Barack Obama cancels press conference with Gordon Brown "because of snow"

Seems very odd to me...

Barack Obama cancels press conference with Gordon Brown "because of snow"


Strange goings on surrounding the programme for the first day of Gordon Brown's visit to Washington.

No sooner had the Prime Minister's plane touched down at Andrews Air Force on Monday evening when word was passed to travelling Westminster correspondents that the press conference they'd been told to expect had been called off "because of snow".

Hours earlier, at around 4pm EST on Monday, a British official had told me that there would be a "press conference" after the PM and President Barack Obama had met in the Oval Office and before they had their working lunch in the Old Family Dining Room. Exact timings, however, were vague.

By 8pm, the press conference - if there'd ever been one planned - was officially off. The White House press schedule stated: "There will be a pool spray of the meeting." In layman's language, that means a small collection of reporters and perhaps two or three quick questions. That means something very quick and ample opportunity to dodge anything difficult.

As Ben Brogan of the Mail puts it, this is "not the standing podium-to-podium with the Messiah image that Mr Brown imagined". Trying to spin as best they can, the British Embassy is describing it as a "press availability" while Downing Street officials are apparently saying that "we are still negotiating".

more...

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/toby_harnden/blog/2009/03/03/barack_obama_cancels_press_conference_with_gordon_brown_because_of_snow

This really sucks. I want Brown on TV as much as possible during his visit.

We need the big picture from outside the USA.

want to jump on board with whatever Brown might be selling.

I do find it a bad sign, though.

I have high hopes for Brown's ability to lead us toward more coordinated global action.

To be optimistic, maybe they do expect to announce something big and want to avoid public appearances in mid-negotiation.

...that is about to explode in the UK after the return of the prisoner from Gitmo last week...

As I understand it, the worst toxic assets in AIG's portfolio are a huge number of non-hedged or reserved for credit default swaps written by AIG's London financial services arm.

Those CDOs have European banks as the counter party and would blow up those banks if the positions were closed.

Obama may want some help from Britain and the rest of the EU in settling the AIG mess, one that seems to grow and grow.

I hope that Brown doesn't go home looking like a fool here. The U.K. is an important and reliable ally, and its leader deserves first class treatment, IMHO.

nt

it doesn't surprise me. Instead of supporting the man they choose to try to destroy him. I think Gordon Brown is probably the most experienced to address these financial issues.