The Brits – some of them, anyway – have their panties in a bunch over a comparison between their tight little island and Oregon.
It seems a press briefing kit handed out to reporters accompanying President and First Lady Obama on their trip to Great Britain described it as “slightly smaller than Oregon.” Which it is – about 93,000 square miles to Oregon’s 98,000.
But when Toby Harnden of The Telegraph pointed this out in a blog post, some of his readers got snippy.
The press kit was “probably written by a couple of Googling twits in a back room of the WH who have never travelled further than Tijuana for the benefit of a press corps that has almost certainly travelled extensively in the course of their work. Priceless,” wrote one under the handle of “Expat in the USA.”
“Would that be the Oregon basically grabbed from the British in 1846 by a bunch of sabre-rattling Yanks during their big ‘Land Grab’ known as Manifest Destiny?” sneered “Nick R.”
Harnden seemed to think a comparison on the basis of population – roughly 3.7 million people in Oregon vs. 61 million in the UK – would have been more valid. Anyway, it would have made Britain look more impressive.
But Harnden and his readers should be grateful that the White House didn’t hire The Wandering Eye to write the briefing book. If it had, it probably would have said something like: “Great Britain is an island off the west coast of Europe known for its soggy climate, excellent beer, inedible cuisine and poor dental hygiene.”
Speaking of soggy climates, not just one but two bloggers at The Oregonian – Katy Muldoon and Jeff Mapes – took note of the dust-up over the Oregon/Britain comparison and commented that both places were famous for their cloudy, drizzly weather.
Which, of course, is bogus: Only the western third of Oregon “enjoys” a British climate. Just one more bit of evidence that to Portlanders, “Oregon” stops at the crest of the Cascades.
This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2009.
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I am a Brit living in Oregon. I do not see what the fuss is about. I love Oregon and it reminds me of my home country of Scotland. However, I am somewhat ticked off with Mr. Millerรข โขs use of an oft repeated misquote concerning getting ones panties in a bunch. I have NEVER I repeat NEVER got my panties in a bunch. For that matter, I know of no Brit who has ever got their panties in a bunch. In future I would appreciate if Mr. Miller would do his homework and use accurate expressions. If he does not, I might quite possibly รข get my knickers in a twistรข ย.
I’m all for giving everything west of the Cascades back to Britain – something about the weather being proportional to the residents inability to see down the block.
Accurate, pretty much, though that Oregon, then an Independent Republic as Thomas Jefferson had envisioned, was basically grabbed in 1846 by a bunch of sabre-rattling Yanks during the big รข ~Land Grabรข โข known as Manifest Destiny.
EYup, one day we were a Republic, one day the US Army showed up and whadyaknow, we’re a “state”.
Might be something, on this so-called 150th, to think about.