Post by Ryan Maue:
The British media continues to mock and criticize the President, which has been petty and unfair in some respects. But how do we reconcile this? From the UK Telegraph
Barack Obama snubs British scientists by refusing to receive Royal Society medal
Barack Obama has snubbed Britain’s most eminent scientists by refusing to attend a Royal Society banquet in his honour at which he was to be awarded with a prestigious medal.
Quoting from the UK Telegraph (fair use for discussion and future reference disclaimer):
But Mr Obama’s aides responded to the invitation with a “very short” note in which they said the president would rather spend time at a south London state school. Mr Obama visited The Globe Academy in Southwark with David Cameron, the Prime Minister, on Tuesday. The two leaders swapped a number of high-fives with pupils before rolling up their sleeves for a game of table tennis against two schoolboys.
And the cherry on top of this sundae:
Had Mr Obama accepted the invitation, he would have been greeted by Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, who won a Nobel prize in 2001 for advances in genetics and cell biology.
Instead he met pupils at the Globe Academy who had won an award for designing a lunchbox which folds out into a plate.
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Meaningless prestige with self inflating pomp and circumstance, or being down to earth with the “common people”? This is a choice I can laud both leaders for.
Based on the quality of the input coming from the Royal society regarding the climategate affair. I’d have to say snubbing them is a reasonable act.
Maybe even Obama did not want to associate with scientists that have taken such a vested interest in hiding climate science and lobbying for benefit of clergy from the FOIA
The Royal Society no longer deserves the reputation it once had, so why shouldn’t Obama meet more deserving people.
Obama and Cameron are both left handed. Is there anything else interesting about this story?
I don’t blame Obama. Why go somewhere to receive a reward when he could go somewhere else to give out an award. It looks much better.
Obama may have been criticized in sections of the British media, but there has also been a lot of positive coverage. In some cases the same paper has carried opinion pieces expressing both points of view.
Let’s think this through.
Either the society was offering a ‘social’ medal to get a VIP to lend them his prestige, such as it is, or they were making an award for Mr. Obama’s “outstanding contribution to furthering scientific research in their country”.*
In the first case, begging for a visit is not particularly worthy, even with a metallic inducement. In the second, they were saved from the embarrassment that the Nobel committee suffered from delivering an unearned award.
I don’t think the Royal Society has much to be offended about.
*The King Charles II medal is awarded in “exceptional circumstances” to heads of state who have “made an outstanding contribution to furthering scientific research in their country”.
“a lunchbox which folds out into a plate.”
Could not make it up.
There was once a comedian in the UK – Spike Milligan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Milligan – who came out with some weird comedy but even he could not have thought some of these things up.
Nursie: Mr President, would you like to come to a banquet and meet some people who think they are the finest scientists of today?
Mr President: No thanks. I want to meet some kids who have made a lunchbox which folds out into a plate.
ROFL
Sorry, but I have a less noble explanation for Obamas’ declining the invite.
Simply:
” . . . at which he was to be awarded with a prestigious medal.”
Perhaps that undeserved Nobel Peace Prize is chaffing a bit and the last thing he wants is the public having flashbacks of that embarrassment.
On one hand I say good. It’s not like Obama is deserving of such an honor, and at least he recognizes that (although it didn’t stop him from claiming the Nobel Peace Prize.) On the other hand, seriously… You’re going to snub a major organization for one of our biggest allies in order to visit a school?
If you want to be a politician, man up and be a politician. If you just want to be popular, host a cable news show.
is the POTUS a keen WUWT reader?
Don’t worry about the negative vibes from a few people on the newspaper side, the vast majority of the British press (BBC) have been..er…exciting themselves with the presence of ‘The One’. Its still 2008 over here folks……….
I am no great fan of President Obama’s politics, but I have been much impressed by his dignity and courtesy on his visit here. The First Lady, too, has been a delight. We were honoured to have them both as our guests.
And I’m glad that both he, Mr Cameron and Mrs Obama realised that the right thing to do was to visit our schoolchildren, and hoping that some of their good example will rub off on our future leaders. The alternative, to hear a bunch of self-congratulatory old farts boring everybody to death with just how clever they are, would have been a non-starter.
