# Would you shake George Bush's hand? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 23, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191 "2007-03-23T15:31:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/41 "2007-03-23T17:17:15Z")
[QUOTE=bdntexas] Of course everyone is entitled to an opinion, even me. The problem I see here is that it is obviously not a very popular opinion on this board to support Bush. If you would just look around, you’ll see that there are very few with an opinion on here that would be consistant with anything other than liberalism. [/QUOTE] Many of the conservatives on this board do indeed dislike Bush. This does not make them liberals. Also, on this board there is a relatively large number of people posting from other (mainly western) countries, which might affect the spectrum a bit, since US politics is way far to the right of most of the rest of the “free world”: to many non-Americans the general nature of opinion here actually seems somewhat right of center. Therefore what you’re deeming “liberalism” is probably more “right-centrist” in international terms. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/42 "2007-03-23T17:18:24Z")
Yes, option B. But I’d still be afraid that I’d have visions of him starting a nuclear war. THEN what would I do? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/43 "2007-03-23T17:19:21Z")
Is this a private environment? No one can snap a picture and yield next day’s _Star_ headline “Bush Still Able to Find Someone Who Will Shake His Hand”? Just me and him? In that case, sure, I’d shake his hand. I wouldn’t do it in front of an audience, though. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/44 "2007-03-23T17:21:41Z")
[QUOTE=bdntexas] Of course everyone is entitled to an opinion, even me. The problem I see here is that it is obviously not a very popular opinion on this board to support Bush. [/QUOTE] So everyone has the right to an opinion, but if they don’t agree with yours then you don’t want to listen to them? I quite understand if you disagree with people on here. That’s not a problem. I would suggest hanging out and learning how the rest of us on here think – liberal and conservative alike. That’s a part of fighting ignorance – fighting your _own_ ignorance. I’m not telling you that your beliefs or your opinions are ignorant, but it’s always good to look at how the other half thinks. It’s good for solidifying your own opinions and beliefs, testing them, strengthening them through debate or simple introspection. Believe me – intelligent, thoughtful conservatives are usually more interesting for me to talk to than people who share more of my own beliefs. 😃 As for my answer? Strong, firm handshake. “I deeply respect the office of the President, sir. I only wish I could respect the man in that position today. We need you to be better at this.” That’s a B, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/45 "2007-03-23T17:24:55Z")
D. For me, shaking someone’s hand carries an implication that there is some reason I want to associate with them. Business, personal or politeness. While I have great respect for the office of the POTUS, GWB has managed to erode that with regards to him. He no longer gets the benefit of the doubt. My respect for the office would prevent me from dropping trow and mooning him or spitting at him, but it would not require me to shake his hand. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/46 "2007-03-23T17:29:41Z")
[QUOTE=bdntexas] The correct answer to this question is of course A or B. [/QUOTE] Cool! I have the right opinion! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/47 "2007-03-23T17:32:25Z")
I’d ride off into the sunset on **Giraffe** ’s reply. If trapped with no escape, I’d probably develop a massive coughing/horking up fit requiring me to press both hands to my face. Complete with sickly, thickly mucilaginous sound effects. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/48 "2007-03-23T17:34:34Z")
I would avoid handshaking, but that’s for a mixture of reasons. 1. I really dislike handshaking. I just do. 2. I really dislike being in any sort of spotlight. I just do. 3. I really dislike him. I just do. But I wouldn’t do more than attempt to avoid the handshake. No direct snub. No comment. If he two-hand shook my hand, I’d get freaked out, though. No two-hand shakes! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/49 "2007-03-23T17:37:00Z")
If he walked up to me and it seemed like he was going to shake my hand, I’d do it. Not doing it wouldn’t really accomplish anything. I wouldn’t go out of my way to do so if I were at an event where I had an opportunity, but then again, there’s very few celebrities that I would, because they don’t seem like the type of people I’d want to know in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/50 "2007-03-23T18:04:04Z")
Say Mr. President, would you like a chocolate covered pretzel? 😃 I’d have to go with D and this extends to almost all politicians regardless of ideology, Canadian and American. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/51 "2007-03-23T18:09:59Z")
[QUOTE=EddyTeddyFreddy] I’d ride off into the sunset on **Giraffe** ’s reply. If trapped with no escape, I’d probably develop a massive coughing/horking up fit requiring me to press both hands to my face. Complete with sickly, thickly mucilaginous sound effects. 😉 [/QUOTE] Oe just take his Daddy’s way out and puke on him! ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/52 "2007-03-23T18:11:45Z")
[QUOTE=bdntexas] I just got on this message board today. I have not paid money to subscribe yet. I have just been looking around. If this thread and it’s replies are common to the entire board, I won’t be spending any of my hard earned money to get this kind of drivel. This is looking like an obvious liberal haven. New name for the board, " The Dopes. Fighting for the arrogant liberals since 1973. The year we woke up from Woodstock." [/QUOTE] Welcome to the boards Georgie Boy! ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/53 "2007-03-23T18:12:08Z")
non of the options apply to me. He is ok to me but I would not shake his hand because I am a bit of a germaphobe and I wouldn’t want to catch “The Stupid” or any other germ. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/54 "2007-03-23T18:19:55Z")
