The Groper-in-Chief

Eclipsing even his father's unfortunate chunk-hurling on the Emperor of Japan, Bush has made yet another shameful blunder on what is now undoubtedly the most embarrassing official trip abroad for any American president. After stumbling from Putin's smackdown at his suggestion that Russia ought to emulate the democracy in Iraq to babbling about wanting to eat a pig to getting caught on tape cursing while chomping on a roll, Bush channeled the Creepy Guy at Work who gives a female coworker an unwanted massage, much to his repulsed target's chagrin.

Of course, it wasn't just any gal The Groper went after. It was German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Mash has a series of still shots here, and Crooks and Liars has the video.

This is the ultimate in rude and presumptuous behavior. I've worked with men who feel compelled to touch me in exactly this way, with one even responding to my terse request to back off with a more determined shoulder rub and the comment, "But you're so tense." To which I replied, "That's because you won't get your fucking hands off of me." He backed away then with his hands in the air and a big, "Geez!" like I was a bitch. What an asshole I was for not considering my body community property like he did.

As Lindsay notes, "Every woman will recognize the guy who sidles up and starts 'casually' giving you a backrub without even looking at you, because he wants to preserve deniability in case you freak out. Like any practiced groper, Bush stares right past Merkel as she recoils from his touch. The play fails, but he just moves on, eyes averted, like it's her problem. ('Oh my God, there's a hysterical woman displaying inappropriate behavior! I'll just pretend I don't notice her egregious gaffe.')" Exactly right. A woman who doesn't welcome being groped is always the one with the problem—not the groper.

Bush needs to stick with staring lovingly into the eyes of foreign leaders to look at their souls and keep his bloody hands to himself.

(Crossposted at AlterNet PEEK.)