President Bush has a penchant for dishing out good-natured insults, and usually the victim laughs along. But Sammie Briery didn’t seem much amused when Bush fired one at her Tuesday.
Bush was wrapping up a town hall-style appearance at South Arkansas Community College when he let the jest fly. It was a mother joke, a blonde joke and an insult all in one.
“You and my mother go to the same hair-dye person,” Bush said to Briery, whose blondish bob bore little resemblance to Barbara Bush’s shock of white hair.
The audience in the gymnasium laughed, and Briery smiled, but replied firmly: “President Bush, I’m a natural blonde.”
“Oh, yes,” Bush agreed.
“I’m just a natural blonde,” she repeated.
“I couldn’t help myself, sorry,” Bush shrugged.
With that, Bush moved quickly to end the session. He turned to Bob Watson, superintendent of the El Dorado Public Schools who had opened the meeting by inadvertently insulting Bush.
“Governor excuse me, President,” Watson said.
Bush muttered, “How quickly they forget.”
When Watson offered to shake Bush’s hand, the president shot back: “Just don’t hug me.”
Whaddaya think? Prescription drugs?
Update:
Commenter Evan writes:
This story comes on top of the “who are you talking to?” business, where he got snippy with a reporter who called him “Sir” instead of “Mr. President”.
And then there’s the one Atrios posted, about how cutlery wasn’t allowed at his fundraising luncheon because the sound might interrupt his speech.
And a couple of weeks ago, there was that business about paving a footpath at a park he was visiting because the President’s feet aren’t supposed to touch dirt.
At this point, would it actuallly *surprise* anybody if he started wearing epaulets and sleeping in an oxygen tent?
Don’t forget the codpiece.
