News I think I may need a bathroom break. Is this possible?

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The discussion centers around a humorous incident involving President George W. Bush, who was caught on camera writing a note to Condoleezza Rice during a UN summit, asking if he could take a bathroom break. This sparked a mix of amusement and criticism regarding the implications of a leader needing to ask for such a basic necessity. Participants shared personal anecdotes about similar situations, highlighting the absurdity of the moment. The conversation also touched on the nature of leadership, with some questioning whether it was appropriate for Bush to ask Rice for permission, while others found the entire scenario trivial and entertaining. The thread evolved into a broader commentary on the media's focus on such incidents, with some participants expressing disbelief that this became a topic of serious discussion. Overall, the incident was viewed as a blend of humor and a reflection on the pressures of leadership, with many finding it absurd yet laughable.
  • #31
Evo said:
Well, he can't just get up and walk out of the room.
Why not?
Evo said:
What is he expected to do if he needs to go to the bathroom?
Tell his aide he is going and then get up and go of course.

Why does he need to ask Rice if he can go? Is it usual for a boss to ask an underling if it is okay to do something? It may seem trivial but it appears to give an insight into how Bush's cabinet works with many tails wagging the dog.
 
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  • #32
Lisa! said:
Oops, you know me. I always make lots of mistakes in my posts! :wink:
Hey, not to worry. I get whole words wrong (I meant prefix, not suffix).
 
  • #33
Art said:
Is it usual for a boss to ask an underling if it is okay to do something?
Yeah.
It's called working together.
 
  • #34
Working together? So Bush DOES need help to pee? Jeez, I was only kidding!
 
  • #35
El Hombre Invisible said:
Working together? So Bush DOES need help to pee? Jeez, I was only kidding!
Have you ever set in a meeting where the subject is important to countless people? I've set in meetings where if someone didn't listen well enough there could be funerals the next day. You don't take bathroom breaks in these meetings unless you have someone close take notes for you, and I sure hope my head of state doesn't walk out on a meeting just as my welfare rights are being discussed.
Would you rather he walked out as if his presence there is meaningless? Seeing as his shortcomings are raised here so often, would you rather he would not consult his aides?
I do not like him all that much but it's like he's "fair game" regardless of the actual facts. Any kid who's done nothing more than go to school and surf the net a few hours a day passes judgment like they've managed a world-wide relief organisation. It's blown way beyond proportions.
 
  • #36
Art said:
:confused: Why do you say that? the article explicitly says If the note was being passed back and forth why wouldn't the article say so?
Becuase of this:
Wilking shot about 200 images and sent two memory cards to the press room at the U.N., where Hershorn was working. Hershorn looked at the images on a computer and initially decided not to send any of them.

But a few hours later, he started to wonder about a note that Bush was seen writing in three of the pictures. Out of curiosity, he zoomed into see if he could read it.
The man was taking a lot of pic and wasn't focusing on the note in the pic in question so it is reasonably likely he cannot claim for certain that Bush was responsible for all of the writing. Obviously what you quoted is backed up by the pic, but it doesn't back up the suggestion that Bush wrote the whole note.
Art said:
Confirmation that it was Bush who requested permission to go to the bathroom http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1782805,00.html
Now that makes it seems rather likely that it was Bush who wrote the top part of the note as well.
Evo said:
I can't believe that there is actually a thread about going to the bathroom. Because he's President, he can't ask for a bathroom break? Do you people really have nothing better to do? :rolleyes:
It is all the asking that troubles me, "think", "may", "?"; that is hardly the mentality of strong leadership.
 
  • #37
It sort of reminds me of when Jimmy Carter was attacked by a rabbit in his boat.

It's just plain absurd and quite embarassing.
 
  • #38
kyleb said:
Becuase of this:

The man was taking a lot of pic and wasn't focusing on the note in the pic in question so it is reasonably likely he cannot claim for certain that Bush was responsible for all of the writing. Obviously what you quoted is backed up by the pic, but it doesn't back up the suggestion that Bush wrote the whole note.

