| Taylor Marsh has a series of photos that just have to be seen to be believed. Crooks and Liars has the video. Keep in mind that the woman in the picture is German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a fellow head of state, being groped by the president of the United States.
The Approach
The Grope
The Get-Away
My guess is that any woman can look at those pictures and know exactly what’s going on. The German chancellor got an unwelcome grope from our frat-boy-in-chief. And I’m willing to bet money that most of the women I know would have socked the guy with one of those balled up fists Merkel is displaying in the pictures above.
For the guys who don’t get what the big deal is, keep in mind Bush can’t keep his hands off the guys either.
As a gay man, I’ve had my share of unwelcome gropes. (And I’ve been know to grab a groper by the wrist, turn him to face me, and ask him what he thought he was doing.) It’s not funny or flattering. At best it’s assuming a familiarity that doesn’t exist between two people. At worst it’s a way of dehumanizing someone reducing them to a body part to be groped, and it’s a way of asserting dominance; an unspoken way of saying “I can put my hands on you any time I want, and there’s not much you can do about it.”
The difference between the president and most gropers, though, is that the rest are usually smart enough not to do it when there are cameras rolling.
And I used to think the most embarrassing picture of Bush was this one.
Boy was I ever wrong.
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I gotta be honest…youre statements are mind-blowingly childish. Get a life…get a job…get something to do instead of sit on your ass all day and come up with stupid things to bitch about. Is Bush an idiot? Did he act a fool in doing what he did? The answer to both is clearly Yes.
Did he have misogynist intent? Did he do it to degrade Merkel? The answer to both is No. I dont care how many gay guys have groped you dude…if you want to start a blog on your sexual escapades, do it on a non-political site. It was just a dumbass thing to do, because as you said, he is touchy feely with everyone. If Bush came by and rubbed up on me or my bald head would I be weirded out? Yeh. Would I assume that he did so with some evil hateful derogatory intent? Hell No. There’s a difference between reading between the lines, and reading too much into something in order to make an issue out of a non-issue. If youre trying to write a blogpost on Bush being an asshole or an idiot, you have 6 years of stuff to use in your arsenal…why you feel the need to create more, I have no idea.
Whether or not youll allow this post to remain up, im interested to see. After all, it would be admitting there there ARE two sides to every argument. I guess only time will tell
Well, wouldn’t you know it! I worked in business for many years and mostly with men in the industry I was in and I recognize this readily. I am grateful for your understanding commentary. It is so insulting. It is a way for a man who is insecure about women to put a woman in her place. If you don’t think so, imagine Bush doing this to Vladimir Putin! First, he wouldn’t have the nerve and second what do think Putin would do? This is the German chancellor for goodness sake! Are you kidding me??!!!! Bush may not be drinking but he is certainly acts like a guy in a bar who has issues with women (I have never met an anti-choice person - especially men - who didn’t have mommy issues).
I remember a speech he gave at some fundraiser early in his presidency in which he put down Laura under the guise of “humor.” She just sat there and smiled. Also, remember when he patted her butt at an event she was running? There were people who said it was “endearing.” Maybe at a private dinner party it would be endearing but publicly at an event she organized? It’s just an insecure man asserting his manhood and completely unnecessary. It shows a complete lack of respect for her.
So, of course, he is anti-choice. He thinks women should be controlled. And everyone else for that matter. That’s why he nicknames people - that’s why he “massages” the shoulder of the German chancellor (I still can’t believe I am typing that! - the German chancellor! Can you imagine Reagan massaging the shoulders of Maggie Thatcher? She would have clocked him!) and that’s why he actually believes that all Kofi Annan has to do is call Syria and put a stop to “this shit.”
What an idiot.
In the workplace this could be interpreted as harassment…..
You can see on her face she *does not* want to be touched.
Jesus, mate , get a life. Don’t you have a father or uncles in your family that does those things, sometimes welcome sometimes not so? Wish we had a president like that instead of those pseudo-intelectual types that don’t have a backbone.
Once a frat boy, always a frat boy? Bush is such an embarassment.
How does giving an unwelcome backrub provide any evidence of backbone? Please don’t confuse the swagger of an infantile tyrant with authentic courage.
You are in de-nial.
Bush unfortunately is not a family uncle, he is the leader of a country among other world leaders for chrissakes.
A man touched a woman!!!! OMF’in GOD!!!!! His fingers MADE CONTACT!!! with her shoulders!!!!
“For the guys who don’t get what the big deal is”
I’ll tell you what the big deal is. It’s called phallophobia. It’s an irrational fear of male sexuality. Some man touches some woman to which she chooses to find uncomfortable and it’s time to roll out the hyperbole!
“He’s GROPING!”
“He’s dehumanizing her!”
“He’s saying I can put my hands on you however I want and there’s nothing you can do about it!”
“It’s SEX!!!!ual HARASSMENT!”
