A Leader Leads

You go to the G8 summit where you lead, see. That's what they do: lead. See you go to a fancy shmancy faraway place and lead with other leaders. Just like in the playground and sandbox days. Or at least that's what they told old President Dimbulb. Some great examples of shining boot-licking, I mean leadership:

With Putin.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I think you'll find all parties here want the violence to stop. In my judgment, the best way to stop the violence is to understand why the violence occurred in the first place. And that's because Hezbollah has been launching rocket attacks out of Lebanon into Israel, and because Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers. That's why we have violence.
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So, Bill, to answer your question, this isn't the first time that we have strategized on how to solve this problem. And, yes, we talked about the U.N. Security Council resolution. And, no, I'm not going to tell you the particulars about the conversation. I will tell you, however, that there is common agreement that we need to get something done at the U.N. And I'm confident we will be able to do that. And there's agreement that we need to get something done on North Korea at the United Nations.

Here's the thing, though, just so that everybody understands: Diplomacy is not two countries just saying, this is the way it is. Diplomacy is two countries agreeing to work together with other countries, in this case, to come up with common language that we can live with that sends the same message, and that is, no nuclear weapons programs.

With Blair.

PRESIDENT BUSH: My message to Israel is that as a sovereign nation, you have every right to defend yourself against terrorist activities. And, again, I repeat, this started because Hezbollah decided to capture two Israeli soldiers and fire hundreds of rockets into Israel from Southern Lebanon. That's the cause of the crisis.

And so our message to Israel is, look, defend yourself, but as you do so, be mindful of the consequences. And so we've urged restraint.

With Chirac.

PRESIDENT BUSH: I want to thank Jacques Chirac for coming over. It's always a pleasure to visit with Jacques. He is a man who is able to crystalize his thoughts, who is able to discuss issues in a very clear way.

I have one word:

syc·o·phant (sk-fnt, sk-) n.

A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people.