Hey buddy, is it Chuck or is it Charles? (Eurinals offended mainly by Bush’s hokey style)

Sydney Morning Herald ^ | November 20, 2003

[dead]

Beyond the weighty agenda of international trade and war in Iraq the question of style looms large during George Bush's state visit to London: What happens when down-home folksiness meets the stiff upper lip?

One BBC anchorman speculated that the President would arrive in cowboy boots. Others wondered if Mr Bush's speech would need to be translated. And commentators talked about how poorly Mr Bush's Texan informality plays among Europeans.

"It is his style rather than his politics that causes many of the problems over here," said Chris Brown, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics. "It's the kind of slightly sentimental, folksy-ish, hokey-type quality. That kind of folksy style that he uses, that goes down badly with north-eastern US intellectuals, goes down even worse over here."

Royal welcome ... George Bush is accompanied by Prince Charles after his arrival
in London at the start of his state visit. Photo: AFP

Mr Bush and his wife, Laura, were greeted on arrival at London's Heathrow Airport by the epitome of the stiff upper lip - Prince Charles, who must maintain public dignity while hotly denied rumours about a sexual incident with a male servant swirl around him.

The Bushes then flew by helicopter to Buckingham Palace, where they are staying.

Mr Bush's fondness for informality contrasts sharply with the royal family's penchant for protocol. But few expect problems between President and Queen.

Michael Cox, an editor of the journal International Relations, said he expected Mr Bush to be "very formal, very polite". The Queen, after a lifetime of small talk with foreign dignitaries, is known to be unfailingly polite.

"My guess is they'll get along just fine," Professor Brown said. "They can talk about horses, which they both love. And neither of them are intellectuals."

It is with the wider British public that Mr Bush's style poses more problems.

"I hope they understand Texan," he joked with British reporters last week.

But Mr Bush's troubles making himself understood in London may pale alongside those he encounters when he heads north to visit the constituency of the Prime Minister, Tony Blair. The broad dialect there - of which Mr Bush said that "my Georgie is probably just about as bad as my English", is in fact known as Geordie and is difficult for any but the uninitiated to understand. Buckingham Palace was silent yesterday over allegations a newspaper had breached its security. The Daily Mirror said one of its reporters had been working at the palace as a footman for two months using bogus job references and was still at work when Mr Bush arrived on Tuesday.

Cox Newspapers and Reuters

[Capriole]

I find this a fascinating phenomenon. Members of the European/English elite would never be so condescending to a visiting dignitary from, let us say, some African nation in which it is the custom for the king to go about half-naked and wear feathers on his head. None of them would make derogatory comments if his English were not spoken in the "received pronunciation." And the English have historically been courteous to Russian leaders who wore shapeless suits and had the manners of oafs.

But here is a distinguished statesman wearing an evidently elegant suit, a man educated at the finest universities in the world, a man who has with great success run a state larger and more economically powerful than all but five nations on earth, and now runs the greatest nation the world has yet seen. Yet they express contempt for him on grounds of his unpretentious manners. This is the behavior of schoolgirls, silly, petty, and consumed with pathetic envy. One can but pity them for their own poor manners.

[Steve_Seattle]

"That kind of folksy style that he uses, that goes down badly with north-eastern US intellectuals, goes down even worse over here."

And the arrogant "I'm smarter and better than you" attitude of Northeast intellectuals explains why one hasn't been elected president since 1960. Americans prefer presidents who eat corn-on-the-cob to those who have corn cobs up their butts.

[Sockdologer]

Well said.

[Steve_Seattle]

All of your points are "spot on."

[Rutabega]

You know what, I have to disagree heartily with this assertion that folksey-ness and friendly southern senses of humor don't go down with the Euros--I am a transplant, and I get along really well with most people I meet here. Better in fact, than others I see. For instance, I wait in line at the grocery store and watch the automatons ring ring ring and never make eye contact with each other. Then it's my turn, and I smile, say hello, and try to use my rudimentary Swedish in a nice way. The cashiers at my local stores always get a smile on their face when they see me, treat me extra nice and are pleasant to chat with while they ring me up. I KNOW they aren't like that with everyone (I watch!).
GRRR. . .I hate 'intellectuals' who think rudeness=sophistication.

[veronica]

The Queen, after a lifetime of small talk with foreign dignitaries, is known to be unfailingly polite.

Well, nobody's perfect. :) Princess Diana wrote of the Queen, that if she, or anyone else in the family "broke wind" in the royal presence, the Queen would blame it on the corgis (her famous, beloved yappy dogs.)

[NutmegDevil]

Looks like Hillary & Bill from here. Good looking folks, for Brits.

[BlueLancer]

Bravo ... bravo ... for your #21

Hey, guys (and you too TG) ... come read #21 ... this is the best response I've heard yet to the snobbish yobs of Europe.

[Capriole]

"It is his style rather than his politics that causes many of the problems over here," said Chris Brown, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics.

It remains only to add that the LSE is a hotbed of outmoded Marxist-Leninist economic theories.

[pttttt]

Ref. post 11: Is that Hillary Clinton on the left?

[Lazamataz]

find this a fascinating phenomenon. Members of the European/English elite would never be so condescending to a visiting dignitary from, let us say, some African nation in which it is the custom for the king to go about half-naked and wear feathers on his head.

Moral of the story: Always be half-naked and wear feathers on your head.

[dead]

Did you come up with the term Eurinals?

Mark Steyn once wrote of relegating France to the eurinal of history, so I sort of stole it from him. I was the first to apply the term to people though.

If so, I want to have your baby. Again.

After the way you treated the last one, not a chance. Unless I huff oven cleaner again.

[dead]

Wonderfully stated.

[tallhappy]

Europeans, not just British, have a weird obseession with Texas, and cowboy, western or what I consider just plain American stuff in general.

[Steve_Seattle]

"At least his date is hot."

Where's the sarcasm tag? Looks like the young Hillary.

[Lazamataz]

Mark Steyn once wrote of relegating France to the eurinal of history, so I sort of stole it from him. I was the first to apply the term to people though.

Well, then, you win.

"If so, I want to have your baby. Again."

After the way you treated the last one, not a chance. Unless I huff oven cleaner again.

Oh, so then in about 15 minutes? I can wait that long.

[dead]

I didn't think it was possible, but I think it was a little cruel of you to make that comparison.

Cruel to Hillary.

[Happy2BMe]

"The Daily Mirror said one of its reporters had been working at the palace as a footman for two months using bogus job references and was still at work when Mr Bush arrived on Tuesday."

WE EXPOSE BIGGEST ROYAL SECURITY SCANDAL EVER (Security for Dubya in London a joke?)

[RightOnline]

Dear England,

Just get over yourselves, would ya??? Fercryinoutloud.

Signed,

Your Steadfast If More-Than-Slightly-Disgusted Allies,

The Citizens of the United States of America

[jigsaw]

Eurinals

LOL!!!   That deserves to eventually be in dictionaries!