For Queen and First Lady, Bush Will Try White Tie ( "A towel-snapping Texan" )

nyt ^ | May 5, 2007 | SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and JIM RUTENBERG

[Red Steel]

WASHINGTON, May 4 — 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.

“I think Mrs. Bush is thrilled to have a white-tie dinner, and we’ll leave it at that,” Amy Zantzinger, the new White House social secretary, said on Friday as she arranged seating for 134 on a computerized screen behind her desk in the East Wing.

Ms. Zantzinger was not swamped with requests. Anybody who had not already received one of the elegant gold-rimmed invitations (hand-penned by a calligrapher and then engraved) apparently knew that it would be gauche to ask. Still, the exclusivity has created some awkward moments, as when the social secretary bumped into former President Bush, who was not on her list, in the West Wing.

“He was making jokes, and then he said,

[ozzymandus]

Gee, the NYT is a snotty rag! Who’da thunk it??

[SoftballMominVA]

from the article ...... For women, curtseying is acceptable, but not required.... However, isn't there a rule that elected officials do not bow or curtsey to foreign powers when both are on American soil?

[loreldan]

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

They act like that's a bad thing.

The visit has brought a sense of giddiness to a White House worn down by the Iraq war and fights with Democrats in Congress, as well as distracted by a sex scandal that brought the resignation of a top State Department official

What planet does the NYTimes live on? Sex scandal? For some low level state department official? This is the MSM simply trying to slime the administration with a drop like that.

Even some bipartisanship was in the air. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat known for her elegance, will attend the dinner

Oh, good; at least somebody with some class will be there.

[KingSnorky]

Drinks water from a bottle, eh? Is that more uncouth than leaving stains on the dress of woman who’s not your wife? Guess not. :)

[Cementjungle]

At least he won’t ask her for a BJ in the oval office.

[driftless2]

"bourgeois"

You think the Slimes ever discoursed on Slick Willy's overly coarse mannerisms? I doubt it. The whole import of the article is to say "hey, this stupid rube is actually going to speak to a cultured person. Oh, are we embarrassed!" I would bet on Dubya's behaving himself in polite company a lot more the Clinton. The Queen is probably not too old for Bill to take a pass at her. All females are in jeopardy when he strolls in. Even five thousand year old Andean mummies.

[cubreporter]

You said it. Besides...I remember when the clintins gave some kind of party fo dignitaries outside in a tent. hilllereee was wearing this outlandish outfit...if memory serves me right it was YELLOW. Yikes.
I think President Bush knows what to wear and how to act.

[cubreporter]

You said it. Besides...I remember when the clintins gave some kind of party fo dignitaries outside in a tent. hilllereee was wearing this outlandish outfit...if memory serves me right it was YELLOW. Yikes.
I think President Bush knows what to wear and how to act.

[cubreporter]

Will she be wearing a suit and her scarf or whatever it is she wears all the time? Is that her signature piece?

[cubreporter]

and...having it happen in the white house? I think NOT. You have class or your don’t. the clintins don’t even know the meaning of the word.

[cubreporter]

and...having it happen in the white house? I think NOT. You have class or your don’t. the clintins don’t even know the meaning of the word.

[cubreporter]

and...having it happen in the white house? I think NOT. You have class or your don’t. the clintins don’t even know the meaning of the word.

[Joe 6-pack]

"Since when are you not supposed to drink water from the bottle anyways?"

"The best bred amongst us know that water is properly lapped from the commode..."

[Larry Lucido]

All will be fine.

[DieHard the Hunter]

> Well, if he snaps that inbred old woman from Britain, it would at least liven up diplomatic relations among the Anglosphere.

(grin!) I think she’s actually more German than British...

[kittymyrib]

And they wonder why the rest of the country dispises Easterners. This bunch of effete snobs, who never drink water out of a bottle, has anything in common with 90% of the populace of the USA. Maybe a virus could be introduced that would eliminate metrosexuals.

[Pyro7480]

Not all Easterners. Just urban leftist Easterners.

[undeniable logic]

Why does Bush need to prepare to meet the Queen? Why does the Queen not need to prepare to meet the President of the United States? The President of the United States is far and away the most powerful person on the planet.

[Wallace T.]

This is nothing more than a New York Times hit piece on the President. In fact, the so-called Texas swagger is not the core George W. Bush, who went to Connecticut boarding schools and Yale University and whose parents are stereotypical Northeastern WASPs. In 1978, he was defeated for a Congressional seat in West Texas by Kent Hance, largely because he was not Texan enough. Hance pointed out Bush's Connecticut birth and East Coast education vs. his own Lubbock roots and Texas Tech alumnus status. After the defeat, the future President decided that he would not be "out-Texaned" again and worked on a "good ol' boy" persona.

The New York Times knows this, but did not let these facts interfere with a cheap attack on the President.