Posted on 11/17/2006 11:00:07 AM PST by Ben Mugged
Ho Chi Minh, dead for 37 years, still shadowed President Bush practically all day.
Each of Bush's meetings Friday with Vietnam's president, prime minister and Communist Party chief took place beneath huge bronze busts of the revolutionary leader who later became prime minister and then president of North Vietnam. The setting produced some striking imagery and an interesting juxtaposition for Bush, who has made it a goal to spread democracy throughout the world.
At the presidential palace, Bush, his Vietnamese counterpart, Nguyen Minh Triet, and their wives sat in ornate white chairs in front of a large, red-and-yellow floral arrangement and beneath a large bust of the bearded Ho, who died in 1969.
The bust was mounted in front of a facsimile of the Vietnamese flag, a gold star on a field of red, and was flanked on either side by the flags of both countries.
Next week, Bush visits Ho Chi Minh City, formerly known as Saigon, in the southern part of the country.
In this image-conscious country, party leaders can speak freely and be heard, but not everyone here can hear the leader of the free world.
Throughout the day, reporters from both countries were allowed to hear remarks by Vietnamese leaders, but were forced to leave when it was Bush's turn to speak.
"Out, out," officials shouted to reporters during Bush's remarks at a meeting with Nong Duc Manh, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Pretty mush says it all......
Did he get to the museum that has Kerry's picture in it?
Upstaged by a Ho? Who's handling his PR these days?
Then it occured to me that they were just being snide little pukes, and pointing out in their juvenile way that President Bush never "visited" Viet Nam during the war.
What a bunch of weenies.
"W" just keeps bumbling along. Why did he speak if reporters weren't allowed to hear his remarks?
Saigon...There thats better..
Where is Ho Chi Minh City? I was in Saigon. Saigon will always be Saigon.
He ain't a Divide'er hes a Unite'er...
"Oh, no, follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Follow the Ho Chi Minh Trail...."
In some circles it is suspected that while Bush may not have "visited" Vietnam, he may well have been "visiting" Cambodia and Laos. There is a gap in his military record that is typical of USAF officers who flew for the CIA's "Air America". Funny thing is that I usually get this rumor from lefties who think it's a slam on Bush to say he worked with his father's CIA. I think of it as high praise.
When a world leader reviews the troops, he is honoring them.
I saw President Bush trooping the line this morning, and I realized that we have officially lost the Viet Nam war with his action.
My shame is complete.
Very interesting - of course it's just a rumor. I knew a guy once who had a brother who had been a Raven in Laos (and I know this to be an absolute fact - his brother was named in the definitive book on the Ravens). It would be an interesting historical footnote especially to all those who minimized GWBs NG service.
It would be even more delicious if he turned out to have been in (or over) Cambodia at Christmas 1970 or wheneverthehell it was seared (Seared!) into j f'n cary's brain.
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