Disgraceful "Statesman"

While many of the world leaders meeting in St. Petersburg were grappling with the crisis in Lebanon, President Bush took time out to assault German Chancellor Angela Merkel from behind with a back rub.  BILD-Zeitung has the video of the "Bush Liebes-Attacke":

Shortly after performing this frat-boy prank, President Bush was inadvertently overheard using an expletive in describing what needed to be done to end the fighting in the Middle East:

"Bush, auch sonst Freund einfacher Botschaften, ließ seinen Frust im Gespräch mit dem britischen Premier Tony Blair ab. Ein dabei unerkannt eingeschaltetes Mikrofon offenbarte Bushs tatsächliche Bewertung der Nahost-Krise: «The irony is, what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit, and it's over» (Was sie tun müssen, ist, Syrien dazu zu bringen, dass es die Hisbollah dazu bringt, mit diesem Scheiß aufzuhören - und dann ist die Sache gelöst), sagte Bush – ungefiltert durch Dolmetscher zu Blair beim Mittagessen der Staats- und Regierungschefs in St. Petersburg. "

While seemingly insignificant, these episodes only underscore what we already know from the Hurricane Katrina crisis: Bush is incapable of leading during a crisis. When he is away from his script and his handlers, his true lack of intelligence and emotional maturity surfaces for all to see.  The dangerous situation in Lebanon (made worse by the Bush-induced debacle in Iraq) requires true leadership.  Don't look for it from the world's Überpower.

Meanwhile the leader of the Green Party caucus in the Bundestag - Daniel Cohn-Bendit - has called for a true statesman to go to the region to mediate a peaceful resolution:

"Wenn Frau (Bundeskanzlerin Angela) Merkel ein Gespür für Weltpolitik hat, dann schlägt sie Joschka Fischer als Sonderbeauftragten der G8 vor, um im Nahen Osten zu vermitteln", sagte Cohn-Bendit der "Bild"-Zeitung laut Vorabbericht aus der Dienstagausgabe.

Comments

[Patridiot.de]

Cohn-Bendits Vorschlag wäre verständlicher, wenn er anbieten würde ,die Libanese durch die Nato schützen zu lassen, denn die Opferzahl spricht eine klare Sprache.

[Bruce Miller]

You've probably seen this already. But I wanted to make sure you knew you were quoted in a page 1 story in the San Francisco Chronicle on this:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/07/19/MNG3HK1MDI1.DTL

"And Dialog International, a Web site that specializes in German-American politics and culture, said Bush's behavior raised questions about the American president and his profile abroad.

"'When he is away from his script and his handlers, his true lack of intelligence and emotional maturity surfaces for all to see. The dangerous situation in Lebanon ... requires true leadership. Don't look for it from the world's uberpower'."

I'm glad to see that at least *some* reporters in the mainstream press know where to go to get quality commentary!

[David]

Thanks Bruce!