Weeeeee!

September 14, 2005 3:37 PM

Nana, may Mr P go pee?
posted by mr.marx (153 comments total)

Tee hee, look, the president goes wee wee!

C'mon, mr.marx you can make a better post than this.
posted by Specklet at 3:38 PM on September 14, 2005

Strange, but it's even stranger that he "thinks' he has to pee. Wouldn't he know?
posted by SweetJesus at 3:41 PM on September 14, 2005

Waxy also had a zoomed out view. Could this be real? Or did someone do some retouching before it made the web? Whatever, someone should mirror these quick!!!
posted by jasper411 at 3:42 PM on September 14, 2005

Wouldn't he know?
Maybe he's as out of touch with his own bladder as he is with the common man.
posted by jonson at 3:42 PM on September 14, 2005

You're all jumping to conclusions. He doesn't say he has to pee; he says he needs (or may need) a bathroom break.

*a short while later*
Minor UN Functionary: What's this white powder all over the sink?
posted by Faint of Butt at 3:43 PM on September 14, 2005

"Bathroom break" could be a quick handjob and a speedball.

On preview: must snark faster.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 3:44 PM on September 14, 2005

You beat me in posting this by about 30 seconds.

Anyway, here's a transcript:

"I think I
MAY NEED
A BATHroom
break?
IS this POSSIBLE
[?]"
posted by tapeguy at 3:46 PM on September 14, 2005

Suddenly, the glamour of being the most powerful man in the world seems somewhat diminished.
posted by Keith Talent at 3:50 PM on September 14, 2005

Reading the secret message I get: I May Need a Bath, Is Possible? which means he's actually asking if Condi will give him one of her special sponge baths.
posted by fenriq at 3:50 PM on September 14, 2005

jasper411 writes "Could this be real? Or did someone do some retouching before it made the web?"

It seems strange, but the note itself is so pedestrian.... It seems that if someone were to retouch it, they'd go for something with a bit more oomph.
posted by mr_roboto at 3:54 PM on September 14, 2005

It's amazing how much having a bad president is like having a bad boss. In an office I worked in with an incompetent manager, we could hardly do anything except talk over every detail of what he did, e.g., "Did you check out that idiotic note he was writing during the meeting? He's sitting there humming and writing it while Kofi was talking!"

So much energy spent loathing the man and what his numbskullery was doing to us.

I can't wait until a dull, competent president of either party takes over.
posted by argybarg at 3:59 PM on September 14, 2005

It'd be more surprising if it were Cheney writing the note, since evil, vampiric Overlords don't usually have bladders, do they?
posted by crunchland at 4:04 PM on September 14, 2005

Okay, I'll bite. How'd you get the Onion to look like Yahoo News?
posted by arto at 4:06 PM on September 14, 2005

Nice to see that he's as prepared for a two hour-long meeting as he was for September 11, Hurricane Katrina and the war in Iraq.
posted by tapeguy at 4:06 PM on September 14, 2005

"ITIMNABB," I'm certain that the future of society rests on figuring out what it means. . .
posted by punkbitch at 4:07 PM on September 14, 2005

Bush has finally had his Saddam in His Underwear moment.
posted by VulcanMike at 4:20 PM on September 14, 2005

If it were Cheney sitting up there the note would probably read "Am I having a heart attack or is my suit too tight around my left arm?"
posted by clevershark at 4:20 PM on September 14, 2005

You forgot pooland
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:23 PM on September 14, 2005

Reuters
posted by mr.marx at 4:24 PM on September 14, 2005

Heh. No. I think Cheney has had ample experience when it comes to heart failure, clevershark.
posted by crunchland at 4:24 PM on September 14, 2005

I don't think anyone anticipated the levees breaking
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:26 PM on September 14, 2005

This whole thing is obviously a hoax. Aminatronic robots don't need to pee. sheesh!

*adjusts tie, wipes brow*
posted by Pecinpah at 4:26 PM on September 14, 2005

I thinK i'd have MORE confiDENCE in the leaDer of the free worlD if he could write a SEntence all in the same CASe.
posted by dash_slot- at 4:29 PM on September 14, 2005

I think Bush43 just had his 'vomiting in the lap of the Japanese Prime Minister' moment.
posted by dash_slot- at 4:32 PM on September 14, 2005

No man; Bush already went to Japan and said that for 150 years they and America had had the strongest alliance in history. Cept for the sole offensive use of nuclear weapons in history, I guess.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:34 PM on September 14, 2005

The picture itself: funny.

