It's a gaffe!

[EarlG]

MSNBC reporting that Obama has given the Queen an iPod.

"Is this a gaffe?" asks Noron, breathlessly.

Richard Wolfe earnestly reports that "the Queen isn't an iPod person."

It's a gaffe! Except...

Queen Elizabeth is an iPod fan

Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom has bought a silverish pocket-seized digital music player for only 169 pounds from the Regent Street Apple Store.

(snip)

The idea came from her son, Prince Andrew, the fourth in line to the throne behind prince Charles, who had also given his royal mother a mobile phone she has been using for four years.

According to The Sun, Queen Elizabeth II, a music lover, is impressed with her new small and handy iPod which can hold up to 10,000 downloaded songs.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Queen-Elizabeth-is-an-iPod-fan-3314.shtml">June 2005

Great reporting by MSNBC there.

[redqueen]

1. I wonder if the American tv-news-watcher will ever get gaffe-fatigue.

Especially with the quality of the 'gaffes' lately.

[jkshaw]

2. Wonderful!

[Political Heretic]

3. I hate cable news. This is what happens when you create 24/7 news stations.

There's not enough real news to fill 24/7 so it becomes mindless shit like this.

Nice catch there, sir.

[WI_DEM]

5. I agree this is what has happened since cable news. They have to try and create news to keep

things moving. Of course if they were real reporters and news organizations there is real news they could report on, not the silly types of things they usually spend there time on.

[redqueen]

17. Bullshit... it's hardly that innocent. They never "made news" like this

when Bush was in office.

Someone's peddling excuses.

[Ikonoklast]

4. Well, her place in Scotland has some nice trout streams, I've heard.

I guess it would come in handy.

[Barack_America]

6. Earlier today MSNBC had a British Royalty expert on who claimed it to be a fine gift.

And a thoughtful one to boot, given that it has video of the Queen's visit to the US in 2007. He also informed the anchors that the Queen already had an iPod.

Same channel, not two hours earlier.

:eyes:

[berni_mccoy]

7. Noron rhymes with...

[FightingIrish]

8. I think it was a fantastic gift

She was definitely due for an upgrade. She can subscribe to Obama's weekly video address and watch it anywhere.

[Ilsa]

9. DevonRex told me that it contains footage of her 2007 trip to the US

so it's personal also.

[npk]

10. Good call for Obama

He gave the Queen something she would enjoy and made it personal by including pictures of her 2007 visit to the states. I just wish people would stop looking for the man to make a mistake every step of the way. Who gives a damn what you assholes think. I sure as hell don't.

on edit: That comment was directed at the media, not EarlG. Just to clarify.

[Cha]

11. Thanks, Earl.. Give it to msnbc for their shoddy reporting.

I know I am going to respond to msnbc's Washington Correspondent, norah o'donnell.

MSNBC
- Phone: [phone] EMAIL: [e-mail]

[johnnie]

12. Why people still watch this "entertainment" is beyond me

TV news is nothing more than entertainment. There's no journalism, it's all opinion pieces and fluffy Hollywood bullshit.

[Lex]

13. I love how they just make it up as they go along, as if it's a fact.

Good lord.

[firedupdem]

14. Jerks! Thanks for pointing this out! n/t

[progressoid]

15. If it came with this version of "God Save The Queen" on it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnXyLFxRxvQ

THAT would be a gaffe.

[bleever]

34. And besides, she calls that song

"God Save Me".

[janx]

16. Earl--why on earth would anyone assume that the president

of the United States wouldn't do a bit of research before selecting a gift for the Queen of England?! I can't figure this out! :rofl:

[Cali_Democrat]

18. The media never fails to disappoint

unbelievable

[FightingIrish]

19. This really reminds me of my dad

He was a gadget freak and had to have the latest, coolest gizmo. We had a TV set months before we even had a television station to watch on it. He bought an Amphicar and loved watching his friends faces when he would make a quick turn and, without warning, drive it into a river or lake. His unique passion was that he loved to share the things he enjoyed. When the first VCRs came out, he had to have one. He ran a small business with maybe 30 employees. A few days after buying one, he sent one of his assistants to buy a VCR for every employee. If he were still alive, he would have an iPod and would get great pleasure from giving them to his friends and family.

