A great head start

November 10, 2000 1:48 PM

A great head start for Geedubyah's foreign-relations record. The former prime minister of Russia is threatening a lawsuit against Bush, for Bush's having suggested during the second presidential debate that the Russian leader had stolen IMF loan money.
posted by Sapphireblue (12 comments total)

He's been "threatening" to sue for weeks now. He just wanted the press -- he has no chance to win. Chernomyrdin (which incidentally is spelled wrong in the transcript) is clearly a public figure. Defamation against public figures has a higher standard: "they must prove that the party defaming them knew the statements were false, made them with actual malice, or was negligent in saying or writing them." You can't prove that for Dubya.

posted by smackfu at 2:13 PM on November 10, 2000

That depends where he files suit. Defamation is notoriously more difficult to prove in the US than elsewhere (the UK, for instance): if, as the story suggests, he sues in Moscow, the burden of proof may be on Bush.
posted by holgate at 2:21 PM on November 10, 2000

For which I'm certain Dubya is pissing in his cowboy boots.
posted by dhartung at 2:36 PM on November 10, 2000

Win, not win, who cares? The point is that this is sure to be one in a long line of open-mouth-insert-foot moments for the seeming president-elect Bush.

Fortunately, the last few days ought to have provided us Americans with an adequate taste of the global ridicule that is apt to be pointed our way for the next four years.

and as a side note: what's it mean that Bush just *ignored* the man's letter asking for an apology? my take is, it means he's as arrogant an oaf as many of us have suspected all along.
posted by Sapphireblue at 2:51 PM on November 10, 2000

If W. winds up taking office, I really hope there's no major foreign policy problems that have to be solved sometime in the next six months or so. Because you just know he'll piss in someone's boots and start WWIII and not even notice.

Not that Gore'd be much more experienced in the heat of battle, but... whoever takes over, what foreign agitator-types do you think might take advantage of the disarray we find ourselves in to stir things up a bit?

I get the feeling that danger is a bit worse this year than in past handovers of power.
posted by chicobangs at 3:00 PM on November 10, 2000

In my opinion Bush is sort of an asshole. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't also so dumb. And I could even live with that if his grammar didn't make him sound like a high school drop out. And even that could be overlooked if he wasn't an alcoholic coke-head.

This short-sighted, ill-informed boob will be placing people on the supreme court. He will be insulting other leaders around the world. We can only hope he won't be puking on them.

We're screwed. [groan]
posted by y6y6y6 at 4:18 PM on November 10, 2000

I don't think that Bush has learned that when it comes to foreign policy, all statements are instantly on the record. That's why you have that subtle art called "diplomacy", where "listen, bud, I'm from Texas" doesn't quite work.

(Tangentially: there's likely to be a vacancy soon for the US ambassador in London. A couple of nominees come to mind...)
posted by holgate at 4:19 PM on November 10, 2000

even that could be overlooked if he wasn't an alcoholic coke-head.

Do you share the same opinion about diabetics, those with AIDS, cancer, lupus? Are you suggesting Bush is actively using alcohol and cocaine or that someone who ever has is forever unfit for public office?
posted by netbros at 5:42 PM on November 10, 2000

Speaking of comments on the record, don't miss Maj. Ldr. Trent Lott's eloquent musings on Hillary. Something about how he hopes "lightning strikes" so that she never makes it to D.C. And how he plans to teach her a lesson. Is Right wing foot-in-mouth disease contagious?
posted by ThomDonnelly at 6:14 PM on November 10, 2000

"Do you share the same opinion about diabetics....."

I don't know what you're talking about. Are you suggesting that since it's not his fault he's a retard that we shouldn't hold it against him.

I used to be addicted to drugs, most people would consider me a recovering alcoholic. Most people would also agree these are among the many good reasons I shouldn't be elected president.

Sure, people should be forgiven and given credit for recovering. But you can't recover from being inept and having bad judgement.
posted by y6y6y6 at 6:55 PM on November 10, 2000

I too am a recovering alcoholic. Many have told me the changed attitudes I have developed during this remission have added a less selfish dynamic. I disagree that most people would hold our condition against us. However, using rhetoric such as "retard", "asshole", "dumb" and "inept" would be a good reason we shouldn't be elected for anything.
posted by netbros at 7:20 PM on November 10, 2000

Lott vs. Hillary? I see the new era of bipartisanship has gotten off to a roaring start.
posted by dhartung at 11:00 PM on November 10, 2000