Chancellor Merkel's "smile"

[ccpup]

This is what James Gerstenzang had to say in the LA Times about the now infamous Bush-Merkel shoulder rub:

"Bush gave a less formal greeting to German Chancellor Angela Merkel when he encountered her Sunday in the more modern pavilion on the Konstantinovsky Palace grounds where the afternoon meeting of the G-8 leaders was being held.

It was a lesson in body language.

On his way here, the president spent much of Thursday with Merkel in her Bundestag district in northeastern Germany, building on a friendship that began with her earlier visit to the White House, a welcome guest after her conservative coalition turned Gerhard Schroeder out of office last fall. Schroeder's opposition to the war in Iraq had made him a thorn in Bush's side.

It's safe to say the former chancellor never got the treatment Merkel received from the president.

Entering the meeting room, as relayed by a Russian television camera, Bush headed directly behind the chancellor, reached out and, placing both hands on the collar of her gold jacket, gave her a short massage just below the neck.

She smiled."

She smiled? I couldn't believe that! So, this is what I wrote to Mr. Gerstenzang:

"I trust the LATimes to give me accurate information without partisanship or any subjective coloring. But your reporting on the simple, brief exchange between Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel has thrown that trust into a tailspin.

See, I saw the Russian TV video exchange you write about. The one where a disoriented-looking President Bush gives another Head of State an obviously unwanted shoulder rub? You assure us Readers that Chancellor Merkel "smiled". I saw nothing of the sort.

What I and anyone else watching the video saw was an obviously unwanted physical exchange between World Leaders that was inappropriate, undignified and a complete breach of protocol. And as for Chancellor Merkel's "smile", how can a grimace, a hunching of the shoulders and, finally, a full-on, arms-in-the-air "throw-off" of the offender be construed as a "smile"? Only if one is trying to protect the President from the embarrassement of making such a spectacular, diplomatic blunder, I guess.

Is that your job now, Mr. Gerstenzang? To protect your readers from the truth about Bush if it doesn't cast him in a favorable light? To hide from us the diplomatic blunders and stumbles this man makes as our Representative at a meeting of World Leaders? I hope not. Thankfully those who have an interest can watch the video at any number of Blogs and see Chancellor Merkel's "smile" for themselves. I'll be reading the LA Times with a bit more suspicion from now on. That is is I read it at all."

Perhaps we should all contact the LA Times and share with them our thoughts on Chancellor Merkel's "smile"?

[Atman]

1. LOL! The freeps swore DU would never mention this story

Nope, not here on DU. We'd never want the truth to be known...

Check this out. There are some scary, scary morans out there. Seriesly.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1660793&mesg_id=1660793

[babylonsister]

2. ccpup, that's a most excellent response! K&N! nt

[ccpup]

15. Mr. Gerstenzang

responded and indicated he'd only had a quick, glimpse of the "massage", but would try to get a better, longer look at it. I sent him the link the the Crooks&Liars video. Wouldn't you think a reporter for a huge paper like the LA Times would have taken the time to actually see the event he was writing about? Do we have to friggin' fact check everything we read now? Isn't that THEIR job?! Sheesh!

[babylonsister]

16. I'm impressed he bothered to respond; you did swell by

making him pay attention, even though he should have been doing that all along. I maintain journalists have gotten uber-lazy. You shouldn't have to do their job for them, but I'm glad you did! :toast:

[Dhalgren]

3. I have tried to Google this clip, but with no luck.

Anyone know where it might be seen?

[NoPasaran]

4. That's an awful purty smile---NOT!

Video on this page.

[LibDemAlways]

6. I can't get past the look on the chimp's face.

He looks like he's fleeing a couple of guys wearing white coats coming after him with a straightjacket.

[Supersedeas]

29. yep, it is the Chimperor's reaction that tells the truth of the exchange

[JohnyCanuck]

53. I agree

It looks like he is totally spaced out and/or drugged up. Maybe they figured they had to up the dosage on the tranquilizers so he could sit through those long winded conferences etc. without squirming in his seat and asking Condi for a bathroom break every 10 minutes.