As a criticism of Bush? Weak. Everyone has those unexpected emergency moments, no? I don't know the structure of a UN Security Meeting, but a note to Rice may have been the best way to discreetly arrange a brief break.
posted by rafter at 4:35 PM on September 14, 2005

This was a predictable emergency, it was practically scripted and the way it was handled is a public disgrace. When you've got to go, you've got to go: all the top brass of WEINER must pay for this.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:38 PM on September 14, 2005

Cut him some slack. This was first idea I've seen from the President that didn't originate from Rove.
posted by horsewithnoname at 4:39 PM on September 14, 2005

Wait - he can read and write? Who knew?!?
posted by twsf at 4:39 PM on September 14, 2005

They had the chance to install clothespegs in '98, but of course the buttplug was the "sexier" option and that's all that counts - pubic opinon.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:39 PM on September 14, 2005

"I begin bombing in five minutes."
posted by escabeche at 4:42 PM on September 14, 2005

It didn't help that Bush was sitting next to the French ambassador, who of course was fervently expressing support for UN reform.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:42 PM on September 14, 2005

damn you escabeche, that was next on my list.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:42 PM on September 14, 2005

Of course, he ended up boltin' for the john.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:44 PM on September 14, 2005

I'm sure pictures such as this one are taken all the time, featuring a variety of public figures, and are scrapped. Bush's reputation makes this publishable and newsworthy.
posted by fire&wings at 4:46 PM on September 14, 2005

fire&wings writes "Bush's reputation makes this publishable and newsworthy."

Actually it's the fact that he phrased it in the form of a question that makes it interesting at all...
posted by clevershark at 4:49 PM on September 14, 2005

fire&wings:
You may be right, but can you imagine this being published 6, nay 3 months ago?

The media have turned against him. Not before time.
posted by dash_slot- at 4:53 PM on September 14, 2005

On a related note, have you heard Bush's new stance on Roe vs Wade? He hasn't got one - I mean, who cares how people get out of New Orleans anyway?
posted by Pretty_Generic at 4:55 PM on September 14, 2005

Come on! No WMD jokes yet? You people are slipping.
posted by me & my monkey at 4:58 PM on September 14, 2005

Come on! No WMD jokes yet? You people are slipping.

Uh... he who... um.. smelled the ... WMD's, dealt...them?
posted by odinsdream at 5:02 PM on September 14, 2005

Uh... he who... um.. smelled the ... WMD's, dealt...them?

I've served with Pretty_Generic, and you're no Pretty_Generic.

The Pooland one caused me to laugh so hard, the security guard just came in to see what was going on.
posted by me & my monkey at 5:04 PM on September 14, 2005

"I think I
MAY NEED
A BATHroom
break?
IS this POSSIBLE
[?]"

I'm thinking that last line is "wit...", maybe something like "without breaking your thread" or something.

Not that I like the doofus in any way, but that's kind reasonable.
posted by Kickstart70 at 5:08 PM on September 14, 2005

s/kind/kinda/
posted by Kickstart70 at 5:08 PM on September 14, 2005

We need a graphologist on this, asap.
posted by btwillig at 5:10 PM on September 14, 2005

dash_slot, that's a point. The photo seemed innocuous to me, but eh...yeah, you're right. That's Yahoo. I had taken it for granted that this attitude was the norm in the US...because it is in the UK.
posted by fire&wings at 5:13 PM on September 14, 2005

escabeche wins. Everyone back to DailyKos.
posted by VulcanMike at 5:17 PM on September 14, 2005

I don't think anyone anticipated the levees breaking

Pretty_Generic, I think I love you.
posted by livii at 5:19 PM on September 14, 2005

It looks like a weak 2-minute Photoshop job to me. The text around his index finger dithers. Plus the papers on the desk are more contrasty that the rest of the shot. And there's no frame of reference to say that this is even Bush. Looks like a Fark Photoshop contest entry. But how did Reuters get it into their system? Or is this a web address spoof? How many questions can I ask in this post? You be the judge (?)
posted by mortimer at 5:21 PM on September 14, 2005

I don't think anyone anticipated the levees breaking

Gold star for Pretty_Generic.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:30 PM on September 14, 2005

A photoshop job? On Yahoo & Reuters?

Man, when the press turn on ya, they really turn!

(Mind you, if you are right, I think the note must be faked but true...if you know what I mean.)
posted by dash_slot- at 5:32 PM on September 14, 2005

Judging from the looks of Bolton and Rice sitting behind him, maybe he let one loose. (And it looks like he's dyed his hair since last week.)
posted by kirkaracha at 5:40 PM on September 14, 2005

at least he didnt pee his pants
posted by cpchester at 5:46 PM on September 14, 2005

To all those that think this is a Photoshop job - I'm fairly certain that it is - insofar as it looks to me like they cranked the contrast up on his note so it was readable. I've done this a number of times on poorly scanned documents and they tend to look just like that. So photoshop != fake, at least in this instance.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 6:32 PM on September 14, 2005

Why is everybody mad at the paper cups?
posted by Balisong at 6:45 PM on September 14, 2005

You all seem to forget that presidents had access to Swarovski crystal encrusted Scat Packers prior to Clinton's instituting of the "Awkward Note Rule" of '95.
posted by maryh at 6:46 PM on September 14, 2005

Strange how the styles of penmanship changed so much in the course of the note.
posted by bitpart at 6:52 PM on September 14, 2005

Ok the guy figured he was gonna have to pee in the very near future, during a really long and important meeting. A meeting he can't just get up and run out of without notice, what with the ridiculous amounts of decorum people attach to said summits. So he writes a note to one of his people, so they can figure out an opportune moment for him to high tail it to the little presidents room. Of all the many and varied reasons to make fun of Bush, this is definitely one of the weakest.
posted by zarah at 7:06 PM on September 14, 2005

What I don't get is why Bush is using a wooden pencil of the sort I haven't used since high school. If I were president of the United States, I'd have mechanical pencils and roller-ball pens within arms-reach at all times.
posted by deanc at 7:06 PM on September 14, 2005

"Let Freedom Rain"
posted by greasepig at 7:16 PM on September 14, 2005

Fake.

