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| Home Front: Politix |
| NYT: For Queen and First Lady, Bush Will Try White Tie |
| 2007-05-06 |
| 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? Aha! Finally! Evidence that perhaps one of the NYSlimes staff might hold W in a less-than-perfect light! We'll have to follow up and have them fired! With tips from an etiquette guide, of course — and a little gentle prodding from his wife. Apparently he doesn't quite need the cattle prod. 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. Bush’s 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. Good. Let's keep it that way. 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. Probably agreed when they told him to think of the tie as just a very small table cloth tucked into his collar. “I think Mrs. Bush is thrilled to have a white-tie dinner, and we’ll 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. Hmm. Given he's a Texan you'd think he'd just let it be every man for himself. |
| Posted by:gorb |
| #15 Even worse, what if he mentions that Charles is a dhimmi idiot? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-05-06 20:53 |
| #14 Imagine the horror if he uses the wrong fork for the salad. |
| Posted by: xbalanke 2007-05-06 20:37 |
| #13 Queen of England should stop bitching and apply for gastronomical asylum instead. |
| Posted by: JFM 2007-05-06 19:31 |
| #12 Subjects courtesy, but Americans always shake hands. I read somewhere once (was it here on RB?) that some European royal once said that the "problem" with Americans is they "look down but don't look up" in regards to social class. Except for the staff at the NYT, it seems to be a pretty well-placed observation. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-05-06 16:26 |
| #11 Good lord. The writer is impressively ignorant, not to mention breathlessly overcome by the very idea of the possibility of brushing up against the shadow that Royalty might cast in a mud puddle. Subjects courtesy, but Americans always shake hands. When the hostess, Mrs. Bush, picks up her fork, the guests may pick up theirs. When the hostess, Mrs. Bush, arranges her knife and fork on her plate to indicate to the waiters that she's finished, the guests will be finished, too. The queen fulfills this function only when she is the hostess, or when dining with her subjects. Having been properly brought up, she is no doubt aware of this. And it's considered charming to invite the queen to one's country house, there serving local cuisine in an unceremonial, family setting. Or even a picnic on the grounds, so long as there are comfortable chairs for the older members of the party, who are no longer able to lounge comfortably on the ground. Fooey! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-05-06 14:03 |
| #10 BDS much? |
| Posted by: DMFD 2007-05-06 13:27 |
| #9 Nobody tell this to the Times, but way back in 1939, Our Hero FDR served ... hot dogs ... to King George VI and Queen (Mum) Elizabeth. Eleanor's mum was scandalized. (If you go to the link, spare a few minutes to read some of the correspondence.) |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2007-05-06 13:10 |
| #8 On the other hand perhaps her Magesty would enjoy an old Texan bar-b-que. Real men don't drink water from a bottle. Whiskey on the other hand.... |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2007-05-06 12:57 |
| #7 --For women, curtseying is acceptable, but not required. One does not shake the queenÂ’s hand unless the queen offers hers first. -- Excuse me, curtsying???? This is America - not England. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2007-05-06 12:39 |
| #6 Reminds me of the old western joke, first build a big fire second run in a steer third shoot it fourth cut off what you want If formal, wear new jeans |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-05-06 12:16 |
| #5 Probably agreed when they told him to think of the tie as just a very small table cloth tucked into his collar. Works for me. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2007-05-06 12:11 |
| #4 Maybe white shirt tail hanging out? |
| Posted by: Jackal 2007-05-06 11:45 |
| #3 "Senator Reid isn’t much of a white-tail-at-dinner kind of a guy” Yeah - he's more of yellow-stripe-at-back-all-the-f*cking-time guy. :-( |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-05-06 11:35 |
| #2 ...drinks water straight from the bottle... Real men don't drink water straight from the bottle. They drink it straight from the watering trough. If it's good enough for the horses, it oughta be good enough for you. “Senator Reid isn’t much of a white-tail-at-dinner kind of a guy,” his spokesman, Jim Manley, said. More of a white-feather-in-the-mail guy. (Seriously, white tail?) |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2007-05-06 10:22 |
| #1 LOL! Apparently W didn't choose the stationery or for sure it would have been that ultra-wide rule for kids learning to write. Crazy good inline work. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-05-06 10:15 |