The real facilitators of Europe’s crisis talks

David Lawder — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 00:49:44 +0000

“Sometimes it’s good to do these things in person,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said after meeting with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble to discuss what to do about Europe’s debt crisis.

But it’s not easy pulling off a 72-hour, five-city blitz of European officials to proffer advice and some discreet prodding. It involves crossing the Atlantic Ocean twice and darting between Frankfurt, Berlin, Paris, Marseille and Milan, holding eight face-to-face meetings and three media sessions, as well as speaking with heads of state, finance ministers and central bankers.

Of course you need your own plane. Not a problem for the U.S. Treasury chief, who regularly has a blue-and-white military 737 at his disposal.

But the narrow, traffic-choked streets of European capitals and business centers could easily throw the schedule off. Geithner has far less influence over European drivers than he does over finance ministers.

The solution? Two words: motorcycle cops.

Escorting Geithner’s motorcades from airports to city center finance ministries and presidential palaces in Germany and France – and back again sometimes in the space of two hours – these fearless ninja riders fanned out across expressway lanes to block cars to let the motorcade pass quickly . When it did, they would scream to the front of the vehicle train on their BMW bikes and do it all over again.

Official motorcades always have two goals – block traffic to let the VIPs pass quickly, and keep drivers from infiltrating the queue. In Washington, it’s mostly three-ton SUVs that tend to do the blocking for President Barack Obama, or streets are simply closed off altogether. But the French and German motorcycle police simply hurled their machines – and flesh – straight in front of on-ramps filled with accelerating cars, not much more than a flashing blue light and a helmet to protect them.

The most impressive performance came during rush hour in Marseille on Wednesday night, where the riders deftly blocked cars on a precariously elevated four lane expressway with nearly no shoulder, allowing the motorcade to zig zag past halted traffic. And allowing Geithner to make his meeting with incoming Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy at a center-right leaders’ conference.

So if Geithner’s counsel has anything to do with European leaders reaching a debt crisis solution that calms markets, the motorcycle police can take at least part of the credit.

Game Night AND Date Night for President Obama

David Lawder — Sun, 03 May 2009 01:44:08 +0000

It was unlikely that President Barack Obama, a big basketball fan, was going to miss the seventh and final game of a hard fought NBA playoff series between his hometown Chicago Bulls and the Boston Celtics on Saturday night.

But it happened to fall on one of the regular “date nights” that the U.S. leader had promised to First Lady Michelle Obama upon their arrival in Washington in January.

Solution: an early dinner at French restaurant Michel Richard Citronelle in Georgetown. A 14-vehicle Presidential motorcade pulled up outside the swanky restaurant, drawing hundreds of onlookers and blocking traffic as the upscale area’s Saturday night party scene got underway.

The restaurant is one of Washington’s mostexclusive eateries. A table was not available on its online booking system until May 29, and that was before the Obamas’ appearence made headlines and was widely Twittered. After the U.S. leader dined with Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty at Ben’s Chili Bowl in January, the landmark DC institution had queues outside for weeks.

Although Citronelle’s website boasts that Conde Nast Traveler magazine called it “one of the world’s most exciting restaurants,” Washington Post restaurant critic Tom Sietsema was not so flattering in an October 2008 review.

“Throughout a recent dinner at what used to be a four-star experience, an unmistakable joylessness courses through the fading underground dining room that bears the name of one of the country’s most esteemed chefs,” Sietsema wrote http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/restaurants/michel-richard-citronelle,795996.html#editorial-review

Nonetheless, Sietsema added in his review that Richard and his staff still put on an impressive show. “I adore Citronelle’s tomato tart, which springs from a pastry base (and cucumber gelee) like a colorful bouquet. And sablefish marinated with sake, miso and mirin before hitting the broiler is about as good as that creature gets.”

Like clockwork, two hours after departing the White House, the Obamas’ 14-vehicle motorcade departed cheering crowds in Georgetown and arrived home apparently in time for the Bulls-Celtics 8 p.m. tip-off.

The President then took the First Lady for a brief stroll across the White House grounds, waving to photographers. Game Night could now begin.

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david-lawder

The real facilitators of Europe’s crisis talks

Game Night AND Date Night for President Obama