This is called projection. You are projecting the image of all of that onto him, picturing a deviant sexual predator when in fact, all he did was touch her shoulders in a (perhaps ackward) attempt at bonding. Her response is hardly proof of his evil intent as you imply. Even if Bush does feel some sexual attraction to her, (which we have no idea whether there is or not), that doesn’t mean the desire to establish this kind of familiarity is only a sexual one, or even one which includes a sexual intent at all. A lot of married people have touched other people’s shoulders whom they felt friendly towards and even sexually attracted to without making any attempt to taking it further and trying to have sexual relations.
Of course, you’d be able to figure all of this out on your own if it had been Laura Bush rubbing the shoulders of any man in this group because there isn’t a widespread social phobia of female sexuality like there is of male sexuality and thus you wouldn’t be coming from a perspective of feeling a social obligation to be hystronic in analyzing the action. If anything, it would be the man’s reaction, (assuming it matched Chancellor Merkel’s), you be condemning. In short, it’s not the actions you judge, it’s the gender of the people committing them.
Back in the Victorian age, it was “OMF’in God that piano’s legs are exposed. That’s too SEXUAL!! for women to see. They might faint! Any man who would leave his piano’s legs exposed in the presence of women is a brute and a sexual deviant!”
You’ve come a long way baby.
jesus crispy, you are making such a big deal out of this. every now and then i walk up behind a coworker and give her a wet-willie (wasn’t that clinton’s porn-star-name?). should she complain? what happened to her sense of humor. so with a name like merkel, anyway, and what kind of a job is chance-a-lor anywho? its not like she is the President of a major power. tell miss high-and-mighty she was just lucky to have the president bless her with his touch. (note on other things he has touched and so blessed: iraq, social security, medicare). I agree with the first comment— there are at least 3 sides to every story… but i think mine is best.
This type of ridiculous attack will continue to create Bush supporters among thinking people. Not only do you try to link up Bush’s actions with predator gropers, but your own argument is contradictory in and of itself.
Are you claiming that every touching is a “unwelcome grope?”
What’s up with your comments about all the gropes you’ve endured as a “gay man.” Are you implying that gay men get more than there fair share of gropes?
Finally, you say (in reference to the massage) that “At best it’s assuming a familiarity that doesn’t exist between two people…” Are you saying a familirity CANNOT exist between two people? What if it does exist? Bush and Merkel DO have a close relationship (even though she is the GERMAN CHANCELLOR…OMG, the German Chancellor), and chances are this was not a problem.
Finally, you say “The difference between the president and most gropers, though, is that the rest are usually smart enough not to do it when there are cameras rolling.” This is nothing more than an attack on Bush’s intelligence, as you forget that the President has cameras on him at all times (even when they say they won’t be).
You are probably able to take any story and work your two main talking points from this post into it: e.g. I’m a gay victim and Bush is stupid.
If I, as a teacher, did this to one of my students, male or female, I would be fired on the spot. If I did this to one of my co-workers, I would be cited for some sort of harassment and put on corrective action. Yes, this kind of intimacy occurs inside of families, as a display of affection and dominance. It also occurs on football teams, for the same reasons. It might even occur between President Bush and Secretary Rice, whose relationship appears to mix the personal with the professional.
Can we talk hypothetically? If the president in the picture were a Democrat, the conservatives would be all over it.
Intent doesn’t really matter. He DID degrade Merkel. She, along with the other delagates, are the leaders of their respective countries and should be treated with respect. He is there to represent all of us and the little things like trying to massage a foriegn leader or talking with his mouth full reflect on us all. If you wonder why Europeans call us “stupid Americans”, there’s your answer.
At the press conference with Putin they all laughed at Bush for suggesting Russia take notes on democracy from Iraq.
And don’t forget the pig…
What is troubling is Merkel’s visceral reaction to the touching. This signals that it wasn’t welcome.
I’d prefer my president be better at reading people than this. It must have been quite embarrassing.
Yep, phallophobia is a widespread social disease as I said earlier. Just because you would be fired for touching a student’s shoulders doesn’t mean you SHOULD be fired for doing so. Female teachers meanwhile don’t even get fired for pedophilia on a first offense. It would be better if people didn’t consider the genders involved when judging the appropriate response to a person’s actions.
And this is a president who’s supposed to be so big on body language.
Jeff and others clearly don’t get it. It’s not about sexual harrassment anyway. It’s about domination and the gender is largely irrelevant. What Bush is displaying is simple primate alpha male behavior. By touching someone informally who is actually a peer as if they’re an inferior or a child, he asserts himself as dominent over them - whether they’re male/female, old/young. If you disagree, you just need to read up on sociology/anthropology until you get it.
This ties directly into Bush’s speaking with his mouth full, rubbing bald guys on the head, and giving every journalist a peurile nickname. He’s effectively saying, “I don’t care. I’m in charge.”
He’s not in charge of the German chancellor, however, despite whatever hyper-developed delusions of granduer he may be suffering from.
[...] UPDATE: Terrence has a few thoughts as well: As a gay man, I’ve had my share of unwelcome gropes. (And I’ve been know to grab a groper by the wrist, turn him to face me, and ask him what he thought he was doing.) It’s not funny or flattering. At best it’s assuming a familiarity that doesn’t exist between two people. At worst it’s a way of dehumanizing someone reducing them to a body part to be groped, and it’s a way of asserting dominance; an unspoken way of saying “I can put my hands on you any time I want, and there’s not much you can do about it.” [...]
