Looks like Good Morning America (abc) will talk about the neck rub

[rodeodance]

that Bush gave to Meckel. It was a teaser as they opened the show.

[tanyev]

1. It was mostly a fluff piece--how what's very appropriate in one

culture might be offensive in another culture. But at least they showed the pictures. They also showed a couple shots of Bush holding hands with the Saudi prince. You can't replay those too many times. They showed a brief clip of The Daily Show coverage of the neck rub and talked to some guy who talked about how weird it was that the G-8 leaders are gathered together to discuss very important things and Bush just comes up behind Merkel with a "Hey, girlfriend, how's it going?"

[Warpy]

2. Bush's slackjawed face said it all

He was DRUNK.

Anybody who's ever lived with an alcoholic recognized that face.

[Jacobin]

3. Yep. He was sloshed

And that neck thing wasn't appropriate, regardless of what society you are in, despite what GMA tried to say to cover the Chimp.

[peekaloo]

7. Letterman opened with that last night.

He brought up the neckrub then asked the audience, "Do you know what that means?"

"HE'S DRINKING AGAIN!"

the audience erupted in applause and laughter.

[PA Democrat]

14. I noticed his face also. He looked so very DRUNK.

Every aspect of his performance at the G-8 just screamed of drunkenness. The despicable table manners, the inane commentary, the profanity, the neck rub. It seems that in his drunken stupor, Bush forgot that he was at a formal meeting of world leaders and not at a frat party.

[Javaman]

11. A fluff piece for a fluffer...;)

Now who here knows what a fluffer is????

:rofl:

[tanyev]

4. ABC has a full transcript up:

Bush's 'Hands-On' Diplomacy With German Chancellor Raises Eyebrows
Video Clip of G8 Shoulder Rub Becomes Fodder for Internet, Comedians

July 20, 2006 — - Talk about hands-on diplomacy. A caught-on-tape moment at the recent G8 summit shows President Bush swooping in on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to give her a quick shoulder rub before proceeding to his seat.

Merkel looks stunned and visibly recoils from Bush's touch.

The tabloids have pounced, and so have comedians like Jon Stewart.

"That is the chancellor of Germany disengaging herself from the president of the United States," Stewart said as the clip played on "The Daily Show" last night.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=2214892


This part didn't seem fair:

French President Jacques Chirac got a glare from first lady Laura Bush when he gave her a typically French kiss on her hand.

I never thought Laura looked angry in those pics of her being kissed on the hand, just stunned. Now we know why. Laura's probably endured more than her fair share of those drive-by neck rubs at home. An elegant kiss on the hand would be quite a change of pace.

[Beetwasher]

5. They're Equating The Shoulder Rub W/ a Hand Kiss?????

Fucking idiots.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

8. No kidding!

I'm an American and if some man I'm discussing business with were to rub my shoulders I'd freak out just like Merkel did.

It was inappropriate and even more so due to her culture.

[Fla Dem]

10. It happened to me at work recently....

A guy I hardly knew, but thinks he's loved and admired by all, was standing by my work area talking in his commanding voice, telling everyone how to run their lives. I wasn't even in the discussion, but as the group broke up and he walk past behind me he gave my back a rub as he said how's everything with you. I nearly jumped out of my skin. I was so creeped out and insulted. Later I told the boss that if that guy ever laid another hand on me, I was quitting on the spot and filing a complaint.

I'm not a prude by any means, but no one, except my closest friends and family have any right to touch me in an intimate way. Period.

[verse18]

13. You're not being a prude-

The guy was invading your personal space without your permission.

I work with children you have been sexually abused and I am always telling them about respecting personal space, boundaries, "good" and "bad" touches, etc., and I'm warning any man out there if you put your hands on me without permission, you're gonna get a knuckle sandwich.

[Toots]

6. Don't you remember the special little Love Poem Bush* wrote and left on he

pillow. It decribed how jealous he was that the French guy kissed her hand and referred to Laura as "that lump in the bed". Come to find out after all the swooning and hoopala Bush* didn't write it at all. Another out and out LIE told for virtually no reason at all. It was ove a month later that Laura was on National TV and told all that Bush* didn't write it. There was much specualation on who did write it, that would refer to Laura as "that lump in the bed".

[Mandate My Ass]

12. That was no glare Laura gave Chirac

that was a simper if I ever saw one.

But French bashing is so de rigueur with the MSM.

[datasuspect]

9. dubya fondling a world leader makes me want to have a beer with him

then me, george, elvis, and john wayne will travel the countryside eating even more magic mushrooms.

[elehhhhna]

15. It looked more like a "gotcha" than an attempted backrub --

watch the video again. This "backrub" talk is a media invention.

Question: In what culture should one sneak up behind a World Leader at a very tense G-8 summit, in the midst of the highest security possible(!), and suddenly grab at her neck/shoulders? He's VERY lucky she had no alert armed guard nearby. Or was armed herself.