And I’m just guessing that, like everybody else, neither leader fancied having their ears bent about global warming once again. A good game of whiff-whaff (table tennis) was much the better deal.
The lunch-box folding out into a plate works for me too. Simple, ingenious and cost-efficient.
Science at its’ best.
I respect Ryan Maue writings but respectfully suggest that this story is off topic for WUWT.
[ryanm: how in the world is this offtopic? the President of the United States refuses to meet with the British Royal Society to receive a medal — and meet with Sir Paul Nurse, who was the topic of the previous post by Anthony? You don’t want to know What’s Up With That?]
Personally IMHO it doesn’t make a rat’s a$$ bit of difference. They’re both wastes of time that he should be spending doing his job.
A lunch box that folds out to a plate? Sounds like a pretty good idea, to me.
School kids vs. the “Royal” Acadamy?
And, a chance to play ping pong?
This is a no-brainer. Good for Obama.
Shame they did not put him on a field with 29 other mad Irishmen, hurleys, and a ball after they gave him the hurley in Ireland. It would have made for some interesting viewing. It might have also made Joe Biden president. Here in Boston the locals play it a bit. To say it is a contact sport is an understatement. Oh well, ping pong is at least a ball he can handle without putting it in the gutter. I also fess up to the fact that he is much better at hoops than I am.
While pleased that Pres. Obama snubbed The Royal Society, I have to say that his continual references to “England”, “Queen of England” etc. does absolutely nothing for his reputation everywhere else in Gt. Britain.
I suspect that he might be annoyed if we referred to him as the “President of Maine” or
spoke of Oklahoma as if it were the only State in the USA.
Someone on his staff should educate him a bit.
nice diverse bunch of kids in those pics …
Very England.
Our fawning sycophant gets his photo op. The President gets to go … somewhere nicer. what’s not to like?
I wouldn’t read too much into the “outclassed” story. As people like Richard North have been pointing out for some time, our MSM has completely lost the plot where Cameron is concerned. I guess that when you have a little man of no consequence, some in the media need to enlarge him in order to enlarge their own fantasy world. Truth to be told he is the “leader” of a tiny island just a midges away from bankruptcy but still useful to the US (hence the visit).
US readers shouldn’t read anything into our MSM output. These people would gladly expend two full pages on the sex life of a Greek footballer currently living in London and none on the riots currently afflicting his home town. It has become a “second life” country. Sadly, one that will shortly be coming to a fork in the road.
So these two want to be seen playing ping pong and high-fiving in the face of tornadoes, etc.? And apparently smack in the face of the Royal Society and Climate Science’s CAGW!
I sure hope the Warmists don’t get wind of this sleight to their Religion!
[ryanm: took 25 comments for someone to point this out, u get a bonus point]
That’s one way to be the smartest guy ion the room.
Lapogus asks:
‘is the POTUS a keen WUWT reader?’
Sure am! When I can get away from ping pong and other affairs of state.
This is a tough one to get a grip on. Obama snoots the ordinary things that most people hold dear, such as the American flag and the Pledge of Allegiance. He made remarks in New Orleans that he was meeting with the fishermen since they were the ones who knew how to clean up oil spills. He instructed EPA administrator Lisa Jackson to meet with black church members and with the fishermen using the same logic. He also goes out of his way on a continuous basis to meet with and favor minorities. I think this is generally okay. There needs to be some visible “room at the top” for all of us.
Every person sees things a bit differently but most mix and blend their activities. Obama obviously holds engineers, scientists and technical people in low esteem so uses a snoot to put them in the place that he sees them – below school children. I normally think that the US President is a leader of many things including industry and technology. Obama evidently sees himself as a speechmaker and cheerleader of the have-lesses.
I suspect that Obama’s background as a Chicago ward healer passing out $50 and $100 bills comes into play lots of the time. We are what we are; it is hard to be something else.
My only concern in the current affair is that I think the problems of the world will be best answered by those who currently work in science and technology. By the time the school children become old enough to make a difference there may not be many feasible alternatives left to deploy. Snooting the current crop of scientists makes very little sense to me.