“Say, Hu, your suit looks just like mine… Waitaminute, buddy! That is one of mine!”
Giving the devil his due, that shot makes it look a lot worse than what actually happened — IMHO.
I saw the incident on TV; Bush’s grip was gentle and Hu backtracked immediately. And if I’m not mistaken, it was Wolf Blitzer on CNN who claimed that Hu was walking off in a huff over the wrong anthem, but I think Blitzer was full of doodoo.
Remember when Bush was in China, he tried to get off the stage but the door was locked, he flashed a comic look of dismay and then went off stage through a different door.
Well the picture for that caught Bush at the peak of his comical expression, and the impression might have been that he held it for a couple of beats. But it was more like a millisecond.
Like a lot of people’ve said, it looks worse than it is. Photographers have a genius for getting people at all the wrong moments.
“And one more thing, bud. I forgot to give you your Rotary pin.”
Anyone ever seen this photo?
Clearly, Muhammad Ali standing over his fallen opponent, taunting him, urging him to get up for some more beating, right?
Ever seen it on video? A flash!
Basically, a reflexive movement of his arm, and an open mouth that’s gone in snap as he walks away from Liston. If you blinked at that exact second, you would have a complete 180 degree different opinion of the situation.
I bet Hu stepped past his mark, and Bush reached out to let him know, “right here”.
They snapped it at the exact second the fabric was taut, and Hu was looking back at his mark.
I saw the picture before your posing and it really creeped me out. If I were a Chinese citizen I’d be pretty ticked off at the lack of respect it appears to indicate. I hope, that as many posters said, it looks worse in the picture. The funny thing is that Bush was kissing and holding hands with the Saudi Prince, so it seems that he has some idea of cultural norms (he pretends to be a Texan pretty well).
In typical tabloid fashion, the NY Post has a nearly identical photo on its cover (it’s taken at a different angle and makes Bush look more aggressive and Hu appear flabbergasted). The headline: Wok This Way
If you were a Chinese citizen outside of HK, that photo probably wouldn’t be visible behind the Great FireWall of China.
Now if he had thrown up down his sleeve…
I think you’re right.
And I still think it was highly impolite. It simply isn’t acceptable to touch someone without his/her approval, or without giving him/her a chance to draw away and signal “no”.
You may not agree with his foreign or economic policies, but maybe – just maybe – his relationship with Hu Jintao is such that a friendly arm grab wasn’t a total invasion of privacy.
The media likes to circulate these kind of “gotcha” pictures which, like some sound bites, can be taken out of context.
I’d like to see it on video. Stills don’t get the context.
Thi picture, though, immediately made me think of a skankier version of “please, sir, may I have some more?”… as if Bush was begging for Hu to relent on something.
Maybe that’s my own paranoia about US economic decline…
Anyone think he should be impeached for this? I do. No! I think he should be executed. That miserable rat, prick, SOB Bush. How could he? HOW COULD HE?!!!
I used to be a Bush supporter, but not after this. Not after this.
Bush was just grabbing Hu’s coat. It could have been worse.
I think Bush is saying: “Hu! I got ye. Don’t ever do that again, you hear! All that traffic is dangerous!”
Nah, I don’t like President Bush much. [I have to say that I like my *own* PM even less]
Cervaise, that’s pretty… something. I’d love to hear an explanation of that.
Suit? The hell happened to those green uniforms everybody used to wear? 
Let’s see him try that on Cynthia McKinney.
Heh, this was on McSweeney’s today.
Meh. Doesn’t bother me. And I hate Bush and would love nothing more than to give him a Drano enema, so I guess that makes me objective.