What’s the Queen going to do….

….with an iPod?

An Obama aide reported the queen was given an iPod loaded with video and photos of her 2007 trip to the United States, as well as songs and accessories. She also received a rare songbook signed by the composer Richard Rodgers.

The gift issue had come up after Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the White House last month. Mr. Brown gave Mr. Obama a pen holder carved from the timber of an anti-slave ship, receiving in return a DVD box set of American movies, igniting a torrent of criticism in the British press.

Mr. Brown’s gift was a great and thoughtful rendering of history for the new US president. Mr. Obama’s gift didn’t work on British video players.

Oversight has been a big issue in the US lately…