No swag in AF1

I was reading Gerard Baker's article, Europe will miss George Bush when he's not around
The US President is a useful bogeyman - but his successor's policies may not be much different, where Baker nails it,

They'll miss, first, having a villain in the White House. It's a really convenient excuse to avoid doing anything yourself on pressing global concerns.

But what caught my eye was this: no souvenirs:

In fact, by the time that my colleague, Tom Baldwin, and I were into our final descent and a presidential-themed dinner of country-fried chicken and Texas toast (a bit like French toast, only bigger, brasher and with a dash of petroleum in it), all we had to show for the eight-hour ride were a few paper napkins, with a picture of a rather nondescript aircraft on them, the sort that I'm sure you can buy from those vendors who set up stall outside the White House.

Not even one of those little shampoo bottles you get at the measliest roadside motel.

Darn.



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