Oh, and the fact that Mark Mywords comments that he feels free to give his coworker a “wet willie” perfectly illustrates the level of common sense and disgression we’re dealing with here.
Not only should your co-worker complain - she should turn around and give you a good punch. Also, ask yourself, would you do the same to each and every co-worker? Why the particular focus on her I wonder? Perhaps you’re overly familiar with her because you’ve known her a long time.
I’d want to go take a shower if you gave me a “wet willie.” What are you a 3rd grader?
Bush treats *everyone* as if he’s overly familiar with them.
Ok, I am not even from the USA, and I most certainly think Bush is a nut job… But lets get back to who the “Predator” is in these pictures. The guy is lucky if he has two braincells to rub together. This is not sexual harassment, this is just an extension of his extreme stupidity. It is very unprofessional, and arrogant, but that fits is MO to a tee. Why did the good chancellor not get up and tell him what for? It’s because there would be no point. He wouldn’t get it anyway.
Bush is allot of things, but I doubt he is a “Sexual Predator”. Jeff had the right of it, in that if bush was not a man, we would be looking at those pictures in a totally different light. But, even if it was a woman, it still would have been unprofessional. It would have been unprofessional even if it was his wife he was doing it to, give the location.
On the other hand, if I was that black guy who got his head rubbed, I would have decked him right there on camera… The only part that amazes me, is that Bush is so stupid, and not only did he get in once, but twice. Who voted for this guy? Are you nuts?
Jeff, you don’t have any idea what you are talking about.
Sorry.
It is not “phallophobia.” Don’t project.
This a man going far outside the proper social boundaries of the situation. I don’t know if there is anything sexual about it, and it doesn’t matter if there is or isn’t.
Bush’s surprise intimate personal contact with the leader of another country at an official function. Male or female, sexual or platonic, this behavior negatively affects the standing of the US in the eyes of the world.
And with our foreign policy causing so much negative feeling, the last thing we need is the president personally causing incidents.
It seems that “phallophobia” does not seem to be recognized as any sort of “fear of male sexuality” social phenomenon, but instead seems to be referenced in a few places as a fear of penises. That lends me to believe that Rob’s just speaking his own conclusions, which seem unfounded (read: bullshit).
Sexuality aside, if people don’t want to be touched, they shouldn’t be. Bush is just making himself look like an ass, which is completely irresponsible and which I would expect to be unnervingly embarrassing to ANYONE in the country that he represents. Do we really have to wait two more years until we can be rid of this guy?
err, not Rob, Jeff. >_
The Bush supporters who have commented here are leaving out one very important fact. In this day and age, the type of touching that was done, when done in the workplace, is inappropriate (at best). Bush was most certainly in his workplace, in front of everyone.
The fact that certain posters do not agree that it is inappropriate does not change the fact that it is. The President of the United States should be intelligent and informed enough to know that this type of touching (especially male to female) is considered wrong and often offensive to the person being touched. It does, indeed, make the woman being touched feel that she has been degraded. When it is done in front of other men, it is a signal that the male doing the touching is the “alpha male”, and that he controls this female.
So, at some level, Bush was showing his status in the group at the expense of Chancellor Merkel. In the process he degraded her status and offended her.
I would probably agree that he was not even aware that he was doing that. So that makes it a monumentally stupid mistake.
I’d like to see him try that with Putin or Chirac. And Bush is a stranger, a colleague, and is not a friend and not a family member. If anyone - male or female snuck up behind me, in a public place and laid hands on me, my immediate reflex is a punch back to the ribs. Why would this invasion of personal space be okay to do to a female peer and not to a male peer? Robert S. has the core of the matter. It is a dominance gesture. Among friends if a friend does that is okay - but real friends give you some signal before they intrude into your personal space. Even my husband looks me in the face or touches me softly before he moves in and grabs me… and he has full permission. Let us perhaps explore - among you who think it is okay for a man to touch a woman to whom he is not friends, related, or married in this way - the fact that Bush is married. What is he doing making intimate moves on a woman who is not his wife… in public - and who is not related to him, is not his friend. How would you feel if some male or female did that to your mate? One night at a party the landlord of my friends’ house did that to me. I was trying to be polite and not break his ribs… my good friend came up and whispered to his landlord “She’s married”… you’d think his hands were burnt
Reading Mark Mywords post again, I think he was probably joking, satirizing the stupidity of Bush’s over familiarity. In which case, I say “good point” and sorry I didn’t read more carefully!
What this shows me is just more evidence of Bush’s narcissism.
If you don’t already know what it is, look up Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
From watching Bush’s behavior, he gives off the impression that he thinks everything is about him. Like narcissists everywhere, he has an “I-it” relationship to the people around him and to the world in general, and most of his actions are meant to show us that, to paraphrase Chevy Chase, “He’s George Bush, and you’re not.”
