President Bush Opens His Mouth, Predictable Thing Happens
POSTED BY: CubbyChaser
In our latest issue of Why is President Bush Allowed to Talk?..
While meeting with Filipino President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the White House yesterday, he made the following comments…
[quote]PRESIDENT BUSH: Madam President, it is a pleasure to welcome you back to the Oval Office. We have just had a very constructive dialogue. First, I want to tell you how proud I am to be the President of a nation that – in which there’s a lot of Philippine-Americans. They love America and they love their heritage. And I reminded the President that I am reminded of the great talent of the – of our Philippine-Americans when I eat dinner at the White House. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT ARROYO: Yes.
PRESIDENT BUSH: And the chef is a great person and a really good cook, by the way, Madam President.
PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you.
Look, President Bush might be telling the God’s honest truth. The guy might be the best chef on the face of the Earth. He might cook dishes that made your mouth drop dead. Fine.
But, you see, that’s why we’ve invented this thing called “diplomacy,” in which we don’t just open our mouths and say the first clump of syllables that fall out.
Because sometimes the truth is an asshole thing to say.[/quote]
I wonder what’s it’s going to be like to have a president who isn’t a total ignoramus in the diplomatic theater? I daresay after 8 years of Bush’s slapstick diplomacy I’ve forgotten what that’s like.
I think the response to this quote says more about how bad Bush has been diplomatically than the quote itself.
I mean what is the problem, exactly? Are you saying that being the chef who cooks for the leader of the free world is a menial position? He is somehow degrading Philippine-Americans by saying that one of his employees is a Philippine-American and he thinks the guy does a great job?
I hate Bush at least as much as the next guy, but this is only a big deal because everyone already sees him as an aristocratic douchebag. If Bill Clinton had said this, there would have been no problem.
I see your point, but I don’t agree with it. Historically, for instance, the Navy used Filippinos as “mess boys” and servants, to the extent it became stereotypical. The Filippinos have always had a feeling that Americans don’t take them seriously, and that we’ve been rather patronizing to them. When I lived there, that was certainly the case, though most Americans were certainly not trying to be offensive by any means.
You’re right that, in another context, phrased another way, the President could have pointed out that his much-admired chef is Filippino. The way he expressed it, in the context he expressed it, make it a faux pas I feel.
But yes, had anyone but Bush said this the reaction would have been more muted. There still would have been a reaction I think, but this particular president has set himself up for harsh treatment I’m afraid.
