Is that mike on?

Lack of Decorum at the Forum

By Rick Horowitz

Dear Dr. Spinright: I have a problem that only you can help me with. Recently, my family and I were watching television together, and the news came on about what was happening at the G-8 summit in Russia. I know how important it is for all of us to understand what's going on in the rest of the world, so I started to explain to my children what a "summit" means, and why it's such a good idea for the leaders of the biggest and most important countries to talk to one another to solve their problems.

But before I knew it, the news was all about how President Bush didn't know his microphone was working and used a certain word while he was talking to Tony Blair. They kept showing it and showing it, and even though they bleeped out part of the word, you could still tell exactly what he was saying.

I've been trying to try to teach our boys the right way to behave, and I have to admit, I was pretty embarrassed by the whole thing. Now my nine-year-old wants to know how he can make his own voice make that "bleepy" sound, and my eleven-year-old is suddenly interested in politics. Have I failed as a mother? Agitated in Albuquerque

Dear Agitated: What are you, some kind of Democrat? There was absolutely nothing wrong with the president saying exactly what was on his mind, even if he used some colorful language to get his point across. Your boys could do a lot worse than to have George Bush as their role model.

What we saw at the G-8 summit was the president at his "plain-spoken" best. Some people just can't handle other people being "plain spoken" -- they think it's the same thing as being impolite, or even insulting. But it's totally different, especially when this president does it, and I'm sure the White House will be making that very point dozens of times over the next few days. Besides, Harry Truman was plain spoken, and everyone agrees that Harry Truman was a great president. So when you hear George Bush being plain spoken, just think of Harry Truman.

Actually, using colorful language in front of an open microphone was only one part of Mr. Bush's clever strategy. You probably also noticed that he criticized the Secretary-General of the U.N., Kofi Annan, and that he even dismissed several of his fellow leaders as windbags. Some people would be reluctant to embark on such a high-risk strategy, figuring that somewhere down the line, we might need the cooperation of the very people the president is now "dissing."

Luckily, this president sees things very differently. When he wants to send a message to someone, he does whatever he has to do to send that message. He doesn't have time for all that striped-pants, tea-sipping, pinky-pointing, communiqué-drafting, nation-building foolishness. He cuts to the chase, and that's what people appreciate in a leader.

But there's even more to his strategy than that.

Does it drive Democrats crazy that the most powerful person on the planet still hasn't learned not to chew with his mouth open? Not to talk with his mouth full? Of course it does! But it's all part of his appeal to real Americans. George W. Bush isn't one of those New England finishing-school types. (Actually, he is, but that's another story.) He's a man. A man's man. He acts the way a man's man is supposed to act. And he's so darned good at it, I sometimes like to call him His Royal Guyness!

So relax -- your boys are only doing what comes naturally. Someday, one of them may even grow up to be president himself. In the meantime, thank your lucky stars that we live in a country where those kinds of dreams are still possible.

Remember: Harry Truman.

Posted 7/18/06. Are you man enough -- or woman enough to read "Rick's"? Award-winning commentary, just a click away.

Rick Horowitz is a syndicated columnist, TV commentator, writing coach and public speaker.

Search the Web Search Rick's!

©2006 Rick Horowitz. All rights reserved.