Oh...Nice...
Posted on 05/08/2007 6:19:37 PM PDT by Cornpone
London - British newspapers were scathing on Tuesday about US President George W Bush's blundering welcome for Queen Elizabeth II, labelling him "Dumb Dubya" and saying he has the "gift for the gaffe".
Bush messed up at a ceremonial welcome for the queen at the White House Monday when he spoke of a visit paid by Elizabeth to mark the 200th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence from Britain "in 17 - in 1976".
After the queen looked up at him from beneath her wide-brimmed black hat, he winked at her, before turning to the laughing audience and telling them: "She gave me a look that only a mother could give a child."
Britain's media, which has revelled in reporting previous Bush bloopers, claimed that this was among his worst.
The nation's biggest-selling paper, the right-wing tabloid Sun, accused Bush of making "one of his great verbal blunders" while the centre-right broadsheet The Times headlined its piece: "Oops, he did it again."
"On a morning that should by rights have been frozen in time as a moment of pure pageantry, with military marching bands, pipers trucked out in tricorn hats and powdered wigs, and visiting royalty, one can count on George Bush," the centre-left broadsheet The Guardian said.
"The president yesterday once again demonstrated his gift for the gaffe, injecting an unintended sense of levity into the White House welcome for the queen."
'Her majesty's withering look spoke volumes'
This was not Bush's first slip in front of the monarch, the Guardian added.
"When she visited the White House in 1991 during his father's presidency, he said he was the black sheep of the Bush family.
"He then asked: 'Who's yours?' The queen did not reply," it said.
The right-wing tabloid The Daily Mail asked: "Is he winking at One?" and said that Bush could have tried to recover from his initial blunder in several ways.
"But turning to her and giving her a sly wink is probably not included in any book of royal etiquette," it added.
In an editorial, centre-left tabloid The Daily Mirror dubbed Bush "Dumb Dubya," adding: "Her majesty's withering look spoke volumes, giving the watching public and the president a very clear message.
"Which is more than he ever manages."
Oh...Nice...
I believe that Bush knows protocol quite well, and knows how charming it is to tweak protocol every once in a while. I would be very surprised if the Queen didn’t genuinely like him.
The Queen ain’t no model of decorum. Didn’t she “knight” Elton John?
“..dunces don’t end up the Leaders of the Free World.”
You are right, but what about the peanut farmer from Georgia or the groper from Arkansas? Perhaps WE are the dunces for electing the people we did recently.
Show me a family without this "gaffe" gene. Put any family- any one- under such a microscope of media attention for as many years you will be shown several, perhaps several dozen.
What's your point?
IMHO, my POTUS more than makes up for any unintended “spoken lapse” when he keeps his promises.
(IE-he honored the request of the father of serviceman killed in Iraq, when he used a pen the father gave him, to veto Congress’s latest lunacy.”
The media, and the entire world need to be reminded to bear in mind that George W. Bush has been elected as POTUS, twice.
More USA citizens have voted specifically for him (TWICE), and in much larger numbers, than any other elected member of the Senate or House can claim.
And he certainly has more votes than any reporter.
We never get the opportunity to choose any of the snarky media reporters.
We don’t get the chance to elect many Senators and members of the House of Representatives, as most of them are outside our State and local voting districts.
So no, I don’t think the press is a hoot.
I love stories like this, they bring out the true flavor of the press. These particular commentators appear to have incurred a collective case of the vapors and would probably benefit from a helping hand to the fainting couch in the ladies’ room and an ammonia ampule held under the nose. The Queen will soon depart from the ostensibly odious company of Mr. Bush but unfortunately for her she’ll be returning to this mob of bedwetters and mouth breathers. She has this American’s sympathy.
I watched it and thought that the queen gave him a look that spoke volumes, but was not nasty in any way. GWB just stayed silent for a second and then made his self-depricating comment about the look. Everyone there laughed very good-naturedly. The laugh seemed to be at her almost straight-man comedic look and his reply, not really at the slip.
These attacks on President Bush are just done so no one ever has to look at the other 99.99% of the time when he is terrific. In fact, I think the way he handled the "17" slip was terrific. Most of the people attacking him for it did not watch it at all, but only heard the attack sound-bite.
It's the media that hates President Bush and works at demeaning him at every chance, Then the media hate him more because he ignores them.
I love it.
I do not believe that this exchange ever occurred, especially that the queen started it with such a nasty comment. She is very controlled. If she did, she would have deserved such a retort. Of course, the news that keeps this probably bogus story alive is that GWB started it with his own unsolicited statement of being the black sheep.
There is a difference between a 17, 19 slip or a subject/verb agreement mess-up and a question that is completely out of line. I do not believe that Pres. Bush is in the business of trying to embarrass people outside of a political "debate" with a rude opponent.
Democrats are’t stupid ,they’re ignorant.
Also, when the world’s most powerful man gives you a wink and a smile I’m sure your not going to be all that offended. Her ex butler was at the Derby and claims she’s a wonderful person, loves dogs, loves horses, and loves a good drink. ;)
At least Bush knows our Republic has been around for centuries. The Europeans act like we’re the upstart republic.
Oh, I’m sure she was not offended and I believe that she can appreciate a good single malt wiskey, neat of course.
He is not a dunce if you want an example of a dunce just listen to Prince Charles, better yet compare their taste in wives.
And yet, oddly enough, all their papers have Corrections columns in which they fix the mistakes they put into things they thought about for hours, wrote down on paper, and sent through several layers of editors. Imagine that.
I really do think that history will be very kind to our current President. He saw the problem and tried to fix it. If events work out the way they seem to be going (and a war of terror against us definitely is going on) hell, historians will see him as a visionary in terms of threats to our country.
A wee bit superficial like the limeys?
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