Britain's Queen Elizabeth II toasts with President Bush during a state dinner in the State Dining room of the White House in Washington, May 7, 2007. (Jason Reed/Reuters)
Why take a light-hearted, human moment and treat it as if it's some sort of international embarrassment?
It's what the lib media do. One of their favorite pastimes is to degrade President Bush -- Bush the buffoon.
Days ago, The New York Times set the stage for Queen Elizabeth's visit to Washington, D.C. by belittling Bush.
How does George W. Bush, a towel-snapping Texan who puts his feet on the coffee table, drinks water straight from the bottle and was once caught on tape talking with food in his mouth prepare for a state dinner with the queen?
With tips from an etiquette guide, of course — and a little gentle prodding from his wife.
The White House is atwitter over the visit on Monday by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. This is the first visit by the queen since 1991, when Mr. Bush’s father was president. White House aides say the state dinner in her honor is not only the social event of the year, but also of the entire Bush presidency.
It will be closely watched by the social elite for its collision of cultures — Texas swagger meets British prim. Dinner attire is white tie and tails, the first and, perhaps, only white-tie affair of the Bush administration. The president was said to be none too keen on that, but bowed to a higher power, his wife.
...Mr. Bush’s moniker for his father, 41, is well known, and he will surely need no etiquette guide to warn him away from referring to the queen as II. Even so, as it does for every official state visit, the White House has been consulting with the State Department chief of protocol.
The resulting booklet of tips is not exactly classified, but it is definitely not public.
Aides to Mrs. Bush shared a few dos and don’ts. The queen shall be addressed as “Your Majesty.” The prince is “Your Royal Highness.”
For women, curtseying is acceptable, but not required. One does not shake the queen’s hand unless the queen offers hers first.
And after Her Majesty finishes her meal, everyone’s meal is finished. (Not to worry, a senior official said of Mr. Bush: “He’s a really fast eater.”)
...In July 2001, the Bushes had lunch with the queen at Buckingham Palace.
“He didn’t drink water out of his bottle,” said Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary, who was there.
By Mr. Fleischer’s telling, Mr. Bush once did drink water out of his bottle at a United Nations lunch, prompting Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to give the president a gentle hint by pouring water in his glass.
On their official visit to the Britain in November 2003, the Bushes were feted at a state banquet, also white tie. Two years later, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were here. And, as Ms. McBride pointed out, the president and the first lady were guests in 1991 at the last state dinner for the queen, with Mr. Bush’s parents as hosts.
The president made no social miscues at those events, but last year he was spotted eating a dinner roll while talking to Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain. At that meeting of world leaders, Mr. Bush also gave Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany an impromptu shoulder rub.
Ms. McBride was not concerned. “I wouldn’t worry at all about his table manners,” she said, adding, “The president, frankly, is quite comfortable in every setting, no matter who it is.”
How lame!
I can summarize this article in one sentence: Bush is an ill-mannered, socially awkward dunce.
The lib media seem genuninely pleased to be able to report that Bush slipped up during remarks yesterday.
Also from The New York Times:
It was a day for pomp and circumstance — a military color guard, a fife and drum band in white wigs, red jackets and tricornered hats — punctuated by a presidential slip of the tongue that lightened the moment during Mr. Bush’s welcoming remarks. Mr. Bush reminded the 81-year-old queen that she had already dined with 10 American presidents.
“You helped our nation celebrate its bicentennial in 17 —— ” he went on, stopping to correct himself before 1776 could slip out. The crowd erupted in laughter, and the president and the queen turned to each other for a long, silent gaze. Then, Mr. Bush turned back to the crowd with an explanation. “She gave me a look,” he said, “that only a mother could give a child.”
Mr. Bush had been the recipient of such a look once before in the queen’s presence — from his own mother, back in 1991, when the first President and Mrs. Bush played host to their own state dinner for the queen. By several different accounts, including Mr. Bush’s own, Barbara Bush told the queen that she had seated her son far away from Her Majesty, for fear he might make a wisecrack.
Then, to his mother’s horror, he did, telling the queen that he was his family’s black sheep and asking, “Who’s yours?” The queen, apparently not amused, replied tartly, “None of your business.”
