Another Buxh gaff: When shaking hands with foreign dignitaries....

[JohnnyRingo]

...It's polite to remove your leather gloves first.
Especially when you shake their wives hand.

<excerpt>
It was a firm presidential handshake. But technically speaking, since he didn't take off his gloves, President Bush didn't press the flesh when he greeted top Slovak officials. And that was an apparent violation of protocol in Slovakia, where leaders always shake with bare hands. The wardrobe malfunction caused a stir on Wednesday night in Slovakia, where Bush's arrival for Thursday's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin was shown live on television.
<snip>
Bush kept the gloves on even when shaking hands with the Slovak leaders' wives. First Lady Laura Bush also remained gloved at Bratislava's airport Wednesday night, when the temperature was just above freezing.
<snip>

But hey....How would a poor Texas rancher know that?
....Dumbass.

And when did the Russian reporters start making ours look even more lame?
<excerpt>
"The regimes in place in Russia and the US cannot be considered fully democratic, especially when compared to some other European countries, for example the Netherlands," the Russian reporter said. Bush wasn't interested in that. He offered a brisk retort that democracy is doing fine in America.

<entire article>
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1033103.cms

[teryang]

1. His failure to take the gloves off is a metaphor

It's such a sophisticated message, it is symbolic of the whole approach to foreign relations. It's the ugly American syndrome in deed.

Once, the new Director of Intelligence said during a public 911 inquiry, "don't tell me I don't have enough interpreters and linguists, that isn't helpful to me (because I already know)." Besides the impudence of a military officer saying this to Congress, is the frank admission of the onion phenomenon. It doesn't matter that we don't know, because we know that we don't know, and we don't care. All you need to assess is how much liberty you are willing to give up on behalf of the people.

[Journeyman]

2. Well I'm born and raised in South California. . .

and if I was standing on a tarmac in near freezing weather, being forced to greet people I didn't know in a land I'd never been to and about which I had no idea their customs, I'd keep my gloves on, too. But then, I'm just some schlub from South California, where "cold" weather is anything less than 65 degrees Fahrenheit and snow is something you visit.

But somehow, for all we pay for the Whitehouse staff, you'd think they'd get these sort of basic things right a little more often than they do. After all, they're supposed to be a little more on the ball than some schlub from South California.

[JohnnyRingo]

3. Maybe he can top it next time.

Take a Senate Page along.
Buxh can snap his fingers and the page can deliver the proper greeting.

BTW... I wasn't trying to besmirch his (or your) "southern heritage" with the rancher crack.
It was sarcastic in nature and due to him AND the press creating the illusion that this spoiled Conneticut fratboy identifies with "rural folks" using his hollywood set of a "ranch".

He should have known better than using a gloved handshake. If not... He could have been briefed on the 15 hour flight over instead of playing "battleship" with SS agents.

He was just as aloof when he resided in Kennebunkport.
He just wan't in position to put me and my family in misery.