[Norrin Radd]

44. Cool story.

[Jennicut]

20. I think its cool she got herself her own digital player.

She is keeping up with the times. Who is to say what older people like and don't like?

[janx]

21. It's good for her brain, and it's good for her spirit!

She no doubt knows that. ;-)

[Jennicut]

22. Exactly! She needs to keep making those neural connections!

I could write a whole book about neurotransmitters and the connections in our brain. Studied them last semester in my child development class. :)

[janx]

26. I know a woman who is in her early 60s and does not

keep up with things. Even email bothers her--at 62 years old! She has other problems, but that kind of behavior is degenerative. I haven't looked at neurotransmitters in quite some time, but that I understand, and I think Queen Elizabeth does too. The old cliche comes to mind: You use it or you lose it. ;-)

[Are_grits_groceries]

23. He also gave her a rare songbook signed by Richard Rodgers. nt

[kskiska]

24. Faux News just reported that the Queen requested the video ipod

She already owns an audio ipod.

As I recall, the Queen and her sister, Princess Margaret, were tremendous fans of American show tunes, so the Richard Rodgers book and music will certainly be appreciated.

[Cali_Democrat]

25. Now the media will attack Obama for failing to surprise the Queen (nt)

[janx]

27. She DID?

How magnificent!

[ErinBerin84]

28. kinda scary

that Fox got this one right, while MSNBC got it wrong.

[asphalt.jungle]

29. don't confuse MSNBC's primetime schedule with their agenda laced morning and afternoon programming

they suck apart from 8 and 9 pm.

[ErinBerin84]

30. oh I know

That's why the opining about how MSNBC is soooo liberal by people really pisses me off, because during the morning and the day, they try so hard to invent imaginary problems for Obama.

[Pirate Smile]

41. I heard CBS had reported that. I can't believe Faux has reported it but CNN and MSNBC still seem

clueless.

Obamas + gifts to British dignitaries = days of bullsh#$ and crap in the media.

[eppur_se_muova]

31. In Paul Hogan voice: "THAT'S not a gaffe ... "

"Now THAT'S a gaffe!"

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/04/21/hujintao_wideweb__470x385,0.jpg


Nice coat! Hulk want! Hulk take!

[BrightKnight]

32. I am sure that the significance of music and our strong cultural ties

was not lost on the Queen. It was just a little state gift and I don't think that she was expecting a yacht. Many people have more than one iPod.

[chollybocker]

33. Well, what DO you get the woman who has everything? (literally.)

Imagine the faux UPROAR in the media had Obama given her majesty an extravagent, expen$ive gift. Oh, the economy!!!

[ErinBerin84]

35. and

Right on cue. Politico rag tries to make this into a gaffe too, I just saw their headline with "etiquette expert cringes". Well, where the hell did they find this etiquette expert? Because the ROYALTY expert said it was a dandy gift.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

36. Buy American.

I think I'm seeing a pattern and I like it.

[Barack_America]

37. The PM's son got a Louisville Slugger, signed by Obama. And, the iPod was engraved.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-presents-michelle-brings-a-baseball-bat-for-pms-son-ndash-signed-by-the-heavy-hitter-himself-1659994.html

[stillcool]

42. that's a great article..

a nice and light respite from the usual.

[applegrove]

38. By the looks of how the Queen received the Obamas I'm sure she'll treasure the ipod.

[spanone]

39. noron the moron

[firedupdem]

40. kick!

[kskiska]

43. Here's what W gave her one time

President and Mrs. Bush gave Her Majesty a bronze statuette “High Desert Princess” with a personal inscription on the bottom of the base. It is a replica of the original life size statue that is located in front of the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Ft. Worth, Texas.

[Norrin Radd]

45. Isn't it the contemporary equivalent of a "mixed tape?"

That's the ultimate compliment, taking the time to make someone a mixed tape.

[qanda]

46. I was wondering why I've been so calm lately

Then I realized that I hadn't turned on cable news in last couple of months. Feels good...