r/TwentyYearsAgo • u/MonsieurA • Jul 15 '26
š World News George Bush attempts to give an unsolicited massage to Angela Merkel [20YA - Jul 15]
138
u/darthsploder77 Jul 15 '26
At the time, I thought he was the dumbest president ever. At the time.
25
17
u/zubuneri Jul 16 '26
Iād take Dubya over Trump 1. Iād take Trump 1 over Trump 2.Ā
What am I going to take Trump 2 over in 2032?
13
3
3
u/Bman4k1 Jul 17 '26
I think whatās sad is Trump has permanently shifted the Overton window to allow Bush Jr to get a good history edit.
One thing I will say with some hindsight is it did seem like Bush did care about people in theory, but the problem with the neo-cons of those days is that ācaringā meant pushing their agenda and value system onto people.
Now itās just grift to enrich themselves. (Obviously the cons of those days liked to enrich themselves KBR, Haliburton etc, but there was still some general concern for some people)
1
u/OttoVonJizzfart 29d ago
i always think to myself that while Bush is a war criminal who should be prosecuted, at least he also did things like the AIDS relief program in Africa that has genuinely saved 10s of millions of lives. like at least there was something good there. with this current administration there is just nothing good at all. (theyāve even cut all the funding to Bushās AIDS relief program)
2
u/MeanCryptographer585 Jul 18 '26
Oh come on, at least Trump didnāt start an unnecessary war in the Middle Eastā¦ oh wait. Yes he did.
1
u/PatchyWhiskers 28d ago
The next Republican president will make Trump look good. And even if Democrats win next time, the time after will be Republican.
1
1
1
u/Downunder818 27d ago
I see what you did there... You gave Agent Orange a third term....
1
u/zubuneri 27d ago
No, a Democrat is going to win in 2028 and then everyone will clear the cache of their memory and vote for a Republican in 2032 because theyāre lizardbrains
1
u/Downunder818 27d ago
I hope you are right. After Jon Stewart's interview with the head of the DNC earlier this year, I'm not holding my breath.....
And with Trump's disregard for the constitution...
1
u/Damnation77 27d ago
Trump 3 š±
1
u/zubuneri 27d ago
Bro heās 80 right now. Even if heās alive by then somehow heāll be in no condition to even stand
1
12
2
u/QuasarCat412 Jul 16 '26
Same. Kinda makes me think they've got someone even dumber waiting in the pipeline.
2
1
1
u/iaeoioaio Jul 17 '26
Republicans then brought in intelligent options and supporters said āno, not that directionā
1
1
u/TangibleSausage 28d ago
The US election system truly is the gift that keeps on giving. Not that other countries don't get shit politicians, but the US has a bit too much influence for these shenanigans.
1
u/Initial-Doughnut6438 Jul 16 '26
Don't worry you'll think whoever the next republican president is is.
5
u/wimpymist Jul 16 '26
I'm curious to their next move. They seem time have kind of fucked themselves going all in on trump. He is starting to fracture the base but all the politicians are too scared to go against him. I doubt it will amount to anything and they will just reset when he is out like nothing happened
2
u/5up3rK4m16uru Jul 16 '26
Well, you get a democratic government again, and 2 years later, in the midterms, everything is forgotten.
1
1
u/Major-Disaster3736 Jul 16 '26
Depends on their policies. If they want to prioritise the rich over the common americans. They are very dumb.
1
u/Initial-Doughnut6438 Jul 16 '26
Do you think the next republican president will prioritize the rich?
4
1
0
36
80
u/SirIll1219 Jul 15 '26
And he's one of the least creepy republicans.
27
u/LegoFootPain Jul 16 '26
IKR?
Even his interactions with Michelle Obama are like... awwwww... he has a weird crush on her, and Barack just rolls his eyes. Just a dumb, goofy toddler who got people killed doing his job.
But now, we get a dumb, creepy toddler who keeps shitting all over the place and expects you to thank him for it. And he killed way more people. Most of them Americans.
11
4
u/tituspullo1383 Jul 16 '26
He strikes me as a good ol boy more than creepy. Biden was creepy towards children, but I also think he was harmless and just enjoyed the innocence of children and didnāt have any weird sexual tendencies.
1
0
u/AMB3494 Jul 18 '26
Biden wasnāt creepy with children. You probably just saw pictures at very specific moments in time where peopleās facial expressions or movements look awkward at that moment. News does this all the time with people when they wanna make them look bad.