[unhappycamper]

5. Crooks & Liars has the video:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/posts/2006/07/18/presidential-groping/

[Dhalgren]

7. Good gods! What is that psychopath doing?! I have not seen

this nor heard of this incident before now. This is obscene! Why on earth would he grab another head of state like that? Is he trying to let everyone know that Merkel is his "bitch"? This is a very blatant example of the Dictator's disconnectedness from reality. He is a menace, not just to the world at large, but to anyone unlucky enough to be near him...

[Orangepeel]

21. it does look like she laughs at the very end of the video

but I'm sure that is a laugh of shock and disbelief. She is obviously not enjoying being accosted while it is happening.

[MaineDem]

8. OMG, he called that a smile???

Bush doesn't realize that she is his peer.

Another frat prank? He is despicable.

[LibDemAlways]

9. I wrote a very similar letter to Gerstenzang.

Excerpt:

I think if you needed to comment on anyone's expression here, you might have started with Bush. He looked dazed and demented, as though there is something seriously wrong with him - an impression he created throughout his G8 misadventure with his pig obsession, inane comments about Russia and China being "big," and eating while swearing fiasco. This incident is merely the icing on a very weird, untasty cake.

[Cha]

20. Another great letter to

this james gerstenzang! The media is what's killing our country with lies like his.

This guy was busted for reporting the sugar coated version of bushit.

[peacetalksforall]

10. Normally, if someone you like and trust gives you a neck-shoulder

massage you try to relax your shoulders and put your head back a little - after indicating that you could use one.

I hope the barons, PNAC, the Federalist Society, the majority of the Supreme Court, and all the higher ups in the Republican Party are happy that they gave this creep his phony highest position in the country.

Rubbing heads, pulling on jackets, talking with a mouth full, communicating at a 9th grade level or lower, geographically clueless, diplomatically disastrous - thanks to Barbara Bush? Or is that unfair? Maybe they should have had the refined Karen Hughes stay at his side. Too bad Laura can't ride invisibly on his shoulder.

I will always remember his inauguration - he's shaking hands, gets to his daughters, shakes their hands. Then Laura immediately whispers to him and he goes back and kisses them.

Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfkowitz, Bolton - all equally blundering and stampeding without class. How did this happen? Evil inveterate blatant liars and connivers, all.

Things are so bad that they might just have to erase the tapes of these eight years.

The rubble in the ME is equalled by the rubble of our leaders.
What disgraces.

[LibDemAlways]

11. At the inauguration, he probably didn't recognize his

daughters. They don't exactly make a point of spending a lot of time with their parents. Who can blame them?

It's a cliche here on DU, but if Clinton behaved at a G8 the way chimp did, the R's wouldn't have even bothered with impeachment. They'd have found a way to force a resignation.

[ClassWarrior]

12. Do you have a link to Gerstenzang's email?

NGU.

[ccpup]

13. sure

as with all LA Times emails, the formula is [e-mail] The writer is James Gerstenzang.

[babylonsister]

14. Here's his pearls of wisdom:

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fg-preen17jul17,1,2442410.story?coll=la-news-a_section

[peacetalksforall]

17. Yes. No. A single word can be a lie. Two words: She smiled.

A very short lie.

Two words. In a single paragraph. Blatant lie. She smiled.

This is the reason that I just can't tolerate the LA Times. Untrustworthy.

How many acceptable articles have they given us since they sealed their parternships with right wing administrations?

I believe the 23-35% of this country and the LA Times deserve each other.

[raccoon]

18. Way to go, ccpup! nt

[Cha]

19. Excellent letter! Captured

just the right description of the video that the netizens get to see..I guess James Gerstenzang(lying piece of crap) forgot about the internet?

Too bad the latimes won't print your rebuttal!

