Remember a few weeks back, when British Prime Minister Theresa May visited President Trump at the White House? This was in the early days when there was still hope that the new president would somehow be transformed by the magic of the office and "become presidential."
Who knew health care was so complicated? Who knew that China and North Korea had a history that made it not just story-book easy for the Chinese to make the boy president behave. No, I mean the other one; the one in North Korea.
Back to PM May. While here, she invited President Trump to visit her in London. As things unfolded, there was hope that it would just be postponed, if not forgotten . . . especially after the British Parliament actually spent several hours debating whether to disinvite him. (They had earlier defeated an attempt to ban him from entry into the U.K.) In the end, they couldn't be that rude; but there was hope that he would take the hint, since no date had been set.
Honestly, I thought the invitation was never meant to be a state visit, which would include an audience with the Queen. But news reports today claim that the White House wants the full treatment, including a procession down the Mall in the Queen's horse-drawn, gilt carriage. Of course, The Donald wants that -- all that gold (see photo above).
President Obama politely declined the gold carriage treatment when it was offered to him as a guest for a state visit. The fact is that the exposure to terrorist attack on an American president makes the carriage a security nightmare.
I don't have independent confirmation of this, but the news report says that Trump wants his ride in the gold carriage . . . anyway.
Maybe we can handle it this way: "Mr. President, the Queen's royal carriage is an extraordinary relic of a time past. Frankly, it just doesn't seem manly in the 21st century. It looks more fitting for a young princess than for the world's most powerful alpha male leader . . . , Sir."
"What? You've been practicing "the wave? Well, Sir, perhaps you could wave from the fortified, security-linked, black limo, which we will transport by jet to London, just for your protection, Sir. . . . No, Sir. We're advising against having you address Parliament. . . . No, Sir. It's not a good idea. They don't observe the same decorum as our Congress does. They get into shouting matches, and they might ask awkward questions . . . and demand answers that . . er. . uh . . . make sense. Sir, in our best judgment, it could prove embarrassing . . . for who? uh . . . for you, Sir."
"The Queen? An audience? Well, uh . . . we're still working on that, Sir."
Ralph
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