There are a number of samples of bush's handwriting on the the web. If you look at any of them, you'll see that the handwriting doesn't even remotely match that note.

Bush writes in cursive, most notably when he writes 'I.'

Also, IIRC, one of the filenames in the Yahoo! directory was "preznit_has_to_peepee" or something to that effect. Yahoo! just got punked, nothing more. Next.
posted by spiderwire at 7:34 PM on September 14, 2005

Yahoo! just got punked, nothing more.
So did Reuters itself, then.
And Editor and Publisher, at least, seems to think it's real also.
posted by yhbc at 7:42 PM on September 14, 2005

Bring back scribes to the royal court!

(then we could take photos of their face when they are asked to write stuff like this)
posted by rawfishy at 7:43 PM on September 14, 2005

i see america has finally jumped the shark ... and, no, i'm not talking about the president ...

how utterly banal
posted by pyramid termite at 8:16 PM on September 14, 2005

Bush writes in cursive, most notably when he writes 'I.'

He doesn't always. Note the "I" in "MI".
posted by interrobang at 8:21 PM on September 14, 2005

Question for the president during tomorrow's press conference:

Mr. president, if you need to go at any time, we'll wait?

posted by StephenV at 8:21 PM on September 14, 2005

Mystery Solved
posted by fenrir at 8:25 PM on September 14, 2005

Kinda surprised that they don't have some official code for such thing -- "We need to Q-37 within the next fifteen minutes."
posted by Vidiot at 8:27 PM on September 14, 2005

It looks like a weak 2-minute Photoshop job to me. The text around his index finger dithers. Plus the papers on the desk are more contrasty that the rest of the shot. And there's no frame of reference to say that this is even Bush. Looks like a Fark Photoshop contest entry.

And besides, everyone knows that the font used in the photo wasn't available until well after he wrote the note, except on a few IBM Selectrics.
posted by MegoSteve at 8:31 PM on September 14, 2005

Kinda surprised that they don't have some official code for such thing -- "We need to Q-37 within the next fifteen minutes."
posted by Vidiot at 8:27 PM PST on September 14 [!]

I agree! You'd think that after the presidential debates of 04 that the president would have been through a crash course of 'Public Speaking as the President'. I would have thought that they have lots of secret codes that they would pass to each other, undecipherable to any 'enemy' eyes.

Bet they'll have a code by the next press conference.
posted by Balisong at 8:39 PM on September 14, 2005

Hate knows no bounds or taste or decency. Bush-bashers will stop at nothing to gleefully point fingers and mock--no matter what the situation is. Bathroom humor is high art at the DMC I guess.
posted by shockingbluamp at 8:40 PM on September 14, 2005

Fuck you.

He said, without any pretence and taste or decency.
posted by yhbc at 8:42 PM on September 14, 2005

crap "of" for "and", pls
posted by yhbc at 8:43 PM on September 14, 2005

Yeah, he's never done anything worse than getting a blowjob.
posted by interrobang at 8:43 PM on September 14, 2005

What was in that glass he raised in the Mystery Solved link? Can a recovering alcoholic drink wine? Or is he doomed to apple juice?
posted by Cranberry at 9:02 PM on September 14, 2005

since when do Presidents ask for a bathroom break like a 3rd Grader?
posted by amberglow at 9:03 PM on September 14, 2005

I'm really curious about the mix of upper and lower cases. Not a code? I mean, who on earth actually writes (in pencil and paper) like that?
posted by slf at 9:13 PM on September 14, 2005

On second thought, I call shenanigans on Reuters (a self-link, but there's full evidence)
posted by StephenV at 9:13 PM on September 14, 2005

Hey Stephen, fyi that's not evidence, that's speculation.
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:20 PM on September 14, 2005

Full evidence that could have been summarized here in one sentence: "Because of the handwriting change, I speculate that the note was passed from Condi to Bush and he has just begun replying."
posted by rafter at 9:20 PM on September 14, 2005

Huh. Thanks for pointing that out, StephenV.
This reinforces my belief that the note is in code.
posted by slf at 9:21 PM on September 14, 2005

The Vice-Presidency is not worth a bucket of warm piss. -- John Nance Garner
posted by dhartung at 9:22 PM on September 14, 2005

Well fenrir, ayurvedic medicine says it's good for you.

Unless that's chardonnay.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:34 PM on September 14, 2005

Incidentally, this was on mainstream news sites in New Zealand hours ago. This one's going around the world fast.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 9:36 PM on September 14, 2005

Hate knows no bounds or taste or decency. Bush-bashers will stop at nothing to gleefully point fingers and mock--no matter what the situation is. Bathroom humor is high art at the DMC I guess.