Someone mentioned the condescending nicknames and the rubbing of bald men’s heads as ways of asserting his own coolness and putting others in their place as subordinates. These behaviors also indicate a severe lack of empathy. Empathy is the ability to imagine how others might be feeling–how they might react to an uninvited massage from a stranger, for instance.
A normal person, with both empathy AND good judgment, would anticipate that the gesture might not be entirely welcome and would ultimately decide not to do it. A five year old child, or an alcoholic, or someone similarly afflicted with poor impulse control would not experience this thought process.
You could catalog an entire list of utterances and actions that indicate that Bush doesn’t see other people as entirely real.
Have you seen the clip of him wiping his glasses on the shawl of Letterman’s assistant during a commercial break? Would you do that to anyone?! Especially someone you didn’t know? Message sent: In my mind, you are equivalent to a paper towel; I will use you as such.
How about harrassing the blind reporter for not taking off his sunglasses? Telling the crippled guy he looked “mighty comfortable” when he wouldn’t stand up for the president?
Saying the woman who had to work three jobs to support her severely handicapped son was “uniquely American,” but doing nothing to help millions of Americans in her situation.
Calling himself “the decider” and throwing a hissy fit every time his judgment is questioned (forgetting completely, or only giving lip service to the idea that the president is the servant of the people). Saying that politics would be easier if the US were a dictatorship and he was the dictator.
As Randi Rhodes says, “When people tell [or show] you who they are, BELIEVE THEM.” This is who Bush is.
There are audio clips. Look for them.
Not to mention the constant use of the US troops as props for his speeches and public appearances. I really question whether he feels anything when he sends them off to die.
I’m sure other posters will be able to remember other telling examples, and I think there’s a book out there that attempts to draw some conclusions about W based on his biography and public behavior.
OMG, she’s a helpless victim!!!!11 she should sue!11 boohoooooooooooo!!
This is VERY entertaining. Everyone PROJECTS their vast knowledge (and they are ALL smarter than Bush).
First, was it inappropriate, probably. The fact remains that we do not know how well those two know each other and what their personal relationship is like.
Yes, I am sure that touching someone is his way of being the alpha-male–HAHAHA. I think that part of him and a genuine part is that he IS a personable person and he does touch people. In my mind, he is not doing it because he is groping, harassing or showing dominance, it is probably because he is showing a genuinely human touch. Can I be wrong-SURE, I could be 100% wrong, but I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
Since this is the only clip I saw of it and the end is cut, what might also have happened is that Merkel was stunned because she was surprised, not because she was groped. It is a natural reaction when someone touches you unexpectedly (because you didn’t see then–like she didn’t). I agree that it could have been a similar reaction if she didn’t like it, but what does she say about it and about her reaction to it. That would tell me more than these people who are all knowing about being groped and the phallophobia, as Jeff says.
Did you see Danica Patrick’s response to the driver who says that she could be very competitive driver during “that time of the month.” She played it off, very classy! Instead of all the PC crap. Should he have said it–probably not. Did she handle it the well–absolutely. I want to see what Merkel has to say about it before all this conjucture.
Besides, if it is about being the Alpha-dog, well I would say that he is, after all he is PRESIDENT of THE UNITED STATES. Plus, how stupid is he–he was able to steal the election right from under the genius’s noses!
…and corporations wonder why they lose so much money when employees sue for harrassment and for conduct unprofessional.
To John S - Give Me A Break
>Besides, if it is about being the Alpha-dog, well I would say that he is,
>after all he is PRESIDENT of THE UNITED STATES.
That is about the most arrogant thing I have seen on here yet. Who cares if he is “President of the United States”? He is one leader of one country, just like Hitler was a number of years ago. This does not give him the right to violate others. Contrary to popular belief (in the USA), the USA is not the only country in the world. And before you spout some crap like “it’s the best country in the world” take a closer look at the country that the chancellor comes from. They have good health care, there people are cared for, and poor people aren’t Left to die after a storm because arranging buses was to big of an inconvenience.
I do agree that it was unlikely that he was trying to assert anything though. He simply isn’t smart enough to think that far ahead. Most likely, he thought he was being friendly.
As for the fact that the clip ends when the incident is over, doesn’t change the fact that it happened. This would have been bad form even if she was his wife. This is not dinner out, or some such. It is a meeting of nations, a political forum. This is not the place for touchy feely. You sit in your spot, and stand up to talk when its your turn or you have something important to say. And, I have no idea how he won a second term. I think that it was insane that you guys gave that nut any votes at all, other then a few from the south. Lets just say, that I like most of the world was shocked, and lost any faith I had in the people of the USA when he got back in.
Jeff wins. Obviously, what he did wasn’t inappropriate, demeaning, or downright misogynist. We’re all just afraid of Jeff’s mighty phallus, and THAT’S why we (choose to) object when he grabs us.
Did I say we and he? I meant Bush and Merkel, as did Jeff. He’s apparently not one to project.
