Tongue-tied Brown slips up on ‘Obama Beach’

PARIS - After a scandal and an electoral setback, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suffered more humiliation at the commemoration of the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy when he inadvertently renamed one of the nearby beaches after US President Barack Obama.

During his address Saturday to World War II veterans and a number of world leaders, including Obama, a visibly preoccupied Brown said: “Next to Obama Beach, we join President Obama in paying particular tribute to the spectacular bravery of American soldiers who gave their lives.”

The beach on which thousands of Allied soldiers were killed during the D-Day landings is called Omaha Beach and is named after the largest city in the US state of Nebraska.

Although Obama appeared not to have heard and there was little reaction from listeners, bloggers are seeing the gaffe as yet one more reason why Brown should resign.