Given the amount of bathroom humor generated by Kenn Starr's hate-fueled $80 million fishing expedition into the bounds of taste, your hypocrisy is truly a sight to behold.
posted by Armitage Shanks at 9:39 PM on September 14, 2005

The first part might not be be Bush's writing, but it's likely not Condi's either - see her handwriting on a note here.
posted by kokogiak at 9:40 PM on September 14, 2005

It wouldn't at all surprise me if Bush used a capital I when referring to the "royal I" as opposed to the "Is this possible" I.
posted by interrobang at 9:42 PM on September 14, 2005

I hope to one day see this in the George W. Bush Memorial Presidential Library in Crawford. Where they will, I'm sure, have all his presidential papers...including TP.
posted by Vidiot at 9:43 PM on September 14, 2005

I notice that he's writing his "I" like I'd expect it on the bottom of the note. Maybe he's writing a reponse to someone? Perhaps Bolton was asking if he could go to the bathroom and George was writing, "Is that possible?" ...I nominated you, aren't you supposed to know this?

Seriously, the note looks like two different scripts to me. From W's handwriting sample, he connects "th"s, but he doesn't connect "oo"s, he writes in cursive, the pronoun "I" is cursive (like at the bottom), and he doesn't use mixed caps.

I use mixed caps, and the script at the top looks like sort of how I write. The part W is writing looks significantly different.

Specifically, note the capital "N" in the middle of "think." I don't see him doing anything like that in any of his handwriting samples.
posted by spiderwire at 9:44 PM on September 14, 2005

Whether this is real or not, it depicts somebody relying on someone who is presumably paid to at least me made aware of the protocol surrounding the performance of her job; however much y'all like to talk about Condi as if she's Depurt Fuehrer, the U.S. Secretary of State is the country's top diplomat. Under such circumstances (unless you think Bush was NOT out of his league at the Security Council) asking if a "bathroom break" is "possible" is no more outlandish than asking your Jewish friend to help you participate in a seder without embarrassing youself and wrecking it for everybody. Or don't you think tongues would wag dire inferences and predictions if Bush, without warning, got up and walked out as soon as the need to pee struck him? Assuming he really had to piss, which is not too far-fetched considering he's a 59 year old human male (however much he looks like teenaged chimp), I gotta give him credit for not "creating a scene". (How do you know Khrushchev wasn't swatting at a mosquito with that shoe?)

The issue isn't whether the photo is real or not, but why people have to make an issue of it at all. This "controversy" is another example of "liberals" letting partisanship trump humanity, as y'all accuse the Republicans of doing. Shame, shame.

And no, I'm not defending any of Bush's myriad felonies nor have I "converted", so some of you might want to avoid compounding your lapse of honor and decency by attacking me for pointing out the obvious , though I'm sure that won't stop some of you.
posted by davy at 9:46 PM on September 14, 2005

(and if they could put a defibrillator or radio or whatever on his back, why couldn't they strap a Stadium Pal to his leg?)
posted by Vidiot at 9:48 PM on September 14, 2005

Oh vidiot, why should they? And what's the point of become President if you don't get to take a "bathroom break" at all?
posted by davy at 9:52 PM on September 14, 2005

StephenV: I used a "shear/skew" tool to straighten the note. You'll find that the "th" in "think" and "this" are nearly identical.

slf: It's just possible he meant "I think I need a 'bathroom' break", as in "I think we need to talk about something without disrupting the meeting", or more likely given the person in question, "I need a nap, can we call for a recess?" Not sure why he'd be so coy in this type of note.

But the main thing that's significant about this is what dash_slot said -- that the media is disseminating this at all. It's inescapable that every President has little things like this happen all the time.* But this president has so far escaped most such scrutiny. Now his poll numbers are in the toilet, conservative allies are demanding that people be thrown overboard, and the media are sick of bullshit. So sorry davy -- this is political karma at its best, and I'm glad to finally see it.

* Indeed, the right-wing "media" existed for eight years on a steady diet of such Clinton minutiae, culminating in an actual legal proceeding where they ferreted out details of his genitalia -- which is something quite Foucaultian and imagistically Sontag-inspired, if conservatives were half as bright as they think they are.

Uh, where am I going with this? Um, the Bush equivalent surely had to be the "bulge" photographs, which whatever they were all about, were culturally an expression of the stubborn opaqueness with which this administration has conducted itself. Of course we're going to look at the bulge and start speculating, because there's no way they're going to tell us anything. And just like half the stuff they conceal, it may well have meant nothing at all, but you can't help being suspicious when there's a trout in the milk.

So it is here. Carter's presidency is still, in some minds, defined by that rabbit he was shooing away with a canoe paddle. It said feckless like nothing else. Bush is by all accounts the product of handlers more than any modern president (egad, even Reagan had more control of his canoe than Bush). This says figurehead like few other incidents barring "My Pet Goat".
posted by dhartung at 9:52 PM on September 14, 2005

Much more fascinating than the President writing out a request for a scheduled bathroom break, or even the fact that it was captured, is our reaction to the truly novel and shocking consideration that when you're el Jefe, everything is scripted and scheduled. In that way I have always tended to be a little sympathetic to his desire to get the hell out of Washington; at public events the man looks uncomfortable in his own skin.