[QUOTE=bdntexas] Of course everyone is entitled to an opinion, even me. The problem I see here is that it is obviously not a very popular opinion on this board to support Bush. If you would just look around, you’ll see that there are very few with an opinion on here that would be consistant with anything other than liberalism. The majority of the answers to this question are full of vitriol. The correct answer to this question is of course A or B. Something is very wrong with a society that could refuse to have the courtesy to shake the hand of the President of the United States. I never supported Bill Clinton. I disagree with almost everything he did while in office. I would still love to meet him. I would bet he would be great to play golf with! Civility people! Civility! [/QUOTE] Welcome to the boards. It is not a popular opinion in most of the World to support Bush. If you think disagreeing with Bush’s policies is liberal, then you’re using the word differently from me. I would shake Bush’s hand (call it option c), because he represents America. But given that a lot of British soldiers have died in Iraq and bombs have gone off in London because of Bush’s stupid and dangerous policies, why would you want me to respect him? ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/55 "2007-03-23T18:21:12Z")
I would no more shake hands with George W. Bush than I would the devil himself. In fact, presented with the man in person, the things I would say to him would probably get me dragged out of the room by the Secret Service. I wish I had enough personal restraint to put my hands behind my back and stare at him coldly, but I do not. As an aside, one of the things I love about this country is that you can (and should) walk up any elected official and tell him exactly what you think. I ran into my former congressman Harold Ford Jr. in the grocery store once. I was a longtime supporter and he recognized me. I said “Congressman, you voted to get us into this damn fool war. Now what are you going to do to get us out?” He didn’t have an answer. Now, he’s out of government, and I am no longer a supporter. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/56 "2007-03-23T18:25:06Z")
[QUOTE=Giraffe] Bush is probably the only politician in my lifetime that I feel strongly enough about to actively not want to shake his hand. Even so, I wouldn’t snub him, I would simply avoid a possible hand-shaking situation as much as possible. Fade to the back of the group I’m in, wipe a booger on my hand, put on a fake mustache, whatever it takes. If after all that he walked directly up to me and stuck out his hand, I would be polite and shake it. [/QUOTE] Pretty much what he said, though with the caveat that I would do my best to share an opinion with him and not exchange some BS pleasantry. If I’m important enough in his eyes to shake my hand, then I’m important enough for him to hear a tiny piece of my mind. The only circumstance I would not shake his hand if I had the distinct impression it would be used in some kind of PR offensive. It’s one thing to be courteous to the individual or the office; it’s another to have that courtesy be trumpeted in the media as approval. ---
**Author:** ![Smooth\_Jack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Smooth\_Jack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smooth_Jack)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/57 "2007-03-23T18:32:12Z")
[QUOTE=bdntexas] Of course everyone is entitled to an opinion, even me. The problem I see here is that it is obviously not a very popular opinion on this board to support Bush. If you would just look around, you’ll see that there are very few with an opinion on here that would be consistant with anything other than liberalism. The majority of the answers to this question are full of vitriol. The correct answer to this question is of course A or B. Something is very wrong with a society that could refuse to have the courtesy to shake the hand of the President of the United States. I never supported Bill Clinton. I disagree with almost everything he did while in office. I would still love to meet him. I would bet he would be great to play golf with! Civility people! Civility! [/QUOTE] If you’re still around, I hope you stick with it. This board needs a sprinkling of civil conservatives. Obviously, I don’t post much myself. It’s a bit intimidating to state a conservative point of view here. If you do, you’ll get three pages of people telling you why you’re wrong. Who has time to read it all, let alone respond? In any case, I’d say B. I’d be proud to shake the hand of any sitting, or former POTUS - even Jimmy Carter. I would say A, but I’d prefer sticking with handshakes. Personally, I like Bush. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/58 "2007-03-23T18:47:11Z")
Somewhere between A and B for me. I disagree with him on Iraq, but I respect his right to think and act differently. I’m not sufficiently clued on other issues to make a judgement. ---
**Author:** ![Bobotheoptimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/919ad9/32.png) [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/59 "2007-03-23T18:49:21Z")
[QUOTE=vibrotronica] I would no more shake hands with George W. Bush than I would the devil himself. [/QUOTE] WTF? That’s a little extreme, is it not? The dude gets a bad rap every time I turn around. Sure, I’ve come to expect it but that doesn’t make it any less annoying. Oh sure, it’s fun to sit around and bash someone that can’t or won’t ever have a chance to talk back, but seriously, what has he done that’s so bad? Job was like 3000 years ago, and I still think that was just a lousy PR department that got him the blame for that little mess… ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191/60 "2007-03-23T18:57:42Z")
[QUOTE=Bobotheoptimist] WTF? That’s a little extreme, is it not? The dude gets a bad rap every time I turn around. Sure, I’ve come to expect it but that doesn’t make it any less annoying. Oh sure, it’s fun to sit around and bash someone that can’t or won’t ever have a chance to talk back, but seriously, what has he done that’s so bad? Job was like 3000 years ago, and I still think that was just a lousy PR department that got him the blame for that little mess… [/QUOTE] 😃 Well done, you got me on that. Brilliant! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-shake-george-bushs-hand/397191.md?page=4)