D-Day 65th Anniversary (2): a reminder for Sarkozy and a challenge for Obama

Prompted by the news that the Queen hadn't been invited to today’s 65^th anniversary commemoration of D-Day, I recently posted a clip from Ronald Reagan’s moving speech at Pointe du Hoc on the 40^th anniversary in 1984. 

Here is an audio version of the whole speech that serves as the soundtrack to a neatly edited collection of pictures and film footage from D Day. 

I don’t know if President Sarkozy’s English is up to understanding one of Ronald Reagan's finest speeches, but it wouldn’t do him any harm just to watch the visual reminders of the Normandy landings. Had he done so a few weeks ago, he might have shown a bit more diplomacy when it came to making the arrangements for today. 

Meanwhile, the challenge for President Obama is how do you follow the great communicator when he was right at the top of his game?

(See also D-Day 65th Anniversary (1).

 

D-Day 65th Anniversary: (1) A British soldier returns to Gold Beach

"You just had to do it and you did it." - Ken Scott, Durham Light Infantry.

Click HERE for fuller story.

Pre-delicate hitches from the White House

The delicate nature of some recent news stories seems to have produced a deluge of ‘pre-delicate hitches’ (for more on which, see HERE).

Hillary Clinton was at it in response to the nuclear news from North Korea last week, as was Gordon Brown on Sunday when challenged about the Queen not being invited to the forthcoming 65th anniversary commemorations of D-Day.

So too, on the same delicate subject, was this White House spokesman who managed to produce an ‘uh’ at a rate of once every 3.5 words:

Journalist: Since Queen Elizabeth is the only living head of state who served in the armed forces during World War II, President Obama believes that she should surely be officially invited, doesn't he?

Spokesman: He does and uh uh we uh u are working with those involved uh uh to see if uh we could make that happen. Obviously –

Journalist: Wonderful!