I’d shake his hand while saying, “I do not believe you represent me, sir.”
For the Queen, I’d do anything. Bow. Scrape. Kiss the bottoms of her shoes. Whatever.
Yeah – I was too lazy to look up the proper titles, so I took a stab. if I was actually meeting either of them, I’d be more careful!
Hell yes, and say something nice to him, too.
Let’s call a spade a spade here; George W. Bush is a mass murderer. I wouldn’t shake hands with him, and I consider myself well-raised.
I have embarrassing questions I want to ask, so I would not be allowed close enough to the current president to shake his hand.
Nope.
If movies have taught me anything, it’s that warm collegial men-among-men types show the strength of their bond by spitting in their hands before sharing a strong masculine shake.
Given that he’s such a good ol’ boy of strong American stock, I would assume he would take this as a sign of endearment, so I would be most obliged to quite visibly spit in my hand before offering it to him.
Of course, if I could find myself highly infectious at the time, that would be a small price to pay for one patriot to connect with another, no?
Yes, I’d be delighted!
Of course, right beforehand, I’d make a point of coughing flu-style, politely covering my mouth with my hand before I outstretched it to him (there was a scene from Planes Trains & Automobiles where “Owen” wiped the tobacco spit away from his mouth before he shook Steve Martin’s hand. That sort of thing.)
Your move, Mr. President!
I’d like to sit here and say, as a lifelong Southerner, that I would greet him as a gentleman and express my respectful disagreement using my Churchillian wit. But they say part of growing up is getting to know yourself, so I must admit that I would scream obscenities at him until I was dragged from the room.
But they would be very, very creative obscenities.
I would not shake his hand because I feel he is subhuman.
I’m not fond of this particular Pope, but I would be respectful. I am not Catholic and would, therefore not kiss his ring.
I wouldn’t. The very thought of it kinda gives me the willies.
I really don’t care for that guy.
I don’t want to breath the same air as him, much less get close enough to touch him. No.
You could always fall back on the standard. “Why, Mr. President! Bless your heart!” 
Of course I would shake his hand. How else am I supposed to apply the contact poison?
Otherwise, NO. Who knows where those hands have been and what has been done with them…
I’ve been googling for a few minutes with no success, but I remember an incident in Québec from the last referendum campaign, where a volunteer at a polling station for a local election refused to shake the hand of Lucien Bouchard, who was then the leader of the PQ and the head of the ‘Oui’ (Separatist) side of the referendum. It caused a massive incident because Bouchard was insulted and said things to the man like ‘Politeness means nothing to you, sir?’. The man stood his ground, and the incident was in the news cycle for about a week. I seem to recall he was a Francophone, and that people were saying how much more of a fuss might have been generated had he been an Anglo…
Mel Lastman, on the other hand, got himself into huge trouble when he met with a leader of the Hell’s Angels and shook his hand. According to Mel, it was as much out of instinct as anything else - when someone sticks their hand out, politicians pretty much shake it without thinking. Come to that, Mel did a lot of things without thinking… Story here
On a similar note, during her brief tenure as Prime Minister, Kim Campbell attended a performance of ‘The Mikado’, and it was made clear to everyone in the cast that we had to shake her hand backstage for the cameras. Didn’t do her any good - she had to take the humiliation for Brian Mulroney’s policies, and came out of the election holding only two seats.
If at all possible, I would avoid being in the same room with George Bush, but the probability of that happening is minimal, anyway. The biggest problem is that I have no wish to show disrespect to the office of the President, nor to the nation of the USA - it is the fallible human who currently occupies that office that I disagree with. It would be easier to explain all that while shaking his hand than to explain the basis of the snub after the fact, I think. My two cents…
Chefguy has said it well.
What, and risk catching teh dumb? Chhyearight!
I would shake his hand, and do so with the utmost respect and civility. In fact, I’d be happy to do it. I am by no means a fan of his policies, but in my case, my respect for the office of President is greater than my personal grievances with the man holding the office. It might even afford me the opportunity to ask some interesting questions or provide some points to ponder for him. I would do the same for any of the other examples presented as well. I am not Catholic, and I disagree strongly with some of the Catholic policies and beliefs, but I have respect for the Pope and would greet him with enthusiasm and with the utmost courtesy. Same for the Queen of England, or the Dalai Lama.
That said, I can also understand people who would prefer not to shake his hand, provided it is done so within the rules of ettiquette in mind. I think the “cut” is acceptable, or even a shake of the head. I think anything beyond that is not only rude, but it makes you look obnoxious and undermines your point. Screaming obscenities, or the “psych” approach just makes you look foolish and does nothing to make your points heard.
Do you really think a politician is going to stay awake at night wondering how to appease the guy who said “psych”? They’re use to public ridicule; they have to be to get to that level. Seriously, if you feel queasy thinking about shaking his hand, it’s pretty easy to avoid situations where you might shake his hand
That seems very odd to me. Why should a dishonorable man suddenly become honorable just because he has inveigled himself into the White House?
Sure, why not? A handshake is just a handshake. Besides, he’s just another person to me.
And on that note, he may have done things I disagree with, but he has not done anything to me personally, unless you drag in large-scale economy-of-the-world stuff. And from where I’m sitting, the dollar being shot to hell is actually pretty cool, since I can buy american stuff for next to nothing.
Yes, norwegian soldiers have been killed in the recent american wars, but they were a) volunteers, who went for their own reasons knowing the risk and b) not under direct american command. Not the american president’s fault, in other words.