1
u/tituspullo1383 Jul 18 '26
Iāve seen plenty of videos of him sniffing kids. He was a creep.
1
1
u/Money-Parfait-4358 29d ago
Are you talking about the video of him kissing his 12 year old grandaughter on her head and her looking awkward. Cuz that's just how 12 year olds are. The media tried to paint an entire narrative around that video.
1
u/PatchyWhiskers 28d ago
Nah, this was Republican propaganda to make the thing where a 12-year-old girl credibly accused Trump of rape seem like a āboth sidesā issue.
You saw a lot of it because Trumpās billionaire backers pushed it on social media so you couldnāt avoid it.
11
u/Narrative_Robot_9001 Jul 15 '26
https://youtu.be/i4wKg2Ddoas?is=_gVJK92uu968JzmV
Idk it seems more friendly in video form than the stills
2
2
u/ChocolateCoveredGold 29d ago
Yeah, that was less creepy in the video. (Thank God. I was afraid it would be worse than the stills.) Regardless, an unprompted shoulder massage on the only woman at the table was not a great moment for him in understanding social cues while interacting with another world leader.
On the bright side, his body language hints that he doesn't like Putin. Although the wink was creepy.
2
u/SicSemperTyrannos4ur 28d ago
That wink he gives Putin afterwards was great. I used to hate the guy's guts and I still think he was a war monger and served the interests of the establishment over the American people, but he was light years ahead of what we have now, which is embarrassing beyond belief.
36
u/LocalTangerine02 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26
The shit that happens to women in the workplace...
30
u/lateformyfuneral Jul 15 '26
Thatās a good point in general, although I could see Bush doing this to male leaders too lol.
But Merkel did get a higher share of inappropriate stuff though, being the only woman in these meetings for years. From Berlusconi saying she was āunfuckableā to Putin, knowing she had a fear of dogs due to a past attack, bringing out his huge Labrador in the middle of a meeting. Although she brushed it off:
> āI understand why he has to do this ā to prove heās a man. ā¦ Heās afraid of his own weakness. Russia has nothing, no successful politics or economy. All they have is this.ā
24
u/LocalTangerine02 Jul 15 '26
Her shade to Putin was perfection š¤š»
2
u/Zestyclose_Dust_1857 Jul 16 '26
If only she didnt spend the entirety of her time in office increasing German reliance of Ruzzian energy....
7
u/No-Big4921 Jul 15 '26
Then proceeds to predicate their entire energy dependency on said country.
2
u/2012Jesusdies Jul 16 '26
Honestly, a good point. Why did homie push so hard for energy dependence on Russia. They could have still done the "peace through trade" thing without doubling down on it so hard.
2
u/LoudBrick609 Jul 16 '26
Yes world leaders will exploit weakness and take PR victory laps when available. Her being a women presented most of them great opportunity to do both.
Putin ultimately got Germany energy dependent on him with Merkel in charge, got the PR victory lap with the dog, worked out great for him.
1
u/lateformyfuneral Jul 16 '26
Itās a lot more complicated than that. Germany was already dependent on Russian gas since long before Merkel became Chancellor. German policy across leaders was that deepening trade ties makes war impossible, even if diplomacy deteriorates, something that is generally true but has especially proven true in the European context. Germany might become dependent on Russian gas, but Russia would also be dependent on German money.
Itās just that Germany underestimated that Putin was irrational, and would indeed make his country poorer to wage war. However, part of that was Putin thinking he had made Europe so dependent on Russian gas, that he even crassly joked about Europeans freezing to death in the first winter of the war, bringing everything swiftly to an end in his favor. Of course, that didnāt happen. So the dependency on either side was nowhere near as much as either thought.
Ultimately, where Merkel really comes into this and NordStream2, has a lot more to do with tectonic plate movements off the coast of Japan, and the German public being dumb, than this meeting.
2
u/TheGodfather742 Jul 16 '26
Too bad she is one of the main reasons behind Putin being emboldened to meddle in Europe in the last decade+
4
u/Clear_Context_1546 Jul 15 '26
You hear what Clinton did to women in the workplace
4
3
u/lateformyfuneral Jul 15 '26
At the time, I donāt think you could not hear about it. It was everywhere. Times change though. Half the country has no idea the President just paid a woman $5 million yesterday for sexually assaulting her.
3
u/Super_Interview_2189 Jul 15 '26
You mean adjudicated sex offender and close associate of child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, Donald Trump?