It's also funny how we presume that Presidents pee differently from anyone else. They just do it in a more regimented manner. I heard a lovely story from a friend about peeing in Pretoria in 1992 and finding out he was two urinals over from Nelson Mandela. One haggard and scrawny National Party-appointed bodyguard, that was all he had for protection or escort. My friend had no idea what to say to the man, so he just finished his business and left (no, he didn't "check"). Celebrity body functions and public behavior concerning them are just fascinating. There's got to be a thesis in there.
posted by trigonometry at 9:58 PM on September 14, 2005

davy: I was going to give you my usual scathing liberal indictment (it involved a lot of handwringing), but I think you're right. It does make sense.

Similarly, Coburn getting caught earlier this week doing the crossword at the Roberts confirmation hearings makes sense -- crossword aside, you can see in the picture that he was taking copious notes. (I, too, am the type of person who needs to 'multitask' to pay attention.)

That said, it's still pretty damn ridiculous. I don't see it as partisan at all. None of us -- not even amberglow -- are going to be pulling this out of the argument hat later screaming "but what about the bathroom note!?" It's not substantive, and we know it.

It's silly, and like it or not it's discussion-worthy, even though I'd ultimately vote for the argument you just made -- protocol is important at the UN. We do this same thing with celebrities of every sort, and it just happens that he's the President, and the commentary is going to have a partisan tinge to it because of how people feel about it. That's all.
posted by spiderwire at 10:02 PM on September 14, 2005

.....That said, he's arguably one of the worst Presidents we've ever had -- top 5, certainly -- and deserves impeachment nine ways from Sunday. And the fact that -- if this is true -- he writes like a damn psychopath does raise questions for me, gut-level or no.

Not jumping on the "heehee!" train, but that doesn't change the fact that he's a fucking asshole, and I'll take what chances I can get to mock the shithead that's sent the country I love down the shitter.
posted by spiderwire at 10:07 PM on September 14, 2005

Kinda surprised that they don't have some official code for such thing -- "We need to Q-37 within the next fifteen minutes."
posted by Vidiot at 8:27 PM PST on September 14 [!]

Wouldn't "Let Freedom Rain" be the perfect code phrase?
posted by maryh at 10:16 PM on September 14, 2005

You realise of course, that this man DOESN'T take a piss just like every one else.

The receipt of this message commands several squads of secret service to clear the halls, check adjoining rooms for terrorists/witnesses, clear the bathroom of any potential disenters, wipe clean any anti-bush graffiti, and place a fresh urinal mint in the spit-shined porcelan vessel.

Even after writing the note, he has to wait for 10-15 minutes.

I kinda like seeing him squirm and do the pee dance.
posted by Balisong at 10:19 PM on September 14, 2005

Poor guy. By definition, the President can not leak.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 10:26 PM on September 14, 2005

As others have pointed out, getting rid of Bush now would just bring in Cheney. What a big fucking improvement that would be. Golly gee!

As far as partisan glee goes, y'all are forgetting that Bush cannot be re-elected to another term: as far as his political career goes he's already shot his wad. Maybe they'll trot Former President George W. Bush out for funereal photo op if another of his Saudi buddies dies or something. As for Cheney, somehow I can't picture an old crook with a bad heart getting elected President, so politically speaking he's a lame duck has-been too. If the Democrats want poo to fling in the 2008 elections y'all should start figuring out who the likely GOP candidates might be and build dossiers on them. (So why do the Democrats lose important elections?)

And by the way, most U.S. Presidents have been figureheads all along; talking about "Bush", or even "the Bush Administration", is shorthand for "those interests who put up this figurehead". I thought this was common knowledge anybody could get from reading a bit of of history.

And spiderwire, you are "jumping on the 'heehee!' train", and a disgraceful train it is. It's also counter- productive: "Those Democrats act like THEY never have to use the bathroom at inconvenient times! What good can come from people like THAT?"

(And spiderwire, don't you know that "handwriting analysis" is horseshit like astrology or phrenology?)

In closing, I don't give a damn about Bush's "bathroom break", as I didn't care about Monica Lewinsky. I hate Bush for trashing our country and several others, as I hated Clinton for trashing America's social services and bombing Serbia. When personal pecadillos, or even "the 'heehee!' factor", outweight political criteria then you've descended from the realm of politics to something even lower.
posted by davy at 10:27 PM on September 14, 2005

But he had to pee! Hee, hee!
posted by mazola at 10:55 PM on September 14, 2005

Politicians may need bathroom breaks; racehorses piss; intellectuals micturate.
posted by davy at 11:20 PM on September 14, 2005

The fact that Reuters, Yahoo, etc. post this may be significant. Before Katrina, this photo probably wouldn't have made the cut. The sharks smell blood and are circling....
posted by squalor at 12:00 AM on September 15, 2005

Now his poll numbers are in the toilet, conservative allies are demanding that people be thrown overboard, and the media are sick of bullshit. So sorry davy -- this is political karma at its best, and I'm glad to finally see it.

