WP: The China Opening Of 2005: Don't Ask (*'s joyless travels)

[kskiska]

(snip)

For the president, it was a rare moment of fun on an otherwise dreary overseas trip. In five years in the presidency, Bush has proved a decidedly unadventurous traveler, an impression undispelled by the weeklong journey through Asia that wraps up Monday. As he barnstormed through Japan, South Korea and China, with a final stop in Mongolia still to come, Bush visited no museums, tried no restaurants, bought no souvenirs and made no effort to meet ordinary local people.

"I live in a bubble," Bush once said, explaining his anti-tourist tendencies by citing the enormous security and logistical considerations involved in arranging any sightseeing. "That's just life."

The Bush spirit trickles down to many of his top advisers, who hardly go out of their way to sample the local offerings either. A number of the most senior White House officials on the trip, perhaps seeking the comforts of their Texas homes, chose to skip the kimchi in South Korea to go to dinner at Outback Steakhouse -- twice. (Admittedly, a few unadventurous journalists joined them.)

(snip)

She (Mrs. Bush) has had little luck enticing her husband into joining her over the years. The first time the Bushes traveled to China together in their current capacity, she had to tell him to slow down as he tried to race through a tour of the Great Wall. She once persuaded him to go to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, only to see him burn through the place in 30 minutes. He dispensed with the Kremlin cathedrals in Moscow in seven minutes. He flatly declined an Australian invitation to attend the Rugby World Cup while down under.

more…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/20/AR2005112001257.html

[Pirate Smile]

1. OMG, he is sooo pathetic. I've never know anyone so uninterested

and lacking even the most minor amount of curiosity.

[murielm99]

5. What DOES interest him?

Obviously, he is disinterested in the details of governing. But he doesn't like traveling or doing the tourist things, either.

What captures his attention? What makes him lose the blankness that is so obvious in his voice and his face? There must be SOMETHING.

[NYC]

6. Killing.

Watch his face light up when he talks about death.

[Hekate]

11. Yes, death seems to enliven him. But also physical activity like cycling

There is something really wrong with that guy -- not that this is news here.

In a lot of ways he's like an antsy little kid with poor impulse control; easily bored, craving bodily motion. On a good day you want to say, "Georgie please go run around the block," and on bad days you want to say,"Georgie, go play in the traffic why don't you?!"

But that thing he has for death and violence has always, always creeped me out.

And this man is the POTUS.

Hekate

[tanyev]

16. Drugs and alcohol used to. Maybe still.

[MisterP]

28. nuclei, mammillary bodies, pathway crossover, all shot to hell by ethanol

and nose candy and God-knows-what

[Erika]

2. The privileged bubble

is all W cares about. He and his family has made sure they will always be the privileged, even if none of them work a day in their lives.

But they will deny basic humane packages for needy Americans. They need to be tossed out on their butts for being the elitists they are.

[Charlie Brown]

3. What about the staged visit to the church in China?

when they gave * a Bible that he'll never be able to read. Surely that was authentic.

[confludemocrat]

22. That should have backfired, look at how good the church and members

looked? And there was a woman minister. How bad could they be doing, was an obvious question? He got a bible in Chinese with gold leafing, to boot. So these religious texts he complains about are getting printed.

[Skittles]

4. what a moron

I live in Texas and went on a business trip to Philadelphia this past summer - despite working 12 hour shifts at night non-stop for 14 days I skipped out on sleep several times to go visit everything I could, including going across the river to see the USS New Jersey.....boy, I was eating Philly cheesesteaks and big-ass pretzels like CRAZY and I had the best time talking to regular folk on the street.......

[RushIsRot]

7. But, Skittles, darlin', You are intelligent, not a cypher like our

chickenhawk *. Besides, you kick ass like a pro! :evilgrin:

[Skittles]

8. Philly kicked ass too!

I LOVED IT!!! :thumbsup:

[Hekate]

13. My son traveled to NY & Manhatten so far, & spent every spare minute...

that he wasn't working touring and seeing as much as he could. You're bright and curious, and so is he: he came back filled with impressions and information about those cities. What a great opportunity for someone from a small city on the coast of California. His company is talking about opening a branch in London in a few years and already he's salivating at the idea he could transfer there. Carpe diem.

