sense in the president's overall strategy. Next election period, those 30% flip flop with 30% from the majority. The remaining 40% are the people who are just angry and bitter and "would vote for a third party if there was a suitable one offered", in spite of the fact that there are.

daedalus wrote:

MeanGreenStompa wrote:
Do you wait with the tv on hoping for your president to make a mistake? Did you do the same when GeeDubya Bush vomited on the Japanese Prime Minister?

To be honest, with respects to most Americans, I can say, "Yes, yes we do."

Luckily for us we have an entire cabinet that makes mistakes...
It spreads around the mistakes so we can keep things fresh...

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Do you wait with the tv on hoping for your president to make a mistake? Did you do the same when GeeDubya Bush vomited on the Japanese Prime Minister?

Wait you thought that was a mistake?

SilverMK2 wrote:

rubiksnoob wrote:Funny accents.

And football.

Sorted, me good chap.

Fixed that for YOU.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:No, the orchestral conductor failed at remembering Obama's speech and took the pause as time to strike up. The 'gaffe' was his, not the president's. Don't worry, we take that sort of thing very seriously in Blighty and the poor sod will be on a one-way trip to Tasmania by now.

Talking during "God Save the Queen" and trying to make a toast before the song had finished was the failure in question.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Do you wait with the tv on hoping for your president to make a mistake?

Well, I certainly don't make youtube compilations about a president during the last few months he is in office and have it readily available to post it on gaming forums when someone points out a stupid gaffe of the guy I support for president.

I suppose that would be sort of obsessive.

rubiksnoob wrote:Fixed that for YOU.

That was quite a regime change you just pulled

biccat wrote:

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Do you wait with the tv on hoping for your president to make a mistake?

Well, I certainly don't make youtube compilations about a president during the last few months he is in office and have it readily available to post it on gaming forums when someone points out a stupid gaffe of the guy I support for president.

I suppose that would be sort of obsessive.

Or I might have just googled that... y'know, like people do... well, other people than you it seems...

Your tinfoil hat might just be on a tad tight you know.

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Or I might have just googled that... y'know, like people do... well, other people than you it seems...

Your tinfoil hat might just be on a tad tight you know.

Could you please explain again how Bush vomitting on the Japanese PM is related to Obama being an idiot?

I'm pretty sure (although I never did too well in Biology, so I could be wrong) that vomitting is unrelated to intelligence.

SilverMK2 wrote:

biccat wrote:They tried football in the UK, it didn't take off.

Really? Last I heard Football was our national sport

Unless you mean American Football, in which case yes - it is not hugely popular here, though my university had a team (made up mostly of Americans studying in the UK from what little attention I paid to it).

Don't you mean Handegg?

biccat wrote:

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Or I might have just googled that... y'know, like people do... well, other people than you it seems...

Your tinfoil hat might just be on a tad tight you know.

Could you please explain again how Bush vomitting on the Japanese PM is related to Obama being an idiot?

I'm pretty sure (although I never did too well in Biology, so I could be wrong) that vomitting is unrelated to intelligence.

You claimed Obama committed a breach of protocol, I pointed out that he did not and that a simple error had occurred in the timing by the Orchestra.

I am fairly bloody certain however, that throwing up on someone could well be outside the realms of protocol when done by one world leader to another outside of any extreme bedroom antics between two consenting adults.

Your willingness to try and claim Obama is diplomatically inept and yet leap to the defense of Bush Jnr is hilarious as it is tragic. GWB had all the social grace and diplomatic skill of a spaniel. The world gave Obama a Nobel Peace Prize for one major reason, HE WASN'T G W BUSH and we were all just so blindingly happy about that we sent him a gift!

Frazzled wrote:

You have no appreciation however, for the fine art of TexMex, and of course doomed because of that.

Actually, a few years back I was in Edinburgh. We stoped at a little TexMex joint there and it was pretty darn good.

There are people outside of America and Mexico? EL GRITO AHOGADO!

MeanGreenStompa wrote:Your willingness to try and claim Obama is diplomatically inept and yet leap to the defense of Bush Jnr is hilarious as it is tragic. GWB had all the social grace and diplomatic skill of a spaniel. The world gave Obama a Nobel Peace Prize for one major reason, HE WASN'T G W BUSH and we were all just so blindingly happy about that we sent him a gift!

Which says far more about the Nobel Peace Prize than it does about either President Obama or President Bush.

But let me get this straight:

Intentionally speaking during another country's national anthem = not a breach of protocol.

Accidentally throwing up on someone = breach of protocol.

Do you really understand the difference between a mistake and an intentional act?

I suppose it could have been worse, he could have given the queen an MP3 player with his speeches, given a (wrong region) set of DVD's to the prime minister, and then had someone in the state department say "There's nothing special about Britain. You're just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn't expect special treatment."

Fething idiot in chief.

He should have rapped, would have been more "real".

Other than that, thanks for coming over see you at the next war/meeting/whatever.