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Title: Dazed Bush forgets what country he's in, what summit he's at
Source:
The Raw Story
URL Source: http://rawstory.com//news/2007/In_Bushs_world_hes_been_in_0907.html
Published: Sep 7, 2007
Author: Filed by David Edwards and Nick Juliano
Post Date: 2007-09-07 12:56:48 by robin
Keywords: None
Views: 297
Comments: 10
Filed by David Edwards and Nick Juliano President Bush's trademark struggles with the finer points of public speaking were on full display Friday, when he thanked his "Austrian" hosts for inviting him to this year's "OPEC" summit. The "Language Mangler-in-Chief" was in Australia attending the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit. Along with misidentifying his host country and the name of the summit, Bush struggled to leave the lectern, trying to exit the stage the wrong way. "Thank you for being such a fine host of the OPEC summit," Bush said to Australian prime minister John Howard. He quickly corrected himself, "APEC summit," and joked Howard "invited me to the OPEC summit next year. (Such an invitation would be impossible because neither the US or Australia are members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.) Later in the speech, Bush can clearly be heard on tape thanking Howard for visiting "Austrian troops" in Iraq last year, but White House scrubbers fixed that gaffe for him, changing the official government transcript to "Australian," the Associated Press reported. As Reuters notes, "There are, in fact, no Austrian troops there. But Australia has about 1,500 Australian military personnel in and around" Iraq. Bush's struggles from the lectern didn't end when he stopped talking either. Press reports indicate he tried to leave the stage through the wrong door, and the Australian prime minister had to point him toward the proper exit, according to the Herald Sun newspaper. The scene was reminiscent of a 2005 Bush appearance in Beijing, when Bush was thwarted by a locked door after stepping off stage and had to be redirected. The following video is from MSNBC's Morning Joe, broadcast on September 7.
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Dazed Bush forgets what country he's in, what summit he's at
09/07/2007 @ 8:40 am
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#2. To: robin (#0)
He might have been trying to have a very flat joke, like his notorious "misunderestimate" gaffe at a press conference in his first term, which seemed to me even at the time to have been deliberate. Courtier journalist Bill Sammon (of Fox News) later wrote a hagiographic book about Bush using the barbarism, "Misunderestimated: The President Battles Terrorism, John Kerry, and the Bush Haters," as a theme that Bush himself should not be underestimated even if he can't speak proper English. Or, he may have been drunk - the tabloid press regularly contains reports that he's saucing up quite a bit these days.
Read this article from the Guardian re Bush's gaffes: 5pm Bush goes into gaffe overdrive Staff and agencies George Bush addresses the Apec forumThat one was fixed for him, with the official text released by the White House switching it to "Australian". Tapes of the speech, however, clearly show Mr Bush saying "Austrian". Then, speech done, Mr Bush confidently headed out - the wrong way. He strode away from the lectern on a path that would have sent him over a steep drop. Mr Howard and others redirected the president to where there were steps leading down to the floor of the theatre.
Well, that was only because he was choking on one of them "Austrian" pretzels... :P
..now what does an Austrian pretzel look like? :P
#8. To: Zipporah (#7)
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#4. To: Peetie Wheatstraw (#2)
Friday September 7, 2007
Guardian Unlimited 
#5. To: Zipporah (#4)
Then, speech done, Mr Bush confidently headed out - the wrong way. He strode away from the lectern on a path that would have sent him over a steep drop. Mr Howard and others redirected the president to where there were steps leading down to the floor of the theatre.
#7. To: Peetie Wheatstraw (#5)
Replies to Comment # 7. ..now what does an Austrian pretzel look like? :P
End Trace Mode for Comment # 7.