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December 20, 2004
Outrage!
Dear Leader today said "Happy Holidays" at the beginning of his hilarious press conference. Does this mean he hates Christmas, or is Happy Holidays maybe just a fairly traditional greeting for this time of year?
Why was it hilarious? Check this out, although the audio is really necessary for full appreciation.
QUESTION: A month ago, in Chile, you asked Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) to explain why he has taken actions widely seen as a move away from democracy. What do you think Mr. Putin's intentions are? And do you think that Russia's behavior has chilled relations with the United States?
BUSH: As you know, Vladimir Putin and I have got a good personal relationship, starting with our meeting in Slovenia. I intend to keep it that way.
It's important for Russia and the United States to have the kind of relationship where if we disagree with decisions we can do so in a friendly and positive way.
When Vladimir made the decision, for example, on the — whether to elect governors or appoint governors, I issued a statement that said in a free society, in a society based upon Western values, we believe in the proper balance of power.
I think he took that on and absorbed that in the spirit in which it was offered, the spirit of two people who have grown to appreciate each other and respect each other.
I'll continue to work with him in a new term.
And obviously we have some disagreements. He probably has disagreements over some of the decisions I've made. Clearly one such decision was in Iraq.
But this is a vital and important relationship, and it's a relationship where, you know it's complicated. It's complex rather than complicated.[???] It's complex because we have joint efforts when it comes to sharing intelligence to fight terrorism.
We've got work to do to secure nuclear materials. I look forward to working with the Russians to continue to expand cooperation.
I think one of the things we need to do is to give the Russians equal access to our sites -- our nuclear storage sites -- to see what works and what doesn't work, to build confidence between our two governments.
Obviously there's a lot of trade that's taking place trade that's taking place between Russia and the West and the United States. And that trade relationship is an important relationship.
I told Vladimir that we would work in a new term to see if Russia could be admitted to the WTO. I think that would be a positive step for relations between our two countries.
And I'll continue to express my belief that, you know, balanced government, the sharing of power amongst government, will lead to stability in Russia.
And the relationship's an important relationship, and I would call the relationship a good relationship.
I stipulate we have a relationship with Russia.
Posted by Half-Cocked at December 20, 2004 10:58 PM
Comments
I posit that Putin is Bush's butt-buddy.
Posted by: Kevin at December 22, 2004 11:31 AM
I posit that you can come up with something better than a butt-buddy remark...and besides, everyone knows that job has been held by the former mayor of Memphis for years.
Posted by: Steve at December 23, 2004 10:00 AM