[ccpup]

22. Well, he did respond

to me and admitted he had only had a "brief glimpse" of the video, but that doesn't in any way, shape or form excuse the sheer laziness of the reporting. Or, actually, the breathtaking willingness to misinform and out-right LIE to their Readers! I'm considering writing the Editor and asking if that's the normal working procedure for those at the LA Times: to declare something as fact without bothering to check the source or, in this case, sit still for several seconds and watch a video? That's why I get my info online with our good ol' trusty blogs. :-)

[gratuitous]

23. Credit for Gerstenzang for responding

But negated by the fact that he filed his original story without doing any actual, you know, fact-checking. Doubly negated by the fact that his editor, if he has one, let the offending story go into print without checking.

The New Yorker magazine was famous for its fact checking, once even calling the building manager of the Empire State Building to be sure it was still there before "rushing" into print with a story that made a reference to it. While this is a silly and extreme example of fact-checking, it's what print journalists and their editors used to do routinely on stories. I wonder whatever happened to journalism? If memory serves, it was once an honored profession, a field a parent would be proud to have their child go into.

[LibDemAlways]

24. The LA Times is a worthless rag.

They bury important stories on the back pages and put crap like this body language thing up front. Doesn't surprise me at all that the story went to print without any significant vetting. They are more interested in shilling for the Bush Crime Family than in honest reporting.

I haven't received a reply to my letter yet. I'll bet the reporter in question is buried under a ton of critical e-mail.

[Cha]

26. You did GOOD! One

Lazy or disingenous, or lyin', or purposefully fascist reporter at a time.

[Rosemary2205]

25. Didn't the german reporter say she did actually SMILE??

In the original thread. Someone on DU translated what the german site said -- appearantly the German journalist says that after Bush was past her and she realized who that was she did actually smile.

[Kellanved]

28. yes

The Bild is a conservative tabloid and fond of Bush and Merkel. Anyway, by Merkel standards that was a smile.

[Kellanved]

27. Two things:

A) Gerstenzang is right. Merkel is a big Bush fan and certainly will not mind the stunt.
B) Merkel is not head of state.

[ccpup]

30. actually,

to not mention her obvious discomfort with bush's undiplomatic and potentially inappropriate touching before kinda smiling as he walked away -- in an article about body language, no less -- seems a bit half-assed and lazy to me. Secondly, I don't know if she's a Head of State or not, but she was there representing Germany, so that should garner her some respect, no?

(who is Germany's Head of State, by the way. I'm just curious)

[Kellanved]

31. Head of state is President Horst Köhler

Second in line is Bundestag President Lammert. Merkel is third.

And yes: Merkel doesn't like to be touched. But her "great" relationship with Bush is her biggest pride and most celebrated achievement.

[ccpup]

32. Thanks!

Appreciated the response and the "order of succession", if you will. :-) And, if it's fairly well-known that Merkel doesn't like to be touched, shouldn't bush -- her good buddy -- be aware of that and respect it? Just sayin' ... :-)

[HEyHEY]

33. As a reporter I can tell you what my response would be....

First, I'd call over my editor and some other colleagues and have a good laugh at your expense. We'd call you names like, "wacko" and "Fuck face," and joke around about how you managed to get online at the mental house.
Then I'd not even dignify your letter with a response because it could encourage you to write me again. And, even though mocking you the first time was entertaining, frankly you're probably the kind of guy that would end up phoning in so called, "news tips," (Read; some shit you posted on your crappy blog) then, once again, start accusing me of being biased when I didn't cover them.

Now, I'm not saying you are this person, but that's what I would think.

Odds are this guy either saw something you didn't or he had a worse view than you.
I haven't seen the footage myself though.

But I promise you, if there was going to be a media conspiracy... this kind of shit wouldn't be it.

[ccpup]

34. But, as a reporter,

would you have at least watched the video before boiling down Chancellor Merkel's obvious response of displeasure and unwelcome surprise as "she smiled"?

[HEyHEY]

35. Yup

But, I haven't seen the video. He may have seen something you didn't or just took it the other way.
But, the point is... don't send a letter like that (Accusing him of things).
Just ask him straight up - did you really think she was smiling?

[ccpup]

36. Wow!

Thank you for telling me what to do and not to do in the future. Your advice is greatly appreciated. Whew. I can breathe sooooo much easier now!

