The Perfect Gift

President and Michelle Obama have just visited the Queen of England. Of course, such a State visit demands a gift befitting her royal status and our First Couple has deftly fulfilled that lofty obligation with something that so exemplifies the greatness of America, it surely made Her Royal Highness swoon with delight. Yes, the Obama messianic magnanimity is not fettered by mere earthly limitations and the gift he presented her rivals in grandeur and thoughtfulness to the finest Faberge Egg. It is exactly what the Queen has been dreaming of possessing from the moment she saw candidate Obama deliver his blindingly brilliant speech to the massed multitudes in Berlin.

Ah yes… I can see it now… bedtime at Buckingham Palace… The Queen emerges from her powder room after her nightly ablutions and gently pads across the oriental carpet in her pink, fuzzy slippers to the edge of her royal bed. She calls to her maidservant, “Fatima, my dear, before I retire would you fetch me my video iPod? Not the old one, but the new one I just got from Barry and Michelle.” “Of course, your Highness,” she replies, quickly exiting the Royal Suite. Moments later Fatima returns, reverently cradling the radiant object in her hands. Tenderly taking it from her, the Queen puts in the royal iPod ear buds. Then, Fatima helps her out of her slippers and into the massive bed, making sure that the goose-down pillows are properly fluffed. Finally, Fatima places the Royal night-cap on the Queen’s head, and, as the Queen snuggles further into her down comforter, Fatima bids her a pleasant “Good night.”

Alone now, and with the lights dimmed, the Queen – trembling with anticipation – switches on the iPod and begins to watch the previously loaded photos of the magnificent spectacle of President Obama’s Inauguration. Her eyes wide with delight, she gasps in wonder as Senator Obama places his hand on the Bible and is transformed into President Obama. Then, warm and cozy in her palace bed, a smile of enchantment on her royal face, the magnificent words of President Obama’s Inauguration speech lull the Queen into a blissful and untroubled sleep. “Change… Hope… Change… Change…change….”