Duh. Americans like winners. And while Bush the lesser was always a loser, Rove and his appointed/selected minions are seemingly unable to spin their way out and have yet not found something else to have the American public to look at.

A note? No biggy.

Worth talking about?
1) the "I think I" part is 'noteworthy'
2) For a Whitehouse which scripts everything and has been leak resistant, this picture, if true, shows yet another crack in the leeve.
posted by rough ashlar at 12:41 AM on September 15, 2005

Sure, when a white president has to piss, they call it "writing a note", but when a BLACK presi . . . um. Oh, yeah.

As you were, gentlemen.
posted by dgaicun at 1:09 AM on September 15, 2005

Isn't it obvious to you liberal weenies? The President heroicly picked up a case of the trots while chest deep in the NO floodwaters rescuing babies and personally shoring up the levees. Jeez, when will the Bush-bashers relent?
posted by Pollomacho at 5:49 AM on September 15, 2005

I does look like a question and reply, by two different people. Maybe the first part is one his handlers suggesting to Chimpy a thought he might need to be thinking about.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 6:02 AM on September 15, 2005

I does?It does. /sonofabush
posted by If I Had An Anus at 6:03 AM on September 15, 2005

IIHaA, are you suggesting that the POTUS needs to be reminded when he might need to go to avoid accidents, much like my pre-school aged nephews?

heh.
posted by Pollomacho at 6:13 AM on September 15, 2005

Rick Wilking has some other interestring credits (and at least one doctored one). ?
posted by If I Had An Anus at 6:15 AM on September 15, 2005

The fact that the picture can be falsified doesn't prove that picture to be false , neither is it now proved that it's true.

What's important, imho, is that a lot of people think this Prez isn't but the dispotic and popular face maneuvered by far less funny people..including maybe Condi.
posted by elpapacito at 6:18 AM on September 15, 2005

I don't give a flying fuck through a rolling doughnut whether the photo is real or not, whether Bush is or is not incontinent, or whether he can or cannot write like an adult, but what does strike me as interesting is the perspective and body position visible in the zoomed out view. Look at how hooked over his hand must be to be writing from where his head is, and look at the angle of the paper relative to his eyeline. Being a left-hander myself, I'm used to hooked writing on a slant, but I've never seen it quite like that on a right-hander. Put yourself (your head and your right hand) in that position and see how awkward (and physically uncomfortable) it would be. To write those capital Is, he has to push the pencil up and to the left. It actually looks like someone to his right (hidden from view) is writing the note.

But, whatever.
posted by nylon at 6:23 AM on September 15, 2005

That was kinda funny, but you guys sure sucked the fun out of it. 'cept PG.
posted by sonofsamiam at 6:23 AM on September 15, 2005

much like my pre-school aged nephews?

Yes, I am.
posted by If I Had An Anus at 6:26 AM on September 15, 2005

This shall heretofore be known as the piss thread.
posted by nofundy at 6:47 AM on September 15, 2005

Bathroom humor is high art at the DMC I guess.

No, but it is funny.

BTW, Democratic National Committee = DNC, which actually has fairly few devotees among these tanks. If you are going to take it upon yourself to assume the "MeFi Gadfly/Troll" mantle along side folks like dios and (less and less) ParisParamus, at least do us the small service of GETTING YOUR FACTS RIGHT.
posted by mkultra at 6:48 AM on September 15, 2005

To write those capital Is, he has to push the pencil up and to the left.

Not back and to the left...back and to the left...back and to the left...?
posted by kirkaracha at 6:58 AM on September 15, 2005

Arguement for davy, who suggested that we are all morons for wanting Bush gone so Cheney would take over.

Actually, I would prefer Cheney, given all other options. Even as an independant, I can see from Cheney's track record of service, both in public political positions and in the private sector (hey, the man was CEO of Halliburton for Baal-sake), I would say he is more than compitent when it comes to managing. As it stands, G.W. Bush has a track record of a spoiled little punk who just happened to be the son of a previous President, who, like Cheney, had a record of public service and private leadership. Successful private leadership. I can at least have confidence that his intentions are not to dismantle the country's infrastructure.

I think that's probably the thing that has bothered me the most about G.W. Bush getting elected. It seems that for a majority of the electorate who voted for him, they voted for him because he had a name they recognize. There was an Eddie Murphy movie about him running for Congress with because he had the same name as someone famous or something (don't remember details at the moment) and he won primarily because most of the voters didn't care who he was, they just knew (now this was insinuated by the movie) that they recognized his name and so unconsciously, or whatever mumbo-jumbo you want to blame it on, they felt that because they knew the name he must be the right person for the job. Someone who was a C average student throughout college. A person who, rightly or wrongly, was suspected of being handed positions because of his family name. This bothers me. I think this bothers everyone who doubts his qualifications for the job he holds.

Anyway. That's my rant on why I really wouldn't mind if Cheney ascended to the Presidency. That and I think the stress would force him to leave the position very shortly after taking the post, for health reasons.

