Candid Bush

That's not the name of an upskirt porn site. That is a description of Bush II as he chatted up leaders at the G8 summit while his comments were picked up surreptitiously by a live mic. I was enthralled when I saw this yesterday, glimpsing the Wizard behind the curtain, hearing a candid assessment of the forces driving the latest Mid-East crisis.

Here is the transcript posted at MSNBC:

Bush [to Putin]: I gotta leave by 2:15. They want me out of town so they can free up your security forces.
No, just going to make it up. I'm not going to talk too long like the rest of them. Some of these guys talk too long.
Gotta go home. Got something to do tonight. How about you? Where are you going home? This is your neighborhood doesn't take you long to get home.
[to China's Hu Jintao] You eight hours? Me too. Russia’s a big country and you’re a big country. [to Putin] Takes him eight hours to fly home.
[to wait staff] Not Coke, diet Coke.
[to Putin] Russia’s big and so is China.
Yo, Blair. What are you doing? Are you leaving?

Blair: No, not yet. On this trade thing…

Bush: Yeah, I told that to (inaudible). If you want me to. I just want some movement. Yesterday I didn't see much movement. The desire to move.

Blair: It may be that it’s impossible.

Bush: I'll be glad to say. Who's introducing me?

Blair: Angela

Bush: Well tell her to call on it. Well, tell her to put me on the spot.
Thanks for the sweater [a recent 60th birthday gift]; it was awfully thoughtful of you. I know you picked it out yourself.

Blair: Oh, absolutely!
What about Kofi Annan? I don't like the sequence of it. His attitude is basically cease-fire and everything else happens. I think the thing that is really difficult is you can’t stop this unless you get this international presence agreed.

Bush: She's going. I think Condi's going to go pretty soon.

Blair: Well that's all that matters. If you see, it will take some time to get out of there. But at least it gives people…

Bush: It's a process I agree. I told her your offer too.

Blair: Well it's only…or if she's gonna or if she needs the ground prepared as it were. See if she goes out, she's got to succeed as it were, where as I can just go out and talk.

Bush: See the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit and it's over.

Blair: Because I think this is all part of the same thing. What does he think? He thinks if Lebanon turns out fine, if he gets a solution in Israel and Palestine, Iraq goes in the right way, he's done it. That's what this whole things about. It's the same with Iran.

Bush: I felt like telling Kofi to get on the phone with Assad and make something happen. We're not blaming Israel and we're not blaming the Lebanese government.

Technorati tags: George Bush, Tony Blair, G8, Hezbollah