And yea, no phobia surrounding female sexuality at all. That’s why ’slut’ only applies to men, and why we can only joke around with “woman-slut.” Why was she so “hystronic”[sic] (nice word choice, by the way!) anyway? I mean, large international conferences are the best places to express your sexuality. She’s allowed to do it because of her female privilege (wasn’t she fondling the Italian PM right when Bush walked up? No? I coulda sworn…), but the minute Bush starts swinging his, erm, male sexuality around, everyone starts fainting and calling in the piano movers.
To the males who are whining that Bush’s actions don’t constitute sexual harassment: guess what? YOU don’t get to define it. The person on the receiving end of unwanted physical contact gets to define it. I don’t know whether or not Angela Merkel considers Bush’s actions to be sexual harassment, but SHE is the one to make that decision–not you.
It’s no fun being on the receiving end of unwanted touching or verbal comments from males. If you don’t grasp that simple concept and pull a Bush-like stunt at your workplace, I hope you enjoy your little trip to HR and the nice little note they’ll put in your personnel file.
All these guys who are so concerned with poor misunderstood men and “phallophobia’ (oh, brother), just ask yourself this. Would Bush have ever done that to a non-subordinate man in such a situation? Of course not. This is the surest test of the inappropriateness of what he did.
Years ago, I tapped a co-worker on her behind with a tennis racket “in fun”. She didn’t say anything, but I knew I’d way overstepped the boundaries- all I had to do was ask myself if I would have ever done that if it were a male co-worker, and the answer was an easy no. It was sexual harrassment pure and simple- not of the worst sort, but pure and simple, it was. I went back to her and apologized later. I was lucky that she chose not to say anything more about it to my superiors, and have certainly never done anything like that again.
My point here is that what Bush does to Merkel here is the same exact “harmless” thing. He would never do this to Putin or even Tony Blair. It is a pretty outrageous breach of etiquette and protocol. If he were just a yokel down there running a baseball team, then he would just be out of line. As president of this country, the man is truly an national embarrassment.
Personal relationship aside, do you REALLY think the german Chancellor wants German citizens to see her getting a quickie backrub from Bush?
I’ve had strong ADHD all my life and I think I see signs of it in Bush. One symptom is that you can get so distracted that you forget things that would seem like comon sense to others A VERY frequent problem is that you act on good-natured impulses without thinking things through and can come of looking like an asshole despite having decent intentions - happens to me more than I’d like. This clip looks very much like he just got the idea as a friendly gesture at the last minute and acted on his impulse without thinking about how it would be interpreted.
Shira’s post is the smartest thing on this page.
Everybody read it again.
Worse than embarassment, Bush’s do-what-he-wants-when-he-wants-to-whoever-he-wants behavior has cost hundreds of thousands of human beings their lives. He is the ultimate pushbutton mass murderer. He long ago ceased to be amusing.
Those photos make me shudder and cringe — and I’m a man, btw. It’s definitely about dominance. My (male) boss does that to me once in a while, and it’s non-sexual, but I can always feel through his fingertips the implication that “*you* could never get away with doing this to *me*.” But there’s always that plausible deniability; the shoulder-rubber, if called on it, can always get out of it by saying “but I was just trying to be friendly!” Y’know, why can’t Mrs. Merkel just be a little more, uh, receptive.
I have no idea that ever never this guy has a family or crebility in his intire family??????????????????
offcours not!!
If Mr.Putin was ggroping mrs. Bush in G8 witch is not a dinner it is all over the wolrd’s attention were to this G8 meeting that people across the world waiting for leaders help to stop midlest conflict but the realialty of Bush’s heart filing was came on show that he don’t care about any body in the world.
it good for USA to keep him 4 more years .
“This type of ridiculous attack will continue to create Bush supporters among thinking people.”
That’s nonsense. Only a supporter would say that.
didn’t he and the first lady just stay at her home…your idiots
“You’ve come a long way baby.” Jeff, Jeff, Jeff. Only trolls use cut and paste, you posted the same pile of sh*t on other blogs. Please be a little more creative. You’ve not got the Magna Carta written in your off-base remarks. You must drink the neo-fascist Republican kool aid. It makes you forget anything remotely resembling common sense and compassion for others, you know, kind a like the born agains. They profess all kinds of things and deliver little other than death and fear. Your frat buddy was inappropirate. The RNC must still pay you guys.
Shira, right on! Well said.
what IS with w.’s “laying on hands?” maybe he’s prepping for his next job — pat robertson’s successor?
For all you “guys” who think that this behavior is not so bad or think women are overreacting let me give ya a reality check. Would any of you in the workplace do what Bush did to your boss or to someone you do not have a personal relationship with? I don’t think so.
Boundaries. Personal space. The comfort level on these things varies due to so many cultural factors. My boss’ husband is Romanian, and she gets weirded out whenever one of them kisses her on both cheeks — it’s a cultural difference.
I think it’s always best to err on the side of reserve, especially in diplomatic environments. Clearly, given the chancellor’s reaction, Bush erred badly. Regardless of his intentions, she appears to have found it surprising and disrespectful.
