(Cross Posted at
E Pluribus Media)
Whenever I think about my "fantasy president", I often find I'm willing to settle. Sure, I'd like to have a president that gets us universal health care, reduces the deficit, doesn't start needless wars, and speaks in complete sentences. But after W., I'd settle for someone that doesn't make us look like complete idiots on the world stage.
One thing I always worried about when Shrub took over is apparent lack of curiosity of the outside world. I mean, here's a guy who had millions of dollars, an elite pedigree, and had been governor of one of the largest states in the Union, and the only foreign country he'd been to was Mexico. To paraphrase comedian Lewis Black: Not even freakin' Canada? How could you miss Canada? It's...right...there.
So it should come as no surprise when the Bush White House has an appalling lack of understanding as simple concepts like foreign relations protocol. And that lack of understanding came in full view yet again yesterday with Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Washington.
Apparently, the White House made several flubs during the official state visit:
The protocol-obsessed Chinese leader suffered a day full of indignities -- some intentional, others just careless. The visit began with a slight when the official announcer said the band would play the "national anthem of the Republic of China" -- the official name of Taiwan. It continued when Vice President Cheney donned sunglasses for the ceremony, and again when Hu, attempting to leave the stage via the wrong staircase, was yanked back by his jacket. Hu looked down at his sleeve to see the president of the United States tugging at it as if redirecting an errant child.
"Whoa there Sparky, you gotta walk this way. Heh-heh-heh."
By now you've heard about the Falun Gong protester that heckled Hu. That, too, was the apparent result of a White House screwup:
But as protocol breaches go, it's hard to top the heckling of a foreign leader at the White House. Explaining the incident -- the first disruption at the executive mansion in recent memory -- White House and Secret Service officials said she was "a legitimate journalist" and that there was nothing suspicious in her background. In other words: Who knew?
Hu did. The Chinese had warned the White House to be careful about who was admitted to the ceremony. To no avail: They granted a one-day pass to Wang Wenyi of the Falun Gong publication Epoch Times. A quick Nexis search shows that in 2001, she slipped through a security cordon in Malta protecting Jiang (she had been denied media credentials) and got into an argument with him. The 47-year-old pathologist is expected to be charged today with attempting to harass a foreign official.
Now, I'm not defending Hu, and I think he should be subject to heckling and scrutiny when in our country. But this has to be said: if all it requires is some press credentials to get close to the Presidents of the U.S. and China, the White House might want to rethink some of their security protocols and that whole Homeland Security thingy. Just sayin'.
When asked later how the protester was allowed to get so close, Bush replied: See, they're Chinamen. They tricky with those slanted eyes and all that. And they all look alike. Heh-heh-heh.
Of course, Hu knew what he was dealing with when Bush visited China a few months back. They got a good look at the President's cluelessness:
After that happened, Hu must of told his advisors, "When we go to Washington, make sure nothing - NOTHING - is left up to this idiot."
Of course, this is just a long line of protocol busting and embarrassing moments from this administration on the world stage:
See, Kanye, I do SO care about black people. Heh-heh-heh. Now fetch my golf clubs, boy.
Damn, you mean we're NOT climbing the Matterhorn today?
Greetings, Members of the United Nations. We are here to eat your children.
Bush: "He's a good man. I've looked into his soul."
Putin: "Vot an idiot. I am former KGB. Now Bush is under my mind control. BWAHAHAH!"
Of course, there were times that Bush got protocol RIGHT...with those who, you know, really, really matter:
"Are you sure about the hand-holding thing? This might not play well with the Dobson crowd."
Well, the good news is we've only got two more years of this kind of protocol-busting behavior.
The bad news is we have two more years...well, you know the rest.