Posted on 03/30/2006 8:17:36 AM PST by new yorker 77
President Bush had a plane to catch for his meetings along the sugar-white sands of Cancun, Mexico. But that didn't stop him from lengthening a Washington speech and question-and-answer session Wednesday with more jokes.
After delivering considerable opening remarks and giving long answers to more than a half-dozen questions, Bush finally warned his audience that his time with them was almost up.
"Final question, then I'm going down to be with the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Canada," Bush said a couple of hours before his scheduled departure for the resort known as a hedonistic spring break draw.
While beer and bikinis dominated the beaches of Cancun, the president was to spend two days with Mexican President Vicente Fox and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
But Bush made one thing clear. "No Speedo suit here," he promised.
Though the 59-year-old president has been deemed in excellent shape for his age, he added a wry "Thankfully" that earned laughter from the crowd.
Then Bush told the man he had chosen as his final questioner that he was only trying to see if he could throw him off.
"Just testing your concentration," the president said.
____
Bush spoke for an hour and 29 minutes before the Freedom House, an organization dedicated to the spread of freedom around the world. He was full of wisecracks.
"I like a good lobbyist," Bush told a questioner seeking U.S. help for the West Africa country of Mali.
When a magazine reporter stood up with a question, Bush seemed surprised that the press was seated in the audience. "This is what we call embedding," he said.
A member of Freedom House said he had given Bush a copy of the group's annual report, titled "Freedom in the World."
"You're going to ask me if I read the book," Bush said. "Little print, no pictures. Go ahead."
"It's the bible of freedom, yes," the Freedom House official said, prompting laughter and a lighthearted presidential objection.
"I'm the funny guy," Bush said.
When an Egyptian said he wanted to go into politics, Bush had three words of advice: "Go for president."
He finally called on a questioner who had caused a little fuss.
"You've been very anxious," the president said. "This better be a good one. Yes, you've been waving and yelling over there. Waving, yelling, stomping your feet. It's a free society. That's what happens."
Copyright © 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
seems tame. he joked about it, they mentioned it. I do not see any big deal.
I know that Jennifer Loven is no friend of the President, but if the flavor of the q/a was as she described it in the article, I see nothing wrong with the headline. He's the one who brought up speedos, and he obviously was being playfully provocative with the reporters.
The time when a public figure could joke with reporters and not expect to see his jokes in print is long past. Today, consumers of journalism look forward to reading/hearing these exchanges.
Right, neither do I see the need for "insulting headline" lighten up!
Two days with Vincente Fox doesn't thrill me in the least.
I'd prefer it if he was spending the time on the beach in a speedo.
Looks like the AP could care less.
At least they didn't say..."Bush Plans Swim in the Buff!"
He's down there checking out the beaches for the time when all the bothersome brown people have left and he and his cronies can turned the whole country into the western Hemisphere equivalent of the UAE.
What is this, a journal? I don't see any particular point, unless it's making note of little absurdities and nothing of note being accomplished. Typical MSM.
Stephen Harper is the prime minister of Canada? Who knew?
years from now the AP will promote the notion GWBush was in the closet based on this headline.
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