I’m particularly surprised to see him do this after all the weird squinchiness over Putin’s “kissing the boy like a kitten” deal.
However, those people who say that there are elements of power play in it are definitely right: there’s a guy (VP) who occasionally tries to hug my boss, knowing she hates being touched. I think he thinks he’s being funny, but she ain’t amused, and it is both unprofessional and disrespectful. She’d be well within her rights to report it to his supervisor, but I think he hasn’t done it in a while. I hope he’s stopped for good.
I think the guy who mentioned Bush’s nicknames is on to something there as well. On a conscious level, some of them may be somewhat affectionate, but I’ve always thought the best policy is just to call people what they ask to be called. I remember a friend of mine getting incredibly annoyed when he lived in Chicago … he’d pick up the phone at work to assist a customer, and identify himself: “This is Michael. How can I help you?” “Yeah, howyadoin’, Mike?” was inevitably the response he’d get. People don’t realize that they’re being rude — they think they’re being familiar and friendly — but that doesn’t excuse it.
Where is his common courtesy? Where is his decency?
He is a total embarrassment for our whole country!
Isn’t there somebody in his entourage that can keep him from making a fool of himself and by extension our country? Some heads need to roll on this one. Since we can’t get rid of him get rid of his babysitter/s they are not doing their job.
Un-FUCKING believable. Jeff is so far off base he’s in a football field. Anyone who watches that video clip and thinks Merkel was just merely taken off guard needs to seriously re-examine their ideas about personal space and the respect of it. It’s a boundary you DO NOT CROSS no matter WHAT your intent. Merkel SAW BUSH COMING as her head followed his path. He then grabbed and recoiled in obvious disgust and shock - it was VERY clear she knew it was Bush touching her.
Jeff, Bush is no sexual predator. These are not sexual advances. They are INVASIONS OF PERSONAL SPACE by a monkey in a man suit trying to simultaneously, in one swift action, assert himself as the alpha male AND be perceived as a friendly guy with great intentions. He fails miserably at BOTH. Wake up, idiot. Grow a pair and then you can talk about this so-called phallophobia.
For those of you who think that this is “No big deal” — Let me clue you in. Texas culture — from whence president bozo preports to be from — is a very chauvanistic state. It (chauvanism) is as prevalent as the subtle racism and runs like a thread through the state.
I grew up there, worked there and suffered many of these incidents. Let me tell you something, it is designed to keep a woman in her place. A sign of inappropriate familiarity, ESPECially among heads of state.
Maybe POTUS (our Commander in Chief, the Leader of the Free World) is evolving in reverse, from an adolescent state backwards until he curls up into infancy.
Next time he runs into Chancellor Merkel, maybe he’ll pass her a note: “Do you like me? Check yes or no.” And then, a few months later, he’ll simply reach for her breast, hoping to suckle.
“This type of ridiculous attack will continue to create Bush supporters among thinking people.”
That’s nonsense. Only a supporter would say that.
Actually it is a joke NickM. There are no THINKING people who support Bush! It’s such a sly slight of hand I wonder if it was meant to be a spoof?
Oh, and azbill, thanks for calling Jeff on his MAD cut-n-paste skillz. Yo Jeff, your manifesto be tight dawg… but in the future don’t waste our time with your masters propoganda in EVERY political blog in the verse. Unlike wingnuts we not only READ we also REMEMBER.
Its amazing how Bush supporters will accept and give excuses for anything this president does, no matter how bad or repulsive. He is supposed to represent Americans with dignity and respect. During this G8 summit he displayed none of the above. Zero class. I have never been so embarrassed as an American.
Bravo T!
Everyone is entitled to their opnions so it’s mine to say that we are letting this dumbass ruin our lives and kill lots of innocent people for power and OIL in the name of freedom. As far as I’m concerned he’s no different then those Ayatollah’s (his dad’s oil buddies). Tired of all of the blind sheep allowing this guy to get away with everything. NO BLOOD FOR OIL> PEACE and thank you for your insight…..he thinks he can get away with anything and it’s time for folks to wake up and kick his dumb ass to the curb…..
Come on, anyone who things this over-reacting go read the German sites. A few are furious. Imagine if a foreign leader came over and made Bush look a fool (well bad example - he doesn’t need a foreign leader to do that). Ok they came over and humilate him some how. Get him in awkward position, oh another bad example.
Ok my example will go nowhere here using Bush as the character, so plain in simple in other countries people are proud that their country is personified by their leader. In our country well not so much, regardless Bushie just made the German leader look foolish or below him. So yes it is a big deal, its an insult to the country itself or at least to those who believe their country and status is personified by its govt. Back 200 years ago this kind of afront started wars. Good thing we live in modern times and have more bombs then everybody else, otherwise we would have started as Bush said to Blair some other ’sh*t’
I feel for anyone with ADHD. It certainly doesn’t mean that you are not an intelligent person. However, to have a president that acts on impulse and doesn’t think things through is terrifying. He’s the man with his finger on the nuclear trigger.
