Bush was walking on stage to have a picture taken with world leaders at the G20 meeting. As the leaders pass each other, all aware that this is a very public and symbolic moment, they shake hands.
As Bush files by he does not move to shake hands, nor does anyone move to shake his. It is very obvious that this was a snub.
What was the message being sent? I think that they want to let him know that they kowtowed to him only because he was the bully leader of the biggest power on the planet. Their respect was for the power of the office and not for the man. Now that he is a lame duck, they feel free to allow their disdain to show.
The interesting thing is that there was no awkward half-attempt at a handshake. Everyone on stage knew they would shake hands with everyone except Bush, including GWB.
I guess the debate is, was the snub of the man and not the office and country, and by what mechanism did they convey to him not to attempt a handshake?
I dunno, this is a guy who purell’s his hands after every handshake, so maybe it’s some longer standing tradition of HIM not wanting to shake people’s hands.
Yea, I don’t think this is what it looks like. I suspect Bush (as leader of the host country) had already greeted the various leaders, so didn’t move to shake their hands a second time. Indeed the Daily Show had footage of him greeting them one by one as they arrived a few nights ago.
It would have been a clear snub if he had offered to shake hands and been refused, but it’s not clear in this situation who is snubbing who, if anyone.
Standard handshake protocol, by the way, is for the “superior” to offer to shake the hand of the “inferior.” If the superior does not initiate the handshake, it is improper for the inferior to do so. (E.g., it’s up to an actual or prospective employer to shake the hand of an employee or applicant, a lady to shake the hand of a gentleman, an older man to shake the hand of a younger man, etc.) Not sure how this plays out among heads of state, though.
ETA: Simplicio’s explanation makes perfect sense. If Bush had already shaken everyone’s hand, it wold have been redundant to do so again.
He sanitizes his hands after every round of handshakes, not after every individual one. It’s just that when he met Obama, the round of handshakes was only one, since there was only one person to shake hands with. That’s a sensible idea for anyone who shakes a lot of hands and who can’t afford a few days of downtime from a cold, and I’d be surprised if it’s not standard practice for most politicians.
Before they invented Purell, candidates of both parties would be handed a soapy washcloth or (later) wet naps after shaking hands with the public at an event.
Since then, Purell has seemed have been adopted as SOP by most politicians. Cite.
No offense intended, but are you a head of state or an international protocol expert? I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there are still rules of precedence, such as the head of state of the host country initiates, or in the case of a group in which the chairmanship rotates among the member countries, the head of state of the country holding that chairmanship initiates. Perhaps in this situation those walking on stage were expected to extend their hands, not those already standing there. Rules like that exist to so that people know exactly what is expected of them and can avoid embarrassing gaffes, such as giving the German leader an unexpected shoulder rub.
My point above was that it is not a snub not to shake the hand of someone who is in a position to initiate a handshake with you and chooses not to do so. In fact, in some situations it would be rude to do so.
In addition, before heads of state meet, they have envoys that meet to sort out details of who does what to whom, and when. What looks like an impromptu meeting may have been choreographed in detail beforehand (though there can still be incidents like that shoulder rub that are unplanned, and hence embarrassing).
Not a snub, as has been pointed out, and therefore a perfect opportunity for the dork at CNN to prove that he is a blithering idiot. And he did. Cooties - that’s just plain ignorant.
I disagree. This was a photo-op and everyone knew it. Do you think Bush greeted them all, then kept them in isolation from each other until they came out on the stage to exchange hellos?
Even if by some stretch they had all already shaken hands with Bush but not each other, they would have been very aware that not shaking his hand at THE PHOTO-OP could have been interpreted in the media as a disrespect, and would have shook hands if only to avoid the impression.
They did exactly what they wanted to do. I imagine when the other envoys got together they told the American envoy that they would be signaling their disapproval of the outgoing President by publicly disrespecting him.
They had to respect him when he was that Captain of the USS America. Now that the ship is heading into port for a change in command, they can let him, and the rest of the world, know how they really feel.
Bush has absolutely hated Spanish premier Zapatero since he withdrew the Spanish troops from Iraq and has made no effort to hide it, snubbing Zapatero at every chance he got. It got to the point where it was just a childish grudge. Bush is like a child who either he gets his way or takes his ball and goes home.
When this meeting was being prepared Spain was not invited but France insisted that Spain had to be there as it is the #8 economic power. Bush had to yield and Spain was invited.
It seems Bush had one on one meetings with all those who attended and when he met with Zapatero they coldly shook hands and then said a few words in front of a podium. I did not hear what Bush said but Zapatero made his dislike for Bush quite clear in diplomatic terms. Something like “in spite of the differences between president Bush and myself the Spanish people and the American people continue to be good friends, etc.”
At that photo op Zapatero is standing directly behind Bush and when Bush arrives you can see Zapatero looking at his shoes uneasily and then Bush catches his eye like by accident. They are clearly uncomfortable with each other.
Whatever the significance of those missing handshakes it is clear the other leaders are on much more congenial terms with each other and Bush is just the guy they have to put up with because they have no other choice.
That is absolutely unbelievable. Do you really believe that heads of states agree on such a thing? It is obvious from Bushs body language that he is not about to shake hands with anyone; he is not slowing down, not looking at the others (with one exception I believe), and so no one is stretching out his/her hand. That’s all. Why? I believe as someone said above, he just shook their hands probably, and can’t see the point of doing it again, being Bushish.
