Bush Gropes The German Chancellor and We’ve Got The Video!!!

Published on July 18th, 2006

Shouldn’t Merkel file sexual harassement charges against Bush? The way she reacts it certainly was unwanted touching. There have been plenty of court cases over less.

Sure, sure. Bush supporters will only say he was joking around. Being friendly. But this is a head of state, in public. Nothing shows respect to other countries and their leaders like groping. Bush has got to have a screw lose somewhere to pull this kind of bullshit.

Here’s one writer’s take:

Every woman will recognize the guy who sidles up and starts “casually” giving you a backrub without even looking at you, because he wants to preserve deniability in case you freak out. Like any practiced groper, Bush stares right past Merkel as she recoils from his touch.

The play fails, but he just moves on, eyes averted, like it’s her problem. (”Oh my God, there’s a hysterical woman displaying inappropriate behavior! I’ll just pretend I don’t notice her egregious gaffe.”)

Yes, our president, the drive-by harasser.

And the Idealistic Pragmatist has a discussion on the cultural implications:

Far from showing his great “love” for the chancellor, what this event really illustrates is Bush’s appalling insensitivity to the fact that not everybody else’s culture is just like his own. In Germany, this will be perceived not as a joke, but as a man showing a woman her place. Don’t look so shocked, Mr. President–there are actually places in the world where you don’t get to massage the shoulders of a woman (and a fellow world leader) whom you barely know. After six long years of hobnobbing with the international elite, I’d think you might have figured that out.

DU Exclusive: The real reason this happened is because the Bush pilot voted against Merkel and decided this was his chance to get back at her for winning. Remember, you read that here, first!

59 users responded in " Bush Gropes The German Chancellor and We’ve Got The Video!!! "

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# 1 doug said, on July 18th, 2006 at 6:09 pm

first the guy is cussing into an open mike, with his mouth full of food – a disgusting display, not so much for the profanity as for the cretinish gobbling and talking – and now he is fondling the Chancellor of Germany.

is he back on the bottle or the toot or something?

# 2 Gwendle said, on July 18th, 2006 at 6:10 pm

Hmmmm, interesting.

# 3 Smartalix said, on July 18th, 2006 at 6:14 pm

I personally believe that Bush is a lout, a boor, an ex-fratboy whose only talent is to piss away other people’s assets. Everything of value he ever had, from his first oil company to the United States of America, was given to him. (And just like everything else of value he has owned, Bush is pissing this country away, too.)

It isn’t that he’s stupid, he just doesn’t care enough about facts to learn any.

# 4 Tom said, on July 18th, 2006 at 6:25 pm

There is open mike cussing, talking with your mouthful, but i highly doubt that he gives random backrubs to chancellors. I dont think that was him, thats an obvious spoof.

# 5 Gary Marks said, on July 18th, 2006 at 7:16 pm

It just strikes me as one of those overly-familiar gestures that Bush probably regretted as soon as he saw her reaction. For all his family’s wealth and connections, there are people from far lower rungs in our society who have a greater sense of propriety for official behavior, but I don’t see this little gesture as having any negative reflection on Bush’s character. There are plenty of other things for that.

Comedian Lewis Black had a good line recently, when viewing video footage of Bush with the Japanese Prime Minister visiting Graceland. Koizumi actually started singing one of Presley’s songs, and Lewis Black said “Here’s something I’ve never said before — doesn’t Bush look dignified!” Maybe the video shows a meeting where it was Bush’s turn to make everyone else look dignified. On the bright side, he didn’t do it by singing

# 6 Ron Jeremy said, on July 18th, 2006 at 8:59 pm

Geez…

He was right there and didn’t even grab her tits.

What kind of example is he setting for his predecessor, Billy Bob Clinton?

I wonder if Hillary will forgive, or lambast somebody from the other ‘party’

… and, why the hell are political organizations called ‘parties’ ?? Are they ‘FUN’??

# 7 John C Dvorak said, on July 18th, 2006 at 9:52 pm

When I first saw the blurry pics of this I swore it was Harriet Meyers and still wonder if it wasn;t a Bush knee-jerk action. I mean the same frumpy outfit and look. Whatever the case, this is going to be something he regrets.

# 8 GregAllen said, on July 18th, 2006 at 9:57 pm

Bush reminds me of the relative we all have who ruins every holiday but we still have to invite.

You probably have one in your family.