I’m not so sure he doesn’t have ADCD, Attention Deficit Cocaine Disorder. It’s also clear that he has the maturity level of an 8th grader. A fact I’m sure Putin, Hu, Merkel and even Blair have come to realize.
It must be galling to have a president who is so much of a fool he doesn’t even know what a fool he is. But he is, of course, surrounded by a crew of hard vicious men who wouldn’t have it any other way. What to watch for is how they plan the choice of their next booby.
i agree with steve. he’s not a pervert he’s just an asshole. you’re a pervert.
Hillary Clinton walks into an international conference, strolls towards her place at the table and pauses to give - say - Tony Blair a little touchy-feely around the neck.
Imagine the outpourings from Wingnutistan.
This is a crime against humanity. George W Bush who abuses human rights of woman often as illustrated here should be tried in the Hague for his war crimes.
>I’d like to see him try that with Putin or Chirac. >And Bush is a stranger, a colleague, and is not a >friend and not a family member.
>Maybe POTUS (our Commander in Chief, the Leader of >the Free World) is evolving in reverse, from an >adolescent state backwards until he curls up into >infancy.
The next scene we will see is Putin laying of big one on Bush’s stomach. South Park material for sure!
To all those dunderheads who don’t seem to see why Bush was out of line: I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you.
And I’m not going to waste my time trying, any more than I would consider most of the comments supporting Bush to be ‘arguments’.
WOW, a lot of good stuff to read here.
What if Bush has a good relationship with her? And that behavior is acceptable to her. And he has done that to her when the cameras were not rolling.
Maybe she just got noided at the fact the she was startled AND the cameras were rolling. He left because he realized at that instant, LOL, that he made a mistake since the cameras were rolling.
I think it is all just about the cameras rolling and who was aware of that fact and who wasn’t.
Clearly Bush didn’t think the cameras were rolling OR he thought it would be a friendly gesture (some people express themselves this way - I don’t, but know people who do - no big deal). Clearly the GC knew the cameras were rolling and reacted accordingly. All other inferences to his intentions etc. are just ridiculous.
Now, I did vote for Bush, but have not been a huge fan of his public tactics, but he’s in there for a reason and let’s not forget that. He is just one man, and he doesn’t single handedly run the country. It is an image thing with most people as it should be. And he is representing our wonderful country so he should be on his best behavior at all times. But we are all human and make mistakes, and no man ever had inegrity 100% of the time. Well, there was one who did, Jesus.
I’ve been on the receiving end of EXACTLY this kind of attention, from married men, from people who had the power to employ me (or not), and from guys who thought my shape and size implied some rampant wantonness just waiting for the touch of the master’s hand (theirs).
And when it came from those who had the power to give me a gig or not, most times I just endured it. It doesn’t mean I then reconfigured the relationship to allow their touch–kind of like Dubya retrofitting legislation to allow him to torture and wiretap. It would have created a scene if I had jabbed an elbow or objected verbally (e.g., I wouldn’t want the man’s nearby wife to hear that I considered myself groped by her husband). I weighed my options and chose endurance.
That may be why some posters here allow themselves to think such touch is not unwelcome.
What a complete and utter fool that man is. I’m ashamed to call him my President!
What does it take to get him impeached and out of office along with the rest of his cronies? Laura should move out of the WH and move back to Crawford TX by herself she would be better off. He has Condi on the side and god only knows how many men so why stay with a fool like that.
As for the people saying hes doing nothing that another president wouldn’t do. Show me one ex-pres that ever groped a chancellor or dignitary and got away with it?
It’s a common expectation in our society that unnessessary touching (groping’s a bit extreme in this case) is not appropriate, whether welcomed or not, in the place of bussiness/work. Mr. Bush is the President of the United States (for those who still think he’s just “a good ol’boy from Texas”) and is to conduct himself as a professional whom both respects and represents the laws of the land. What kind of message does he send to other men?
“Phallophobia” is a fear of male sexualality only if refering to the male organ (or phallic objects)- however if you’re afraid of heights and I dangle you by your feet from the Empire State building, then how would you react? It’s not up to the President, nor any of you, to cure a woman of such a condition. If you’re the man that insists that it’s his God given right to make advances on women, than you may have a homophobic condition. Many men finish their day without the uncontrollable need to touch a strange woman. Perhaps these men touch to reassure themselves of their sexuallity- it’s not unheard of.
The bottom line is that the President should perform the laws if he is to uphold them. I know someone is going to cry “Clinton! Bill! Oval Office!”. What law did he break? His behavior wasn’t even deviant for a American man- perhaps for a President but there is no law stating that our President isn’t permitted to engauge in sexual activities.
it makes me uncomfortable and upset just to look at the pictures, I know exactly what she must have been feeling. Uck.
Steve kicked off the comments with the other perspective, which is obviously wrong if you consider the facts, and especially if you watch the video. This wasn’t Merkel horsing around too, she wasn’t receptive, or even inviting the familiar touch.
What if Bush has a good relationship with her? And that behavior is acceptable to her. And he has done that to her when the cameras were not rolling.
