Behind the Styrofoam Facade.

President Obama, as a candidate, swept through Europe to massive crowds and was greeted as if it was the second coming. Obama supposedly represented the European ideal leader: Articulate, eloquent, gracious and brilliant. Where did that man go?

First there was the shabby treatment to our closest ally, Great Britain. Following on the heals of one of the most expensive White House events in honor of campaign donor and volunteer, Stevie Wonder, the Prime Minister was subjected to a third rate meeting and a cancellation of a joint press conference. One can only wonder if the teleprompter was in the shop that day, or if the President's writers were just too unsure of what questions to anticipate from the British press and therefore didn't know what to have ready to load into the prompter. Then, to ad insult to injury, the President presented Mr. Brown with a stack of American DVD's. He also gave back the bust of Winston Churchill that Tony Blair had presented to President Bush. Mr. Brown's gift was a desk set carved from the sister ship of the Resolute, the ship of which the President's desk is carved. Brown's wife gave the President Obama's daughters designer outfits made by British designers. In response, Obama gave the Brown's children a toy model of Marine one from the White House gift shop.

We can write off the bad protocol and planning of the Brown visit as 'first visit errors'. Then came the second visit blunders. On Tuesday, St. Patrick's day, the Obama's hosted the traditional holiday visit of the Prime Minister of Ireland. In anticipation, Mrs. Obama had the White House fountains dyed green. A nice personal Chicago welcome. But then came the mishaps. First, someone forgot to change speeches on President Obama's teleprompter causing Prime Minister Cowen to repeat Obama's speech. Then, another slip up, and as Obama was supposed to thank Mr. Cowen, he thanked himself instead. To top the evening off, the President made a rather insulting slur toward the Irish. He warned the guests, many Irish in respect of the guest, to be careful of the open-bar and not to end up dancing with lampshades on their heads. Had this been President Bush he would have been called a racist idiot and been hung out to dry by the media. However, Obama's brothers and sisters in the media just cringed and ducked out of sight. I don't think the Prime Minister came to the Obama White House expecting 'watermelon and fried chicken washed down by gin and juice or Hennesy and coke' on the menu.

The words to describe candidate Obama seem to have been thrown in the trash with those Styrofoam pillars and American flags in Denver. Where is that "Kennedy style" we were promised? The Obamas seem to be too concerned with entertaining their friends with kobe beef and Veuve Cliqot Champagne than with presenting the best of America to our visiting dignitaries. This supposed scholar president seems to have missed reading Emily Post. The "new way of doing things" that Obama spoke of when describing the "Change" he was bringing to the White House isn't NEW at all. I am sure it is the way an arrogant community organizer in Chicago ran things. Unfortunately he is the President now. And by doing things the way he always has just leaves the impression that he has little respect for the office of the presidency. Either that or he is in it way over his head.