OH DEAR, OH DEAR, OH DEAR - NOT AGAIN - AT 8:20 A.M. ET:  What is this thing that Obama seems to have about Britain?  First, he sends back a bust of Winston Churchill that had been in the Oval Office.  Then he insults the prime minister by giving him a set of DVDs that don't play in British machines.  Then an aide to the president leaks the notion that there's no longer a special relationship between Britain and America.  And now, the ultimate, the snub to the Queen...even though she had the Obamas over when they traipsed to London recently.  The New York Times reports the latest flap:

LONDON — Queen Elizabeth is not amused.

Indeed, she is decidedly displeased, angry even, that she was not invited to join President Obama and France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, next week at commemorations of the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, according to reports published in Britain’s mass-circulation tabloid newspapers on Wednesday. Pointedly, Buckingham Palace did not deny the reports.

The queen, who is 83, is the only living head of state who served in uniform during World War II. As Elizabeth Windsor, service number 230873, she volunteered as a subaltern in the Women’s Auxiliary Territorial Service, training as a driver and a mechanic. Eventually, she drove military trucks in support roles in England.

COMMENT:  How do you make a mistake like this?  Don't they have protocol officers in Washington?  Now you just know that this will be the buzz when the president goes to Normandy. 

Do you invite the Queen at the last minute?  Do you say the invitation got lost in the mail?  Was eaten by the new White House dog?  Was eaten by the president?  By Judge Sotomayor?

Britain had colonized Kenya, the president's father's native land, and some theorize that Mr. Obama resents the Brits.  Even so, you have to invite the Queen to these things.  I know it's another mouth to feed, but still...

Oh, I looked up "subaltern," used in the last paragraph of the Times quote above.  It means an officer in the British army below the rank of captain, particularly a second lieutenant.  Now we've all learned something today.

May 28, 2009