It’s the annonying relative who, while spitting pieces of dinner rolls, says stuff like, “See? It’s ironic! All the balcks have to do is get jobs and racism would go away just like that! It’s simple, see! Just like Rush was saying the other day…”

# 9 Jonny Nexus said, on July 19th, 2006 at 2:00 am

A trivial point, but she’s not the head of state, she’s the leader of the government.

The head of state in Germany is their President, currently Horst Köhler.

In the same way, Tony Blair is not the head of state of the UK, but merely the leader of the government. The UK’s head of state is Queen Elizabeth II.

It actually is part of a pretty big cultural difference into how you view your political leaders.

I personally (along with many other Europeans) like the idea of having the head of state separate from the leader of the government, since you then have one person who symbolically represents the country, and who you therefore show deference to, and one politician who leads the government, who you treat according to theirs and your politics.

The whole idea of Democrats in the US having to refer to Bush as “Mr President” and treat him with a degree of deference due to his position leaves me a bit cold.

# 10 Frank IBC said, on July 19th, 2006 at 4:08 am

Meanwhile the Democratic Party is led by the loser who lost to the loser who lost to this loser.

# 11 Smartalix said, on July 19th, 2006 at 4:21 am

Who cares about the Democrats?

Why does the Right always point to something worse to justify their position? Sure, the Democrats are a bunch of idiots who couldn’t find their ass with both hands, but they haven’t been in control of any facet of government for FIVE YEARS.

Bush is President, not any Democrat. Let’s comment on who is on the office and what they are doing, not pointing at imaginary monsters. The one we have in the Oval Office is monster enough.

If you were a lousy lover, would you justify it by reminding your wife her ex-boyfriend was worse?

# 12 Tim Harris said, on July 19th, 2006 at 4:24 am

NO no no…Think about this ! I believe there was a movie on the same thing. Guy in charge gets close to whomever so he can plant a secret wiretap on him/her. I think thats just what happened.

# 13 Pekuliar said, on July 19th, 2006 at 4:49 am

The world is on the edge of a major war. The dollar and stock market is crashing. The Multinationals are giving away all western technology and manufacturing capability to China, India as fast as they can and you clowns are talking about this teenage bullshit. If any of you have been to Germany you would see their attitude about sex is very different and much more mature than our own in the US. Last time there I turned on TV and saw on the public station nude skiing!! How about growing up and start worrying about real issues that this conference should be dealing with now but we never hear anything about because of this childish banter about table manners and greetings (which was inappropriate- get over it)

# 14 Smartalix said, on July 19th, 2006 at 5:03 am

There is a massive difference between being casual about sex and letting some dolt paw you in a public place at a formal function.

If this were Clinton they’d have already formed a congressional comittee to investigate the incident and you people would be moaning all around how sick Clinton is.

It is obvious that Bush is more of an embarrassment to this country than ever. He can’t even chew food with his mouth closed, and has demonstrated he doesn’t respect women. Why didn’t he pull that crap on Putin?

# 15 Noam Sane said, on July 19th, 2006 at 5:20 am

On the other hand, he seems to have learned something on this trip – “China is big! And so is Russia!”.

So it’s not a total loss.

# 16 James Hill said, on July 19th, 2006 at 6:27 am

Just because Bush is getting some hot German action is no reason to get jealous, guys.

Didn’t you watch Sprockets on SNL? That’s as warm as Germans get.

# 17 Rich said, on July 19th, 2006 at 6:30 am

Oh god, give me a break! That wasn’t remotely sensual. He could as easily have been lobbing a water balloon at his kid sister.

# 18 AB CD said, on July 19th, 2006 at 6:57 am

There’s more. He did something like this to Vladimir Putin years back, strangling him. Someone should tell him not to treat foreign gatherings as frat parties.

> If this were Clinton

Well, there’s plenty of evidence that Clinton can’t handle himself around women. Do you really think all of the accusers were lying? If Monica hadn’t kept her blue dress, people would be saying that she was lying too.

# 19 Gary Shaw said, on July 19th, 2006 at 6:57 am

I watched Bush’s Animal House behavour and was shocked (and it takes a lot to shock me). Did anyone see the German newsclip with Bush making the comments about the pig dinner? That was the first indication of his hyper-boorish manner.

If I was part of the Republican “power brokers” set, I’d be setting Bush up to be the fall-guy right now. I wonder if what Gonzales said about Bush blocking the ethics inquiry is part of that.