Maybe she just got noided at the fact the she was startled AND the cameras were rolling. He left because he realized at that instant, LOL, that he made a mistake since the cameras were rolling.
–From Jim (9:12AM)
Yeah, and what if pigs had wings? Then they could fly!
Anybody stupid and/or uncivilized enough to defend this behavior should seriously consider leaving the Cro-Magnon era, and learning about life in the 21st Century. This behavior is not cute or funny, it is insulting and degrading. If you didn’t know that already, just take a look at the expression on her face.
Having been on the receiving end of a male colleague coming from behind with unwanted and unannounced touching, I can tell you that on a gut level it’s a frightening experience, and afterwards it’s a humiliating one. It’s unprofessional, inapproppriate, and yes, harrassment, I (and my husband, and the H.R. department) don’t care what the intensions are.
The expression on Chancelor Merkel’s face is one of PAIN! Rubbing someones “back” or pinching their shoulder’s is two different things. Men do this to men, and some get their ribs “tickled” but that only happens once, believe me.
Who among us knows the condition her “condition” is in re her shoulders? Any of us know whether or not she has had othrascopic surgery which has up to two year recovery time?
Lastly, what would be the reaction of Mrs. Bush, Kennedy, Ragen, et al, if the Heads of State of any and all other countries elicited the same reaction of these women?
Someone in an ealier post asked what Putin’s response would be to such a “message”; as a black belt in the sweet science of hand to hand combat discipline, you have one or two guesses.
If it had been Golda Meir she would have decked him.
Uh, let’s see…
Merkel’s response was appropriate, Bush’s touch was way out of line for international diplomacy, and the people who think the above posting is going to ‘create’ Bush supporters are …using some weird logic or perhaps crystal meth. Merkel is a world leader. She is, actually, Germany’s version of Bush—ironically, or not.
It’s humiliating. Either he’s so ignorant that doesn’t understand that “massaging” a female world leader is a put-down (an alienates one of the few conservatives who might support him), or he’s so arrogant he thinks he’s somehow in charge of this group.
If that had been my wife, even if I hadn’t been there, when I saw the videos or photos, I’d certainly have kicked his ass.
Whoah! I think I just had an orgasm imagining that!
The real question is, why didn’t Merkel get up and slap him?
Please tell me that we won’t elect an even bigger ignoramus in 2008. Please tell me this is going to end in a few years, and we’ll have a president that even if I don’t agree with him, at least won’t behave like a drunken college boy on a European spring break. I mean, really, there can’t be a bigger fool than this, can there?
It would have been within her right to mace this creep!
70 comments on one subject and everyone saying one thing or another. After reading 35 I’m just going to say, yes he was an idiot, yes he does these does these things all the time. No he won’t change, so just laugh at him and wait another two years until another head of state is in power.
I’ve always interpreted a brief, unsolicited shoulder rub as a sign of endearment or affection regardless of the gender of the giver and recipient. In my view this is completely inappropriate given the context in which it was given and the relationship that one supposes must exist between these two. For heaven’s sakes! He’s at an international meeting among world leaders - not at a private dinner party among best friends. Merkel is the daughter of a Lutheran minister. She’s a cultivated woman, probably from a conservative upbringing, and her body language tells me that she definitely doesn’t appreciate what just transpired. Truly hard to believe that this guy is the product of an aristocratic New England family. Where did they go so wrong?
Can’t believe all of the palaver re Bush’s shoulder massage. There was no sexual meaning or disrespect intended. Bush does this type of thing often, as a matter of fact it is SOP because he is constantly in the company of people who are his intellectual superior so instictively hides his lack of intellect and his incompetence by being a regular (informal) guy since he has nothing else to offer. Beer anyone?
I am sure Bush will bend more laws and run for president again and win. That would be great! I support Bush!
P.S. - I am not an American.
This social and professional imbecile is a danger to be avoided. Consider the difficulties any gentleman would face from the secret service upon a man’s thrashing this goon.
He should be kept in a zoo, far distant from social contact. To put him in contact with world leaders is a crime against civilization. Whether he fits with the prehistoric parlance of the neanderthals, I can’t say, but I should hope not.
Ladies, all of the above, thank you so much for your invaluable comments, which I took to heart.
Let me start off by saying I think Bush’s rubbing of the Chancelor of Germany was idiotic at best.
Kathy,
What I have issue with is your attempt to turn this into an abortion issue. The term that were looking for is “Pro-Life” not “Anti-Choice” or “Anti-Abortion.” The rhetoric that you are spewing is so tired and pathetic that I hesitate to even dignify it with a response. Whether a person is Pro-Life or Pro-Choice (notice I did not say “Anti-Life”) has no bearing on this situation. In addition your attack on men in general (within the same sentence) was simply pathetic. I would have to say based on your open hostility toward men and pro-life people that you seem to be the one with both Mommy and Daddy issues.
As our fellow humans die and bleed in the Middle East, Bush embarassed the US by pandering to his international peer, once again displaying that he is a dolt. He is all about himself, nothing else. If he sincerely wanted to make a positive impression representing US at the G8, he’d thoughtfully co