It's Good to be the King

The President sure gets lots of cool gifts. Italy seems to really like us, what with the table made of lava and the $12K watch. Hey, Poland, this is NATO, baby. Take your $300 watch to Moscow and swap it for some cabbage. Cheap bastards.

Gotta wonder if the DEA knows about the $2200 32-inch "bronze royal pipe from the Bamoun ethnic group, with a male face at the base?" Tommy Chong went to jail for that shit, man. Jacques Chirac gave Bush some Christian Dior after-shave lotion, eau de toilette, a bar of soap and a goddamn toiletry kit. And a pen, a $1300 pen. What a turd.

Most of all I want to know what happened to the $80 bottle of Portugal port. "Handled pursuant to Secret Service policy" my ass.

via Cryptome.

Comments

[Brian Forsgren]

Come on, the funniest part is the column listing "circumstances justifying acceptance."

[thoreau]

Every single gift was justified under the grounds of "non-acceptance would cause embarassmetn to donor and US government."

Is that why Clinton accepted the BJ from Monica? He didn't want to create an embarassing situation? If so, I'd say that he was way off the mark on that one! And I'm not just talking about the time when he got it all over her dress instead of the intended orifice 🙂

[Gary Gunnels]

I dunno, I would like a $1,300 pen; damn thing is probably solid gold. 🙂

[Pseudoephedrine]

Most of this reads like a millionaire's garage sale inventory. How many sterling silver sets of personalised desk accessories or boxes inlaid with "seed pearls" does Dubya need, anyhow? At least Argentina breaks the pattern with "approximately 300 lb. of lamb."

[Gary Gunnels]

Pseudoephedrine,

Well, a lot of countries might have given Bush spirits, wine, etc., but Bush doesn't drink.

[T: Central]

Is it me, or is that page ripped right from the script of "No Way Out"?

[Syd]

When you're giving gifts to the President,don't overlook the wife

For Laura Bush from the President of Senegal:

"Ceramic fertility staue of pregnant woman, held in a brown tooled leather presentation case. Recd July 8, 2003. Est. Value $425. Archives Foreign."

I'd like to see the clock from Vladimir Putin. Sounds cool.

[MOAG: Mother of All Gifts]

Does this sheit get shipped to the soon to be ex prez library? Can I buy the pipe online if I live in Penn State?

[JD]

I'm not quite as bothered by the foreign gifts (they're pretty funny, actually) as I am by the knowledge that our White House has gold flatware for its own use. Anything that a presidential candidate says about helping the poor and reducing the inequities in America rings awfully false to my ears when I know that he's going to go eat dinner with a gold fork and knife. And yes, I know that auctioning them off wouldn't actually go very far toward solving any of America's problems (especially since the money would end up in the government's hands first), but I don't think it's appropriate for the head of a state "of the people, by the people, for the people". As for "non-acceptance would cause embarrassment" - hey, if you act like a damn Bourbon monarch, you deserve all the embarrassment you get, IMHO. Why don't we just have a "no gifts" policy like a lot of universities and corporations do?

[Pakistani Computer Geek Guy]

Hey, I handed Bush a very nice gift and didn't get mentioned!

[Douglas Fletcher]

If they do, it's only because Hillary didn't take it with her...

[Douglas Fletcher]

Ignore that post, it never happened.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

"The President sure gets lots of cool gifts. Italy seems to really like us, what with the table made of lava and the $12K watch. Hey, Poland, this is NATO, baby. Take your $300 watch to Moscow and swap it for some cabbage. Cheap bastards."

Jeff, c'mon, give the Polaks a break. They found out they were going to meet the President at the last minute and grabbed something at the embassy giftshop.

I think the President should insist on a value limit on gifts, preferably something hand-made by the giver. Any fool can buy something at Walmart, but it takes a special, personal touch to knit a gift, or make something cute like a sock monkey. It's both less expensive for a cash-strapped country, and very loving.

[J. Goard]

Hmm... guess who gave a copy of _Legacy of Saudi Arabia, a Tribute to His Royal Highness Abdallah bin Abd al-Aziz Al Saud and the Arabian Horses of the Kingdom_? (Hint: it wasn't one of the horses.)

[ToHellWithTheGov.]

How about the fact that all these gifts are roughly the same as an apple for teacher? It's butt kissing plain and simple. "We hate your politics, but please grant us some sort of governmental favor that the majority of your population will never hear about." Total and complete B.S.

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