# 20 Frank_IBC said, on July 19th, 2006 at 7:01 am

smartalix -

The reason I keep bringing up the Democrats is that, given that they are currently the only other viable party at the national level, they are the only ones who can currently offer a viable alternative to Bush. And they have failed miserably.

# 21 framitz said, on July 19th, 2006 at 7:04 am

It seems to me that the recent ‘open mic’ and ‘inappropriate touching’ incidents are fairly MINOR and may be getting a lot of attention to draw us away from his total incompetence.

Just look at all the attention these relatively insignificant incidents are getting. Now open your eyes.

# 22 Sounds The Alarm said, on July 19th, 2006 at 7:26 am

#11

smartalix – lol!

Now watch the neocons start squirming “but Clinton this, but Hilary that.”. Talk about liberals whining, neocons whine like a bad water pump in a gremlin!

# 23 John C Dvorak said, on July 19th, 2006 at 7:44 am

Bad water pump in a Gremlin?? LOL

# 24 Improbus said, on July 19th, 2006 at 8:36 am

This just goes to prove something we already know … our president is a boob.

# 25 JM said, on July 19th, 2006 at 8:41 am

Although I don’t like Bush & his public stunts always make me laugh,
I think that the reaction we see on the face of the chancelor reflects surprise more than angriness…

To me it looks more like after a long afternoon meeting, things are getting wrapped up, Bush stands up, comes to the back of the chancelor and grabs her shoulders playfully, then runs away.

I see a lot of people who are getting used to Bush’s PR mistakes but IMO there is no reason to call for sexual harrassment on such a bad quality video. I am sure if the video quality was better, that when she looks for Bush on her left (after he grabbed her shoulders) we would see a smile on her face.

# 26 Sounds The Alarm said, on July 19th, 2006 at 8:41 am

John,

I would have wrote “Yugo”, but I’m in a good mood.

# 27 Dan said, on July 19th, 2006 at 8:47 am

He doesn’t have a clue.

# 28 Matt Garrett said, on July 19th, 2006 at 8:47 am

Giving a shoulder rub is a grope? Seriously guys, you’re becoming moonbats.

# 29 Sounds The Alarm said, on July 19th, 2006 at 9:14 am

#27 “Giving a shoulder rub is a grope? Seriously guys, you’re becoming moonbats.”

Yeah – and if Clinton would have done it FOX would be pounding on him for a month about how “disgraceful” he was.

The mighty neocon double standard.

# 30 Anon said, on July 19th, 2006 at 11:20 am

Not a grope?

This wasn’t a Hee-Haw convention, this was a meeting of world leaders

# 31 Mike said, on July 19th, 2006 at 11:34 am

In that still frame, he looks kinda like Pat Robertson.

# 32 woktiny said, on July 19th, 2006 at 11:59 am

yeah, it is pretty stupid, anyone looked up the definition of grope or harassment?

# 33 Jammer said, on July 19th, 2006 at 12:02 pm

If that qualifies as a grope then we’ve gone so far down the PC road that there’s no hope for mankind. Was it inappropriate? probably. Groping? um, sorry, but I don’t think so.

# 34 Anon said, on July 19th, 2006 at 12:13 pm

I don’t need a dictionary or the PC police to know what “grope” means because I didn’t learn English from Rush Limbaugh. Is the neo solution always name calling (Moonbats) or blowing the PC whistle?

# 35 prophet said, on July 19th, 2006 at 2:22 pm

#31 – Mike – Holy crap…you mean Bush did 2000 pound leg extensions?!?!? Wow….that bike riding must really be paying off!

# 36 prophet said, on July 19th, 2006 at 2:23 pm

Whoops….I meant leg presses…not leg extensions…. 2000 pound leg extensions WOULD be impressive!

# 37 TKane said, on July 19th, 2006 at 5:30 pm

Well, for all you groping groupies out there, the married ones should understand this one, then maybe we can put it to bed. When Laura saw this, I’m sure she took care o’ biness. (kicked his funky @ss).

# 38 Mr. H. Fusion said, on July 19th, 2006 at 8:18 pm

Meanwhile the Democratic Party is led by the loser who lost to the loser who lost to this loser.
Comment by Frank IBC — 7/19/2006 @ 4:08 am

OK, Frank, I’ll give you credit for that one. A good quip.