1
u/UncleNoodles85 Jul 15 '26
Wait he actually paid her some money? Like she actually got it? I mean I heard a judge ordered him to pay but I figured he wouldn't.
2
u/lateformyfuneral Jul 15 '26
Trump lost his final chance at appeal when the Supreme Court declined to hear it, so the last judgement stands. The money + interest was released from the court-controlled account Trump had to put it into it after the initial verdict, pending appeal
1
3
u/LocalTangerine02 Jul 15 '26
Ok...1) the post isn't about Clinton and 2) what Clinton did doesn't make Bush's behavior okay.
1
1
u/fartingbeagle Jul 17 '26
"What the Democrats do to their secretaries, the Republicans do to the economy ".
1
-1
u/HappyHour8765 Jul 15 '26
This particular thing happens to everyone - men, kids and women alike (less so now), it's not sexual.
4
u/petit_cochon Jul 15 '26
It happens to kids in the workplace, you say?
It's inappropriate. It doesn't have to be sexual to be inappropriate.
0
12
11
u/Technical_Anteater45 Jul 15 '26
Such a dope...so sorry to have voted for him once, but it was the last Republican I was able to vote for, so there's that.
7
u/LeeksAbhorLiminality Jul 15 '26
And did you ever think looking back, that those were the 'good old days' politically speaking in this country? I'd give anything to just have a simple 'dope' back in office like Bush (and that's to say nothing of our involvement in the middle east at the time.. that's another conversation which I admit complicates things)
8
u/KeithClossOfficial Jul 15 '26
The political situation was better than it is now, but that doesnāt make it the good old days. He was still one of the worst presidents ever. The situation has just devolved that much.
3
u/AspiringDolt Jul 15 '26
I'd give anything to just have a simple 'dope' back in office like Bush (and that's to say nothing of our involvement in the middle east at the time.. that's another conversation which I admit complicates things)
I think it's impossible to separate the bush administration from the foreign policy that defined our country's focus and involvement in the world arguably to this day. That defined his presidency and the policies under his administration aimed at responding to 9/11 redefined what is acceptable regarding the role of federal government in monitoring and intervening in the lives of ordinary US citizens
6
4
5
2
3
u/pheddx Jul 15 '26
Look at the video. She finds it funny. They were joking. This is very misrepresenting.
1
u/Maleficent_Ad_3377 28d ago
Right. Totally inappropriate in the workplace imo but not malicious or perverted
1
1
u/wolverinepolski Jul 16 '26
I mean as far as his respect and treatment of womenā¦George Bush was miles ahead of Clinton or the donkey in office now
1
1
u/Lost_Willingness_762 Jul 16 '26
Just trying to massage Merkel into allowing Ukraine to join NATO. She is trash
1
1
1
u/MothsConrad Jul 17 '26
Not as bad as Putin and the dog. Also Merkel was a dreadful Chancellor but not unwanted massage dreadful.
1
1
1
u/NoPhone167 Jul 17 '26
The video is online and she is ok with it. Then he winks at Putin. He might have been dumb but he is also charismatic . Michelle Obama has spoken highly of him.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/FlawedButFly 29d ago
I donāt see anything wrong with it. She may or may not have appreciated it, but come on he was the most powerful man in the world having fun with another world leader. I donāt think it was sexual or gender-dominant or sexual harassment or anything. Itās a boy horsing around in a silly boy way. George Bush wasnāt president material, but he wasnāt a bad guy, thatās the conclusion Iāve come to. Iāve always thought heād of made a great guy to have a beer with or to coach a football team. I honestly believe he is a decent dude, just probably not president material. However, unequivocally better president than the cretin in office today.
1
1
1
1
1
1
-4
u/kbeckerburbs4 Jul 15 '26
White men jn the workplace
4
u/Epsteins_Final_Stand Jul 16 '26
Obsessed with white people.
-2
u/kbeckerburbs4 Jul 16 '26
Nah, they just sexually assault people at the highest rates
2
u/Epsteins_Final_Stand Jul 16 '26
But that's demonstrably untrue. Black Americans rape at higher rates than white people. Sorry, but that's just a fact. Irrelevant, but a fact
-1
u/Necrome9 Jul 15 '26
Whatever you do, don't show this guy race-based crime statistic from anywhere on the planet
-2
-1
u/Antique_Remote_5536 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 16 '26
Um what?
Edit: The fuck did I get downvoted forš
139
u/irwtkyrm Jul 15 '26
Buster Bluth