Bush's problem isn't his wealth, it's just who he is, which is a very closed-off stunted personality. Bush just flat-out doesn't care for people who (a) aren't like him, and (b) can't be dominated by him. I don't think he'd be doing all this travelling right now if he could get out of it -- and if he wasn't trying to run away from his troubles at home.

Hekate

[murielm99]

21. I went to New York with my grown kids, and to San Francisco

with my dh two years ago. We only spent three days in each city. We ran our legs off and crammed in everything we could. I loved both places.

What were we supposed to do, sit in a hotel room and watch movies? Cripes.

[Retrograde]

24. What else are you supposed to do?

"What were we supposed to do, sit in a hotel room and watch movies? Cripes."

Shop, preferably in the same semi-upscale stores you can find in just about every mall in the country. Didn't you get the message :-( ?

I'm glad you enjoyed San Francisco. I'm a docent at the SF Botanic Garden and I love talking with visitors from over the world.

I could understand the "I don't want to cause a security problem" if there was even a smidgen of sincerity in it, but it's just an excuse. I'm sure that if W expressed a wish to see something his hosts could find a way to do it with minimal impact - outside of normal tourist hours, for example. I live a mile from where Chelsea Clinton went to school, when her parents came for a visit it didn't cause that much inconvenience.

I love traveling. When I used to travel on business I always tried to stay an extra night to take in some of the local sites. Even when there weren't any big-time sites to see: it was just the interest of being in a different place.

[FlaGranny]

15. Ah, Philly cheesesteak!!!

I'm so jealous. Did you stop on a corner for a big, fat pretzel and mustard? Uuuummmmmmmm!

[elsiesummers]

9. Send me to China and I'd be out on the town.

But really I don't think Bush could do the sort of stuff I'd want to do: go to street markets, take a tai chi class in a park, buy some odd food that I'd never eat in the states, look for bargains and dicker over a scarf or jewelry or trinket...I just don't see Bush doing that.

On Edit: I could see Clinton doing just this itinerary though.

[DRoseDARs]

10. Why is this news? The less the Bushes go out...

...the less opportunity they have to embarrass us as a nation.

Not that they can't screw up at staged events also. Bush Sr. puking on the Japanese PM, Jr. showing how gifted and talented he is with a door.

[aquart]

12. Incurious George.

Product of the very best schools. Private schools.

So much for the elite private school system.

[Terran]

19. Don't blame the schools.

Bush probably has an organic mental problem, plus he had an incredibly messed up home life as a child. Remember who is mother is.

[kurth]

14. What a waste of taxpayer money

Bush's Asia Trip Meets Low Expectations
By Peter Baker and Philip P. Pan
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, November 21, 2005; A01

BEIJING -- When President Bush was flying toward Asia a week ago, his national security adviser, Stephen J. Hadley, predicted to reporters in the back of the plane that the four-nation trip would yield no "headline breakthroughs." He turned out to be right.

As Bush wrapped up his stay in Beijing on Sunday and prepared to head home Monday after a brief stop in Mongolia, the trip has produced no real breakthroughs of any sort. On a wide variety of issues, from trade to security to human rights, Bush won no concrete agreements from any of his summit partners...

[momster]

17. Just an ADHD Kid

The descriptions of Laura Bush trying to interest * in culture reminds me of taking my ADHD-diagnosed nephew to the Natural History Museum. Even stuff he'd interested in (like mummies) can't slow him down long enough to read an info-card or look at details. It's just "Mummies! Cool!" then off he goes racing down the hall. You can't talk to the kid; he doesn't have enough attention span to stick to any subject for more than about two seconds. But my s-i-l isn't about to put him on any meds so there he goes, racing down the halls of life, seeing nothing, absorbing nothing, invading Iraq and not knowing what to do once he gets there....oops, let out the family secret.

[riverwalker]

18. Beyond embarrassing

I am ashamed. He avoids the temples and museums and the people so there is no chance of understanding the history and humanity of the brown and yellow people he loves to kill and torture.
Spent 30 minutes in the Hermitage? A museum with three million peices of art representing all the worlds cultures, and he spent 30 minutes?
I saw the photo op at the Korean buddhist temple built in 6th century. Laura was wearing a PANTSUIT for gawd sakes. Ain't like it was a REAL church, or nuthin' just some buddist-heathen- pagan thing, no need to wear a skirt to show some respect, right Laura?
We will spend the next 50 years apologizing to the world for unleashing these monkeys upon them.