The truthyness is that Bush was really sticking a “Kick Me” sign on her back. How many of you people haven’t done the same yourself. You just kind of distract the person and quickly slap it onto their back.

If he had of groped her, don’t you think the German Secret Service detail would have blown Bush to pieces? We know that if it was someone, say Putin, groping Bush, he wouldn’t be enjoying any more vodka. Ever again.

# 39 AB CD said, on July 19th, 2006 at 9:34 pm

You’re forgetting the Clinton legacy. After teh Kathleen Willey story broke, so-called feminists declared a one-free grope rule. So Bush is in the clear till the next G8 summit. After that, I guess it’s impeachment.

By the way, I messed up earlier. Bush didn’t strangle Putin. It was Alan Greenspan.

# 40 pcmasters said, on July 19th, 2006 at 10:40 pm

Hi peoples,
im from germany and cant understand why he says things like this. Our president (Ms Merkel) sponsored him with 20 million euro the last visit here and a BBQ etc.

# 41 joshua said, on July 19th, 2006 at 10:54 pm

We all wish that Clinton HAD grabbed his woman above the shoulders.
Even Democrats talk about Clinton as the serial groper guys.

Bush was just being polite…….in that Texan *howdy* sort of mode.

# 42 Smartalix said, on July 20th, 2006 at 6:00 am

Yet strangely we have no footage of Clinton ever acting this way. His behaviour was mostly in the minds of the Right WIng. (Then again, they can’t help but think about sex since they are so frustrated.)

# 43 Mr. H. Fusion said, on July 20th, 2006 at 7:15 am

#42, Alix, That is why so many right wingers use the “Kick Me “sign as an distraction to grope. Hey, watch ‘em. They can be tricky.

# 44 Jan said, on July 27th, 2006 at 3:05 am

I’m from Germany and I think this has nothing to do with sexual harassement. He just grabbed her shoulder. When I look at “Angie” I think of everything but any sexual.
So cool down, the world got other problems than this stupid touching by George

# 45 fabian said, on July 27th, 2006 at 3:59 am

funny. for us germans this “incident” is funny. nothing more nothing less. and for us it has nothing to do with sexual harassment. it shows only (a bit) bad manners.

# 46 Dirk said, on July 27th, 2006 at 4:21 am

Well, the whole story is different:

Before meeting the G8 in St.Petersburg Bush visited Merkel to support her party while elections in the German state Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Merkel was the one going for intimity with the president there, caressing his arm in front of her own husband to get a kiss for welcome instead of a handshake and she was quite pleased to get this easy effort.

Merkel did this also to snub the German peace-movement and to do dirt on former chancelor Gerhard Schröder’s resistance against War on Iraq.

Everybody knows that Bush is too dumb to make a distinction between BBQ and G8. His behaviour is ridiculous anyway – but so is Mrs Merkel’s. She’s the one coquetishly sexualizing politics to supress substantial discussions. And Bush is only the idiot who thaught this was friendship.

# 47 Steven said, on July 27th, 2006 at 4:31 am

Hey guys! just lough about it and don’t debate if it was a sexual harassement or not.
I’m from Germany, too. And we are more generous in things like that
Have a nice day and many greetings from Germany….

# 48 Shred said, on July 27th, 2006 at 4:32 am

Another German posting… Would Bush have done the same to a male German chancellor? I don’t think so. He also did it in public, which must have been even more embarrassing to Merkel. I think Bush should apologize, and treat Merkel with due respect from now on. And then this stupid incident should be settled once and for all.

@40 pcmasters: “Our president Ms Merkel” *cough* Our president actually is Mr Koehler.

# 49 Till said, on July 27th, 2006 at 4:44 am

Hey, fellow Germans. Remember these times:
http://www.dmko.info/putinparty.jpg
German chancellors seem to be good friends to all other Presidents.
Remember Chirac kissing Angie?
Greetings from Germany

# 50 martino said, on July 27th, 2006 at 4:46 am

from germany: are you kittin? this was nothing but a friendly whatever, i wont believe, that the us is so middleaged – this has nothing nothing to do with a sexual harassement … strange for an european is the debatte about this, better take care of violence, war, poor people and other important things than such a NOTHING for our chancelor (president ist someone else named Köhler)

greetz & take it eassier

# 51 mmulin said, on July 27th, 2006 at 5:14 am

such behaviour can be seen over here quite often. however, it will be a gesture between very good friends, in a man-woman context, or between man a sign of appreciation.

however, i suppose, neither fits this footage and, honestly, a public exhibition of such is just purly unprofessional..

i agree the reaction in the states are indeed middle-aged. nobody here would right away dismiss this as sexual advancement. but then again in your country even looking at a woman twice gets you to court. not to speak about all the inter-personal hypercriticism.

if it comes to european mentality this can only be described as a guy displaying bad manners.. and maybe it can be seen as a bush’ish attempt to show a cosmoplitan athmosphere. then again, as usual, i don’t think he was thinking anything..

