Unbeknownst to President Bush, a live microphone picked up his private luncheon conversations at the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia. In his unguarded though non-incriminating exchanges with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush cursed Hezbollah’s attacks against Israel, while chewing his lunch: “What they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit, and it’s over.” He also bantered about a sweater Blair gave Bush, presumably for the President’s 60th birthday. When the Bush learned a mic had picked up his chats, he “rolled his eyes and laughed,” White House press secretary Tony Snow said, adding that Bush owes no explanation for the remarks he said during the lunch.
Here’s what the people are saying:
“The thing that is really scary about the Bush-Blair exchange is the childlike logic it displays. How can two supposed world leaders be debating the future of a country’s existence and blatant violations of int’l law in such terms? Is this the way our elected leaders debated Sarajevo? Luckily these two clowns are on the way out.” — Michael Leahy, juancole.com
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“President Bush should know that in Russia, someone is always listening. In this case, it was the rest of the world.” — okokokalready.com
“What we heard betrayed (transatlantic) political spin and media reports that the debacle in Iraq had caused th[e] relationship [between Bush and Blair] to become irretrievably broken down. Because Blair still sounded like a love-sick puppy when he cooed with pride and satisfaction after Bush thanked him for his lovely gift of knit sweaters.” — theipinionsjournal.com
“This glimpse of Bush’s diplomacy is really quite heartbreaking. He talks ‘shit’ with his mouth full. I’m sure English people are embarrassed that their (intelligent, however gone awry leader) is spoken to in this way…it’s hardly respect.” — Abhcoide, juancole.com
Talk: Do Bush’s candid comments make you feel better or worse about his grasp on the current Middle East crisis? COMMENT
