Bush Visits his 51st state next week

magick

So what type of reception do you think hes gonna get from the British?

ReefBreak

This is a good article on Bush's visit from today's UK Times.

mr_angry

Aren't there already 53 states in the US?

Creamy Goodness

nope only 50 states in the U.S afaik

shotamoose

Originally posted by ReefBreak
This is a good article on Bush's visit from today's UK Times.

Well it's a slavishly pro-American screed, but it's got one good point: why exactly are many (but not all) anti-war protesters calling for the immediate withdrawal from Iraq of American troops.

Do they really think that will help the situation there? I was against the war too, but I think the Americans now have to sleep in the bed they've made, since pulling out suddenly will just plunge Iraq into total chaos (rather than the near-total chaos it's in right now). I still think that internationalising the occupation of Iraq will help begin a true reconstruction, but it's getting more and more unlikely all the time that other countries are going to want to send their troops for some fun in the sun.

mr_angry

I was under the impression that there were 53 states in the US, but only 50 on the flag.

mr_angry

Ah, right enough, there's only 50. If the ground would like to open up now and swallow me, I would be quite, quite happy!

ixoy

Originally posted by Cr3m0
nope only 50 states in the U.S afaik

:rolleyes:

Victor

Originally posted by Cr3m0
nope only 50 states in the U.S afaik

I wonder what number Iraq will get.

Éomer of Rohan

Well, Canada is the 51st State, Britain the 52nd, Ireland the 53rd, the Philippines probably 54, Australia 55 so that makes Iraq 56 really.

But I find it increasingly ironic that after a government stooge made a slip about the plans to keep the protestors out of the line of sight of George and there being an outcry about it, the threat assessment regarding central london has all of a sudden gone up.

sceptre

Originally posted by Victor
I wonder what number Iraq will get.

Well, it's 54 innit?

51 is (unofficially) Puerto Rico, 52 is already the UK, 53 might be DC if they ever manage to get senators there and that leaves 54 available.

... which New Yorkers will recognise as tying in neatly with 54 being associated with dodgy places where people get screwed regardless of which way they turn. Sorry. I'm not funny today.

ixoy

Well the 51st state is meant to be the U.K., hence the sh!t movie of the same name, starring Samuel L. Jackson ('twas called "Formula 51" in the U.S. so the poor Americans wouldn't get confused )

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

Biffa Bacon

Originally posted by shotamoose
Well it's a slavishly pro-American screed, but it's got one good point: why exactly are many (but not all) anti-war protesters calling for the immediate withdrawal from Iraq of American troops.

Because they're idiots. Surely that should be perfectly clear by now?

sovtek

Originally posted by Biffa Bacon
Because they're idiots. Surely that should be perfectly clear by now?

Oh yeah...I forgot about that. I'm now totally convinced by your well researched and logical argument that I, amongst the other anti-war population, am an idiot.
Thank you for pointing me in the right direction and showing me the error of my ways.
I shall now head straight for the newstand and by a copy of the Sun and begin my re-education.

Éomer of Rohan

Quoted from sovtek
Oh yeah...I forgot about that. I'm now totally convinced by your well researched and logical argument that I, amongst the other anti-war population, am an idiot.
Thank you for pointing me in the right direction and showing me the error of my ways. I shall now head straight for the newstand and by a copy of the Sun and begin my re-education.

LMFAO.

I was going to reply but I thought the better of it.

passive

thanks for that link to the times....i feel kinda sick now

i hope i never have the misfortune of reading any opinion piece's by that guy again...

It is immensely to President Bush’s credit that he recognises weakness is more provocative than strength to those who live outside democracy’s rules. We are safer in Britain today than we were 27 months ago, thanks to him.".

ugh...safer now? based on what?...also, his article seemed to be trying to say that anti-war/anti-bush meant you were a Stalinist and thus, evil.

The guys organising next week’s anti-Bush rally are not really against war, they just think it is a pity that the free world won the Cold War. And anyone clambering aboard their Big Red Peace Bus is a fellow traveller with fans of totalitarianism.

my god....what a w*nker....

ahem...anyway, has anybody got any slightly more objective news regarding Dubyas visit to the UK?

sceptre

Originally posted by passive
ahem...anyway, has anybody got any slightly more objective news regarding Dubyas visit to the UK?

What, like this?

(to answer your question, no I don't really)

Hobbes

Originally posted by Cr3m0
nope only 50 states in the U.S afaik

Technically Hawaii shouldn't be.

Hobbes

Originally posted by sceptre
What, like this?