# 52 mmulin said, on July 27th, 2006 at 5:18 am

one edit on my text above:
hypercriticism = hypocrisy,

# 53 Annette Mueller said, on July 27th, 2006 at 6:29 am

Well, Bush is an American. I mean, that says it all. Americans are not cultivated like Europeans, they are like Big Kids. Michael Moore, or George Bush, or Brad Pitt, there is no difference. Your nation is simply juvenile. Wait another 2,000 years, maybe than you Americans get a little more civilzed. Sorry Kids.

# 54 thomas said, on July 27th, 2006 at 11:33 am

Hi Folks,

it needs a lot of sick fantasy to blow up Bushs behaviour to a case of sexual harassment, at least for a german european. GWB tried to be buddy with Merkel in a way that might not be appropiate at this level and in front of the world press. He obviously likes her and tried to show it.
This happens a million times a day in the world. Between friends, collegues etc. and hardly nobody outside the US would run to court for that.

Probably, the public in the US is so obsessed with sexuality, because is so widely supressed in your country. Old Europe will never understand why your society thinks that showing any form of bloody violence on TV, even for kids, is ok, while one blank nipple causes an public uproar.

GWB and his right-wing religious gang have damaged the reputation of the US in world. But the reason for that is called Guantamo, Iraq, Kyoto, Oil, etc. and not the redneck manners of your president.
However, you can be sure that the discussion about this case will damage US reputation more than the poorly noticed incident itself.

# 55 Mr. N.J. said, on July 27th, 2006 at 2:43 pm

Another German here.
If someone unexpectly touches you from behind, you can get a slight shock. I’ve had that many times with the typical taps on the back, done by both men and women, and while I do hate it, it’s no big deal.
The uproar over there tells a lot more about the US than about Bush. Abundance of sexual harrassment charges as well as the tendency to sue for large sums.

And don’t get me started on the openly misandrist NOW or US style feminism. We’re talking about a country where basically any woman can destroy a man’s life by false domestic violence or rape accusations as well as restraining orders that are generally issued no matter how frivolous they are (remember the recent incident with David Letterman? How many men can afford the lawyers he’s got?). All that with usually no charges whatsoever for false testimony as well as no help for real victims that either don’t know how to play the system or especially have the wrong gender.

# 56 Hypnotoad said, on July 28th, 2006 at 12:04 am

And yet another German:
You might know that Bush is not as popular in Germany as he is those north american states believing in creationism and all that crap, but accusing him of sexual harassment for this insignificant gesture once again makes me laugh about the Victorian way of life that is commonly practiced in the US. I had to laugh almost as hard as that one day when proud American republican voters, utterly ashamed of what Clinton had previously done, were asking me what people in Germany were thinking about the whole issue. They were expecting me to say that we were really deeply ashamed of him as well and that he undermined his authority that way, but the truth was: most people thought of Clinton as a cool guy and were disapproving of the way the American nation dealt with him, in the old-fashioned, prude way.
So please leave us alone with all that sexual harassment mumbo-jumbo, it’s just ridiculous.

# 57 And yet another amused German said, on July 28th, 2006 at 12:59 am

I don’t understand what’s all this discussion is about… That was just a negligible gesture and I don’t think, Ms. Merkel felt sexual harassed by this little action. Personally I don’t like George W. Bush but this act of him is really overrated. Aren’t there no other – real important things – to discuss these times?

# 58 Yetused said, on July 28th, 2006 at 5:03 pm

You Americans are crazy! Sexual harassment? WTF?! He touched her shoulder. Not her breast or anything! Can you get arrested for touching a woman’s shoulder or hand in America? Your country is f*cked up.

Sincerely, a German girl

# 59 sun bingo said, on June 2nd, 2007 at 8:09 am

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