I'll continue to do what I like, regardless of your opinion of it. I found my letter (and the correspondence that followed) to have been polite, diplomatic (no shoulder rubs in sight!) and respectful. If you have a problem with that, that's your problem, not mine. End of story.

[Name removed]

38. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ccpup]

39. HEyHEy!!!! Are YOU blind?

Or do you just need to brush up on your reading skills? If you bother to follow the thread, you'll -- gasp! -- see that my approach DID receive both a response AND an answer. You're just wrong on this. In fact, my "approach", as you so condescendingly call it, received a full day's worth of discussion between the Reader's Rep and myself. A discussion that was respectful, kind, patient during points of disagreement and rife with mutual conciliatory gestures. Not bad for a "blind child", despite my pesky "ignorant rant" and my obviously not wanting "to learn anything."

Again, End of Story.

[Name removed]

43. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ccpup]

44. okay

So, oh One Who Holds All The Power, are we done yet? Just let me know. Oh! And please don't forget to call me another cute, lil' nickname! I just love those! Makes me feel like I'm in Junior High again. Ahhhh, the smell of the inside of a locker after a rowdy gang of kids pushed me in. Memories, like the corners of my mind, Misty, watercolored memories, of the way we ... oh, I'm sorry. Are we done yet? :-)

[ccpup]

45. oh, and FYI

(again, brush up on those reading skills) you'll notice I also had a nice discussin with the Author of the piece. So ... are we done yet? And what Muppet am I? I LOVE the Muppets! Soooo '70s!

[HEyHEY]

46. AH, I see... well that's good

The thing is, after reading your initial post, I had determined most of what you post probably isn't worth reading, hence no need to carry on.

[ccpup]

47. okay

have a nice night. Hopefully you're not in the path of any storms (here in NYC, we're getting hammered by rain). If so, take care. Thanks for the laughs. It's been a pleasure reading your replies.

[calmblueocean]

50. Just wanted to say congrats

Both on your initial communication, and on the way you handled this thread. Nicely done. :-)

[kskiska]

37. Maybe he assumed she smiled, based on their romance in Germany

I tend to think it may have turned sour in Russia.

[ccpup]

40. She did shoot him a

quick grin as he walked away. My point in the original Post and with my initial letter to the Writer was that boiling it down to "she smiled" while ignoring the obvious "body language" that preceded it was inaccurate and potentially unfair to their Readers. They should have known the WHOLE story so they could then decide for themselves what the Bush - Merkel relationship might actually be.

[bklyncowgirl]

48. Are you implying that Condi has reason to be jealous?

Is Shrub two timing her with the Chancellor of Germany?

Good God, this is taking me places that I don't want to go.

[ccpup]

49. don't go there, girl!

nah, I can't imagine Merkel slummin' it up with the bushster. no, let me change that. I don't WANT TO imagine Merkel slummin' it up with the bushster. okay, now I need some alka-seltzer and my teddy bear ... and a very dark, very safe, comfy room to sob uncontrollably in. :eyes:

[kskiska]

51. Oh, absolutely.

But it's obvious the Chimp had a thing for her, but certainly erred by putting his hands on her in a public setting. I'll bet it's quite a bit more than she bargained for.

[ccpup]

52. it's actually more than

ANY of us bargained for, hence the alka-seltzer and the soft, cuddly teddy bear. (shiver) okay, back to my Panic Room.

[oasis]

41. Good work ccpup. Making the effort to"speak truth to power" deserves

our admiration. :applause: :toast:

[ccpup]

42. Thanks.

It feels good and we should all do it on a regular basis until "they" start to catch on that we've ... um, caught on to them, I guess. Or something like that. :eyes:

[ProudDad]

54. Here's what I wrote the author of the piece

You might want to check this picture first.
If this is a smile, I'm a republican...

http://www.docstrangelove.com/tag/angela_merkel

At the very least, bush had NO right to do this... Would he have done the same to Blair or Putin?


--------------------

I should also have added, "In a workplace, this would be considered sexual harassment!"