(to answer your question, no I don't really)

ROFLMAO. Ok shutting down the tube the time he is there shows he has no concept of London at all however this had me in stitches laughing...

The Americans had also wanted to travel with a piece of military hardware called a 'mini-gun', which usually forms part of the mobile armoury in the presidential cavalcade. It is fired from a tank and can kill dozens of people.

Beëlzebooze

that was like the script from the latest stalone/segal flick... miniguns, black hawk gunships, 250 armed security staff...

ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous.

Éomer of Rohan

Mr Angry's Guardian article
'Shoot-to-kill' demand by US

Martin Bright, home affairs editor
Sunday November 16, 2003
The Observer

Home Secretary David Blunkett has refused to grant diplomatic immunity to armed American special agents and snipers travelling to Britain as part of President Bush's entourage this week.
In the case of the accidental shooting of a protester, the Americans in Bush's protection squad will face justice in a British court as would any other visitor, the Home Office has confirmed.

The issue of immunity is one of a series of extraordinary US demands turned down by Ministers and Downing Street during preparations for the Bush visit.

These included the closure of the Tube network, the use of US air force planes and helicopters and the shipping in of battlefield weaponry to use against rioters.

In return, the British authorities agreed numerous concessions, including the creation of a 'sterile zone' around the President with a series of road closures in central London and a security cordon keeping the public away from his cavalcade.

The White House initially demanded the closure of all Tube lines under parts of London to be visited during the trip. But British officials dismissed the idea that a suicide bomber could kill the President by blowing up a Tube train. Ministers are also believed to have dismissed suggestions that a 'sterile zone' around the President should be policed entirely by American special agents and military.

Demands for the US air force to patrol above London with fighter aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters have also been turned down.

The President's protection force will be armed - as Tony Blair's is when he travels abroad - and around 250 secret service agents will fly in with Bush, but operational control will remain with the Metropolitan Police.

The Americans had also wanted to travel with a piece of military hardware called a 'mini-gun', which usually forms part of the mobile armoury in the presidential cavalcade. It is fired from a tank and can kill dozens of people. One manufacturer's description reads: 'Due to the small calibre of the round, the mini-gun can be used practically anywhere. This is especially helpful during peacekeeping deployments.'

Ministers have made clear to Washington that the firepower of the mini-gun will not be available during the state visit to Britain. In return, the Government has agreed to close off much of Whitehall during the visit - the usual practice in Britain is to use police outriders to close roads as the cavalcade passes to cause minimal disruption to traffic.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: 'Negotiations between here and the US have been perfectly amicable. If there have been requests, they have not posed any problems.'

An internal memo sent to Cabinet Office staff and leaked to the press this weekend urged staff to work from home if at possible during the presidential visit. Serious disruption would be caused by 'the President Bush vehicle entourage requesting cleared secured vehicle routes around London and the security cordons creating a sterile zone around him'.

Meanwhile, negotiations are continuing between police and demonstrators about the route of the march. Representatives of the Stop the War Coalition will meet police at Scotland Yard tomorrow to discuss whether protesters will be able to march through Parliament Square and Whitehall. Spokesman Andrew Burgin said he hoped for 'a good old-fashioned British compromise'.

Good grief. Asking for immunity from shooting an anti-war protestor just makes them seem like they would like to have gunned for one; arrogance, idiocy and 'the walk to the white house following his inauguration' spring to mind.

Hobbes

Actually this is more likely to get bush a warm welcome...

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/business/articles/timid70616

GEORGE Bush's administration has called on US companies in Britain to relocate jobs to America in an astonishing move that could trigger a major trade war.

US-based multinationals have been told they will receive compensation from American trade authorities if they cancel contracts in Britain and take jobs home, according to CBI director-general Digby Jones.

krattapopov

haha so who saw the old granny hanging the american flag upside down, very inventive was of getting across a message, also bush has cancelled his talk to the house of lords or commons? he is a coward, at least blair talked in their congress

Floater

Originally posted by sceptre
Well, it's 54 innit?

51 is (unofficially) Puerto Rico, 52 is already the UK, 53 might be DC if they ever manage to get senators there and that leaves 54 available.

GB a US State? Hardly. A colony perhaps.

They have no state constitution or voting rights in US elections.

They just do what they are told.


Floater

Hobbes

Originally posted by krattapopov
also bush has cancelled his talk to the house of lords or commons? he is a coward, at least blair talked in their congress

He is defending it at a dinner of people selected who will listen to him.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3282465.stm

But yea, Bush never tries to be in a position where someone can critisize or ask him embarrassing questions. Even the press in the whitehouse do it they find thier seat is somewhere near the back or no invite for the next time.