"Hey Ghengis, nice to meet you"

Who's the white guy?

(Jason Reed/Reuters)


How do you stuff one of those? heh heh heh

(Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)


Meanwhile, as Atrios pointed out, this is rather depressing and says something about all involved.

As he barnstormed through Japan, South Korea and China, with a final stop in Mongolia still to come, Bush visited no museums, tried no restaurants, bought no souvenirs and made no effort to meet ordinary local people.

"I live in a bubble," Bush once said, explaining his anti-tourist tendencies by citing the enormous security and logistical considerations involved in arranging any sightseeing. "That's just life."

The Bush spirit trickles down to many of his top advisers, who hardly go out of their way to sample the local offerings either. A number of the most senior White House officials on the trip, perhaps seeking the comforts of their Texas homes, chose to skip the kimchi in South Korea to go to dinner at Outback Steakhouse -- twice. (Admittedly, a few unadventurous journalists joined them.)

I can understand the security concerns for a President. But, fuck you are in, for Americans, an exotic country -- LIVE A LITTLE! See something, be less ignorant.

For these people, I bet they figured they were being adventurous by seeing if the "bloomin' onion" tasted the same as it does in Fairfax, Virginia. It's the traveling equivalent of seeing whether a Pringles in Seattle can fit with the Pringles you bought in Miami.

But I'm not going to let Bush off that easy, every prior President even "I read it in a Script Once" Reagan got out and explored a bit. Here's a good story from that article:

She [Laura Bush] has had little luck enticing her husband into joining her over the years. The first time the Bushes traveled to China together in their current capacity, she had to tell him to slow down as he tried to race through a tour of the Great Wall. She once persuaded him to go to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, only to see him burn through the place in 30 minutes. He dispensed with the Kremlin cathedrals in Moscow in seven minutes. He flatly declined an Australian invitation to attend the Rugby World Cup while down under.