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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
I would avoid handshaking, but that’s for a mixture of reasons.
I really dislike handshaking. I just do.
I really dislike being in any sort of spotlight. I just do.
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!
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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…
