Category: Grave

Zap! George W. Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, from November 2004 (via AFP)

“After you, my dear Alphonse!”
“You first, my dear Gaston!”
Update: How on earth did I miss this?
[via Reuters]

Hotter Than His Wife: Prince Charles and a Hindu priest (via Reuters)

Iraq Suicide Bomber Kills at Least 115, the Associated Press, February 28, 2005:

A suicide car bomber blasted a crowd of police and national guard recruits Monday as they gathered for physicals outside a medical clinic south of Baghdad, killing at least 115 people and wounding 132 the single deadliest attack in the two-year insurgency.

Election Shock Treatment: The Democrats try to get over Iraq’s latest achievement, the Daily Standard/Weekly Standard, February 28, 2005:

WITH THINGS LOOKING UP for a change, this has been a rough patch of time for the Democrats. They have been suffering from Election Shock Treatment; which means the success of the Iraqi elections has shocked them into the realization that they may have to seek treatment, because of the trauma induced by the growing suspicion that President Bush has been right all along: right in the decision to go into Iraq; right in the decision to hang tough in Palestine; right in the belief that Muslims and Arabs may also want freedom; that elections there can be held, and succeed.

Virginia Governor Mark Warner, left, toast President Bush during a State Dinner for the National Governors Association in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington Sunday, Feb. 27, 2005. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Oh, OK, wait a second…I think I get it.
It’s a “polite” thing, and by invoking the “Mister”, you’re deferring to his title as a head of state. That’s so impressively formal! We’ve got so much to learn from you Europeans.

President Bush, in his public statements on matters of great and non-controversial import, often makes sense. Then again, he does not. The ideas expressed therein will usually be very clear, very concise. Also, they will be very, very hard to decipher. When, on occasion, a matter of controversy is introduced in these contexts, Bush will leave himself little wiggle room for getting out of his assertions. Except when he leaves himself wiggle room for getting out of his assertions.
From Bush Denies U.S. Plans to Attack Iran, via the Associated Press, February 22, 2005:

“This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous. Having said that, all options are on the table,” Bush said after discussing the issue with European allies.

And earlier this year, in a similar vein, from President outlines role of his faith, via the Washington Times, January 12, 2005:

“I think people attack me because they are fearful that I will then say that you’re not equally as patriotic if you’re not a religious person,” Mr. Bush said. “I’ve never said that. I’ve never acted like that. I think that’s just the way it is.”

RELATED: The Washington Post‘s Dan Froomkin on Bush’s usage of “On the other hand” to convey variable meanings