They realize now that they shouldn’t have sent the Churchill bust back and they blew it on the gift to Brown. Obama is instructing his staff to do a better job when he meets the Queen:
Mr Obama has now told his staff to learn from the errors made during Mr Brown’s visit and to ensure that the protocol is observed when he meets the Queen later this month.
[…]
A source close to Mr Obama’s top team telephoned this newspaper last week to say that White House officials now regard it as “a mistake” to have returned the bust of Winston Churchill that the British government loaned George W. Bush – a story first reported by The Sunday Telegraph – and then to have sent the prime minister home with a gift of 25 DVDs after his visit to Washington.
“Clearly it was a mistake, and they want people to know that they know that,” the source said. “There is a collective desire to learn from the experience. They pride themselves on attention to detail. They didn’t have their eye on the ball… they all know they’ve got to do better.”
Can’t wait to see what they come up with when they “put their eye on the ball” and pay “attention to detail.” Maybe they should call Bush and get some ideas on what to get the Queen, I don’t remember the British press complaining about Bush’s presents to the Blair or Brown.