And actually on topic, I think it would have been better had the note said "I got a turtlehead pokin' out."
posted by daq at 7:39 AM on September 15, 2005

Suddenly, the glamour of being the most powerful man in the world seems somewhat diminished.

It is actually the other way around. He is not diminished by the picture, but the picture, its caption and its publication are a clear indication of how diminished this president already is in the eyes of the world.
posted by spock at 7:41 AM on September 15, 2005

Remember how John Kerry got a 200 dollar haircut and held up air traffic at LAX (later disproved) and Bill Clinton came on a dress . . . .

Memo to GWB: real cowboys piss where they want, when they want.

I love this. More please. And pass the popcorn pretzels.
posted by realcountrymusic at 8:13 AM on September 15, 2005

I, for one, will leap at any chance to belittle, mock and shame this President. He is a posturing, vile, vengeful, hypocritical aristocrat who became "Born Again" and cultivated a Texan accent to improve his voter base. This man, who used Eminant Domain to get him where he is today, who thinks nothing of scampering about in costumes and lying to the press, has broken his covenant with the American public by using the powers of his office to redirect the wealth of America into the pockets of his friends and aquaintances. Somebody of my social standing has no chance of speaking to him directly so I use the tools that are left to me: free speech and a sense of outrage coupled with humor.

And I would take a President Cheney in a heartbeat if it meant that Chimpy McFlightsuit had resigned in disgrace.
posted by Secret Life of Gravy at 9:03 AM on September 15, 2005

Amen!
posted by If I Had An Anus at 9:30 AM on September 15, 2005

122 comments about the President waving his dick around... has MeFi jumped the shark?
posted by five fresh fish at 9:46 AM on September 15, 2005

122 comments, and a triple post (so far) !
posted by R. Mutt at 10:13 AM on September 15, 2005

Could someone please post this again? I missed it the first three times.
posted by fixedgear at 10:17 AM on September 15, 2005

Perhaps it went something like this, A Comic in Pictures.
posted by ervan at 10:55 AM on September 15, 2005

Four!

Does anyone know what the record is?
posted by George_Spiggott at 10:56 AM on September 15, 2005

People making fun of this brings to mind the time the Rush Limbaugh spent nearly an entire show making fun of Chelsea Clinton's appearance.

It just makes *our side* look bad. I mean, can we stick to Iraq, Katrina, the redistribution of wealth, the dismantling of the U. S. Constitution?

And, as Peter Alsop said:

It's only a wee wee so what's the big deal?
It's only a wee wee so what's all the fuss?
It's only a wee wee and everyone's got one (to),
There's better things to discuss!
posted by Danf at 11:08 AM on September 15, 2005

ESTRAGON: It hurts?
VLADIMIR: (angrily). Hurts! He wants to know if it hurts!
ESTRAGON: (pointing). You might button it all the same.
VLADIMIR: (stooping). True. (He buttons his fly.) Never neglect the little things of life.
ESTRAGON: What do you expect, you always wait till the last moment.
VLADIMIR: (musingly). The last moment . . . (He meditates.) Hope deferred maketh the something sick, who said that?
ESTRAGON: Why don't you help me?
VLADIMIR: Sometimes I feel it coming all the same. Then I go all queer. (He takes off his hat, peers inside it, feels about inside it, shakes it, puts it on again.) How shall I say? Relieved and at the same time . . . (he searches for the word) . . . appalled. (With emphasis.) AP-PALLED. (He takes off his hat again, peers inside it.) Funny. (He knocks on the crown as though to dislodge a foreign body, peers into it again, puts it on again.) Nothing to be done. (Estragon with a supreme effort succeeds in pulling off his boot. He peers inside it, feels about inside it, turns it upside down, shakes it, looks on the ground to see if anything has fallen out, finds nothing, feels inside it again, staring sightlessly before him.) Well?
ESTRAGON: Nothing.
posted by Pollomacho at 11:22 AM on September 15, 2005

I can't wait to see what happens when Mr. Preznit poops.
posted by mazola at 11:55 AM on September 15, 2005

I, for one.....so I use the tools that are left to me: free speech and a sense of outrage coupled with humor.

Will you marry me?
Also, does anyone think Pat Fitgerald should be investigating this?
What I'd really like to see are all the moments like this that must've been recorded but not aired because the MSM hadn't yet found its balls. I wonder if there's an archive somewhere. If he slips another 5 points or so in the ratings maybe we could get a primetime special- " Too Stupid For TV: The First Five Years of The Bush Presidency". Bob Saget could host it.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 12:23 PM on September 15, 2005

Forgot a 'z' in Fitzgerald there.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 12:23 PM on September 15, 2005

This whole business has left me wishing he'd do a Tycho Brahe...
posted by Skeptic at 2:52 PM on September 15, 2005

You all misinterpret this!! Take a Bathroom Break is code for an unprovoked invasion of another country. He is asking Condi to prepare for Grenada part Deux
posted by Megafly at 3:11 PM on September 15, 2005

Specifically, note the capital "N" in the middle of "think." I don't see him doing anything like that in any of his handwriting samples.