If the queen was not amused on Monday, she did not show it. “I’m sure she accepted it for what it was — a slip of the tongue,” said her press secretary, Penny Russell-Smith.
I don't think The Times is embarrassing the President in this article as much as it's insulting Queen Elizabeth. Of course, the intent is to make Bush look like a fool, but in the process, it doesn't present a very flattering picture of the Queen.
Are readers supposed to assume that the Queen is such an old bag that she would be ticked off that the President made a simple mistake?
"If the queen was not amused on Monday, she did not show it."
Good grief.
The Associated Press does its part to blow the President's slip of the tongue out of proportion. It, too, focuses on flubs.
[T]here was the president suggesting Queen Elizabeth was over 230 years old.
The president's slip of the tongue during morning welcoming speeches was inadvertent, of course, and quickly smoothed over with humor. But it wasn't exactly the flawless effort Bush had hoped would erase memories of the "talking hat" episode during the queen's last U.S. visit. (In 1991, during Bush's father's administration, a too-tall lectern left the audience able to see only the queen's hat behind microphones.)
The queen, a sprightly 81, gave an embarrassed Bush a gracious nod after he suggested she had celebrated the United States' founding in 1776. He meant to say she had attended 1976 bicentennial festivities.
"She gave me a look that only a mother could give a child," the president quipped, earning a reserved chuckle from his guest.
Laura Bush made her own minor calendar mistake. She flubbed the year that she and her husband attended the state dinner hosted by President George H.W. Bush in honor of the queen, saying it was in 1993.
Why do this?
The relentless criticism of the President and Mrs. Bush is really cheap. I'm more than sick of it.
The British press slams Bush as well.
From The Times:
President Bush welcomed the Queen to Washington yesterday with full White House ceremonial, a speech of warm praise, his first five-course, white-tie state dinner — and, being Mr Bush, an unfortunate slip of the tongue.
Standing with the Queen on a podium, he recalled her previous state visits, but had a little problem with the dates.
“You helped us celebrate our bicentennial in 1796,” he said confidently, and in a split second realised his error. “Er, 1976”, he corrected himself, to a gale of laughter from around the lawn. The Queen, smiling broadly, gave him a knowing sideways glance.
To another outburst of hilarity from the crowd he told her: “You gave me a look only a mother could give a child.”
At least he didn’t greet her with: “Yo, Majesty, how ya doin’?”
The White House was dressed with British and US flags as the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh arrived in a black limousine with smoked windows. George and Laura Bush shook hands warmly with the royal couple but there was no curtsy from the First Lady, only a nod of the head.
...A driving force behind the state visit has been Laura Bush who insisted that, just for once, her husband stay up beyond his 9pm bedtime. With Amy Zantzinger, her recently appointed social secretary, Cristeta Comerford, the White House executive chef, and Bill Yosses, the resident pastry chef, she drew up plans for a five-course dinner in the state dining room. The Bushes’ four previous state dinners for the presidents of Mexico, Poland, Kenya and the Philippines were mere four-course, black-tie occasions.
That is just plain stupid.
The image of Laura Bush planning the Queen's visit just so her husband would stay up past his 9:00 PM bedtime is really goofy.
Laura wanted to have a white tie dinner so she pulled all the strings to make it happen, dragging along the President as he kicked and screamed every step of the way.
The press is so mean-spirited in its treatment of President Bush.
Using the Queen's visit as an opportunity to bash him is really pushing it. Enough already.
The lib press can't even rein in their hatred for Bush for an event like this. They don't let up. They always keep that choke collar on the President.
_____________________________
Now this is worthy of mocking:
The tour is the Queen's first carbon-offset state visit, where a donation is made to an environmental charity to offset the plane journeys made by the royal party.
Total air miles - 13,317 km or 8,275 miles
Amount of CO2 emitted based on scheduled flights - 1. 5 tonnes
Estimated offset cost per person - £13.20 to £14.18 ($26.22-$28.17) depending on type of offset package
Source: The Carbon Neutral Company carbon calculator
What a joke!
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