[smb]

20. What a Dopey-Looking Photo!

He looks like he just crapped his pants.

[lakeguy]

23. what a wasted opportunity. if i had that kind of chance i would be

out as much as i could, experienceing everything!

[a b negative]

25. ...

Hardly surprising that someone who has no problem recklessly destroying other cultures doesn't want to learn about the cultures he can't destroy (not yet anyway).

[Lisa]

26. he's always been like this -- after Yale, he went to China ...

... to visit his dad, who was then US ambassador. This was long before China opened up to Western tourists, so it was quite a rare opportunity. (My boyfriend visited China in 1980, as part of an academic exchange, and he went through some good-sized towns which had never seen an American visitor before!)

Instead of being open-minded and willing to experience life in a different place (and believe me, people in other countries LOVE it when Americans are that interested ... it creates a positive impression all-round) -- young Georgie whined about how he couldn't get a hamburger anywhere, and the buildings were ugly, and there were too many people on bicycles!

Bush dislikes change, and is uncomfortable when things seem different. (If he can't get back to his own bed and "pilly" by suppertime, he can't be bothered.)

But my boyfriend (born and raised in a blue-collar Buffalo neighborhood) learned Chinese, ate what all the locals were eating (and much to their amusement, insisted on learning how to cook some of the specialties) -- and went to look at obscure museums which rarely had overseas visitors. He always made a point of saying favorable things, so when his hosts apologized for not having central heating, he complimented them on their historic buildings and beautiful scenery. He was given heaps of wonderful handmade gifts ... embroidered clothes, calligraphy scrolls ... and I am certain that many people in the town where he stayed still imagine that all Americans are that friendly and curious.

Bush, on the other hand, was never the kind of person who would grab a backpack and bum around Australia or Europe ... or even the US, for that matter. I know for a fact that he has been to Alaska, California, Alabama, and many other states ... but he rarely talks about it. Clinton, of course, would make a big thing of saying "the last time I was here ...", or "I have a second cousin who lives in ..." -- and the audience was delighted.

[Plaid Adder]

27. What would I not give to be able to go to China.

And it will always be too expensive and too much time away from work. I would love to have the opportunity to go to a place like that and get to know it better. And this asshole actually has the opportunity, and he'd rather be at the Outback?

:argh:

Well, at least if he's in a bubble he can do less damage,

The Plaid Adder

[BronxBoy]

29. Outback.....

So he chooses a low rent steakhouse when he could have sampled some of the most marvelous cuisine in the world.

I bet dumbass ordered the fish

[cire4]

30. If you can afford the airfare, then China can be very cheap....

Their currency is artifically tied to the dollar so whenever the dollar loses value (which has been often under Bush), then the yuan also loses value accordingly. The exchange rate remains a constant 8 yuan = 1 dollar. The result of this is that if you avoid the American and Western restaurants, then you can eat well for as little as 50 cents a meal. If you want a nice formal meal, then you pay about 2-3 dollars. A room can be had for under $10 a night and sometimes under $5 outside of the big cities. And you cannot beat the tourist attractions: Great Wall, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Sq, Terracotta Warriors, and dozens of amazing temples and small villages that look like they were pulled right out of the 14th century.

It's one of the most fascinating countries in the world to visit. And I highly recommend a visit before it modernizes and westernizes. It will be a very different country in the next 5-10 years.

[superconnected]

33. no. Since he has no interest in foreign people and lands he doesn't care

about destroying them. His bubble is deadly.

[Javaman]

31. Our prez*, master of ADD. n/t

[superconnected]

32. no regard for foreign people and other cultures.

a truly narrow mind.

He inherited it from Barabara.

[wordpix2]

34. his disinterest in people of other cultures is evident in his handling of

foreign affairs. He doesn't know WTF he's doing---did he even bother to call in ANY experts on Iraq besides WHIG or Office of Special Plans people before he charged in there with US troops?

PATHETIC DANGEROUS MORON