Probably because when he was making previous samples, he wasn't hepped up on goofballs.
posted by davelog at 3:27 PM on September 15, 2005

Not that it makes that much of a difference mkultra

but I am fully aware what the DNC is. I typoed DMC. That's it.
posted by shockingbluamp at 4:29 PM on September 15, 2005

Bathroom humor is high art at the DMC I guess.

Yep. Back in the early 80s, the folks at John Z. DeLorean's company used to lock each other inside the gullwing doors and fart through the vents.

(on preview: yes, shockingbluamp, we knew you just typo'd, no need to get huffy.)

By the way, I find myself highly entertained not just by the contrast between the contents of the photo versus Reuter's tone used in describing the picture, but also by the split between people saying (paraphrasing) "this is harmless and unimportant", "the picture has been doctored to make him look bad" and "Oh, you're SOOOO mature for making fun of him."

Seriously, watching people work so hard to defend a man against what is, essentially, a funny little embarrasing moment captured on film -- and in doing so negate each others' attempts -- is...well, let's just say I really start to understand the usefulness of talking points now.

Anyway, the key to the funny is that so many people assumed it was fake -- even myself -- because it was so unpresidential, not because it was "bathroom humor". I would have laughed just as hard if it had said "I think I am hungry". It reminds me of that Gary Larson cartoon, where a man and woman are laying in bed in separate houses, and the man is thinking obsessively about the woman...but the woman is just thinking "You know, I really like vanilla ice cream."
posted by davejay at 4:36 PM on September 15, 2005

Oops. The actual Gary Larson quote is "You know, I think I really like vanilla."
posted by davejay at 4:38 PM on September 15, 2005

Drudge has a story up now saying that the photo is 'shopped. But his link does not work.
posted by Mid at 5:15 PM on September 15, 2005

'shopped but not manipulated
posted by mr.marx at 5:32 PM on September 15, 2005

they just upped the contrast and sharpened for legibility...it's not fake text at all.
posted by amberglow at 5:55 PM on September 15, 2005

No one else seems to have mentioned that the man incorrectly punctuated the first sentence. It's a declarative sentence and needs a period—or maybe an exclamation point—not a question mark.
posted by ancientgower at 5:57 PM on September 15, 2005

/englishteachersnarking.
posted by ancientgower at 5:58 PM on September 15, 2005

It looks like the tide has turned...
posted by sacrilicious at 10:28 PM on September 15, 2005

It looks like there's another leak from the white house...
posted by sacrilicious at 10:33 PM on September 15, 2005

He's just doing the valley girl thing?
posted by cytherea at 11:04 PM on September 15, 2005

Now you're doing it. Ancientgowers gonna snark your ass with his E-ruler.
posted by dgaicun at 1:22 AM on September 16, 2005

from 3Bulls: Dear Condi, who do you love the mostest (pick one) PASSBACKS! A) me, B) Colin, ...
posted by amberglow at 8:20 AM on September 16, 2005

I would not dream of snarking Cytherea's ass with my e-ruler! Unless asked to, of course, and then I would strive to give satisfaction.

There's a very funny short story in a collection called The Widow's Mite and Other Stories, by Ferroll Sams, in which the narrator is some white trash woman in a grocery store, and every sentence in the story ends with a question mark? Like this? And the rhythm it sets up becomes mind-numbingly funny?

But we digress.
posted by ancientgower at 9:35 AM on September 16, 2005

The fact is, according to Reuters -- and this has not been widely reported -- President Bush did indeed take a bathroom break after passing the note to Rice.

posted by If I Had An Anus at 10:42 AM on September 16, 2005

Reuters Explains Photo of Bush Bathroom Note
posted by spock at 11:20 AM on September 16, 2005

Presidential Dumps (rudepundit, with bonus rant on the speech in NO) -- ...Then, the President took a shorter, but no less torturous, shit at the Security Council meeting, when he spoke about terrorism to the leaders there. How odd it must have been, to sit there and listen to this man speak about the need to prevent terrorism in its early stages when his government reacted like a bunch of terrified toddlers when a predictable moment of violence happened with Katrina, running in circles, crying, bumping into each other, stumbling onto their diapered asses. No wonder Bush needed a bathroom break. No wonder Condi granted him permission to go. (This is not to mention that she was seated behind him and thus bore the full power of his serial farting.)

In the washroom, when Bolton coughed, as if overwhelmed by the stink of the executive turds, Bush laughed and told Bolton, "If you think my shit smells bad, you should smell New Orleans. Place smells like Jenna's ass after a frat party's run a train on it." ...
posted by amberglow at 9:15 AM on September 17, 2005

Needing to go to the bathroom during a high level international diplomatic meeting?

That's a paddlin'
posted by telstar at 2:45 PM on September 17, 2005

The fact is, according to Reuters -- and this has not been widely reported -- President Bush did indeed take a bathroom break after passing the note to Rice.

So he asked if he could do something, then did it anyway before permission could be denied? How fitting. It smells just like Iraq.
posted by tapeguy at 7:32 PM on September 17, 2005