Posted on 05/05/2007 11:20:47 AM PDT by Red Steel
WASHINGTON, May 4 How does George W. Bush, a towel-snapping Texan who puts his feet on the coffee table, drinks water straight from the bottle and was once caught on tape talking with food in his mouth prepare for a state dinner with the queen?
With tips from an etiquette guide, of course and a little gentle prodding from his wife.
The White House is atwitter over the visit on Monday by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh. This is the first visit by the queen since 1991, when Mr. Bushs father was president. White House aides say the state dinner in her honor is not only the social event of the year, but also of the entire Bush presidency.
It will be closely watched by the social elite for its collision of cultures Texas swagger meets British prim. Dinner attire is white tie and tails, the first and, perhaps, only white-tie affair of the Bush administration. The president was said to be none too keen on that, but bowed to a higher power, his wife.
I think Mrs. Bush is thrilled to have a white-tie dinner, and well leave it at that, Amy Zantzinger, the new White House social secretary, said on Friday as she arranged seating for 134 on a computerized screen behind her desk in the East Wing.
Ms. Zantzinger was not swamped with requests. Anybody who had not already received one of the elegant gold-rimmed invitations (hand-penned by a calligrapher and then engraved) apparently knew that it would be gauche to ask. Still, the exclusivity has created some awkward moments, as when the social secretary bumped into former President Bush, who was not on her list, in the West Wing.
He was making jokes, and then he said,
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I remember reading somewhere that FDR served hot dogs to visiting English royalty?
I guess she too didn't care for the actions of the former White House occupants.
Speaks pretty well of "W" and Laura to have the Queen and her date show up to visit.
Is this “writer” for the NYT calling the President a towel-snappy head of homeland?
I agree.
Not that I spend much time following the Royal Family, but more than once I've read that the Queen personally doesn't get nearly as hung up about all this "protocol" stuff as her staff (and much of the rest of her family) does. And even if she did, she'd keep it to herself.
Power is not everything. Tradition and what comes with it, which includes royalty, trumps power. Her nation has been around for close to 1000 years and may it be so for another 1000 years.
bring it on, we cook a zillion chicken fried steaks at a line. In Texas a “Big John” is two chicken fries on the plate.
gotta have hush puppies and yellow onion slices.
just for the record. Corn dogs came from the Texas Fair way back in the day
Someone sounds mad they didn’t get invited?
The Dinosaur sneers disdainfully as he slips beneath the surface of the tar...
Isn't it obvious? Those sexists over at the NY Times are clinging to some chivalrous notion that a man should show deference to an older woman. When will those antifeminists realize that women are equal in every way and should be treated accordingly?
Senator Reid isnt much of a white-tail-at-dinner kind of a guy, his spokesman, Jim Manley, said.”
There a-havin’ venison!
Huh....hmmm.....guess she decided to skip the klinton years, eh?
FMCDH(BITS)
Oh my! Because we surely do believe here in America that queens are closer to G-d than thee!
We should have the taxpayers support a Presidential Crystal Carrier who will follow Bush around and pour his water from the bottle into a goblet as he bikes or jogs. Mon Dieu.
ROFL. My nominee for post of the day!
I loved that movie. And how they presented the Queen with a Revolutionary War Musket. ROFL!
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