Now that makes it seems rather likely that it was Bush who wrote the top part of the note as well.

It is all the asking that troubles me, "think", "may", "?"; that is hardly the mentality of strong leadership.
Aside from that...if he wrote all of the note, it appears he printed the top half first, then added to it in cursive. The handwriting experts might have a field day with this. I'll try to do some research and see if/what this may indicate about personality...
 
  • #39
SOS2008 said:
Aside from that...if he wrote all of the note, it appears he printed the top half first, then added to it in cursive. The handwriting experts might have a field day with this. I'll try to do some research and see if/what this may indicate about personality...

The change from uppercase to lowercase letters for no apparent reason...

That's an offshoot of dyslexia. We were just talking about Bush's dyslexia the other day...
 
  • #40
Huh, I have dyslexia and have never been aware of that being a trait of the disorder, but then dyslexia is a fairly broad label that covers multiple causes and has wide range of symptoms as well.

Regardless, the change from print to cursive comes off as mildly schizophrenic to me.
 
  • #41
TRCSF said:
The change from uppercase to lowercase letters for no apparent reason...

That's an offshoot of dyslexia. We were just talking about Bush's dyslexia the other day...
Or simply a symptom of the stress caused by an urgent need to go to the bathroom. :biggrin:
 
  • #42
Seriously, that man must do little to no writing. The willy-nilly switching between print, cursive, uppercase, and lowercase disturbs me greatly, as does the fact that he ended a declaratory sentence with a question mark.
 
  • #43
Yonoz said:
Have you ever set in a meeting where the subject is important to countless people? I've set in meetings where if someone didn't listen well enough there could be funerals the next day. You don't take bathroom breaks in these meetings unless you have someone close take notes for you, and I sure hope my head of state doesn't walk out on a meeting just as my welfare rights are being discussed.
Would you rather he walked out as if his presence there is meaningless? Seeing as his shortcomings are raised here so often, would you rather he would not consult his aides?
I do not like him all that much but it's like he's "fair game" regardless of the actual facts. Any kid who's done nothing more than go to school and surf the net a few hours a day passes judgment like they've managed a world-wide relief organisation. It's blown way beyond proportions.
I don't think you got the point. It isn't that Bush had to flush out his terrorists in the middle of a UN summit - although maybe he should lay off the booze on these occassions - but that he had to ASK Rice if he could do so. This is where there is some division - it is not a question of whether this is good, bad, right, wrong, telling, irrelevant, short, tall, fat, thin, whatever the flaming hell you over-sensitive, ill-humoured types are ranting on about... but whether it was FUNNY! More importantly, whether it was funny WHEN DRUNK, as I was when I started the thread. I wasn't starting this to examine the ethical ins and outs of Bush's bladder's bloatedness - it just made me laugh! Others laughed too, others didn't. Takes all sorts, etc. But defending the man's right to ask if he can pee is just... too... sad. Lighten up!
 
  • #44
El Hombre Invisible said:
I don't think you got the point. It isn't that Bush had to flush out his terrorists in the middle of a UN summit - although maybe he should lay off the booze on these occassions - but that he had to ASK Rice if he could do so. This is where there is some division - it is not a question of whether this is good, bad, right, wrong, telling, irrelevant, short, tall, fat, thin, whatever the flaming hell you over-sensitive, ill-humoured types are ranting on about... but whether it was FUNNY! More importantly, whether it was funny WHEN DRUNK, as I was when I started the thread. I wasn't starting this to examine the ethical ins and outs of Bush's bladder's bloatedness - it just made me laugh! Others laughed too, others didn't. Takes all sorts, etc. But defending the man's right to ask if he can pee is just... too... sad. Lighten up!
Right, sorry. :blushing:
Sometimes the border between humour and seriousness is a little fuzzy here.
I do believe some of the critics were discussing this seriously.
 
  • #45
So now we're performing psychoanalysis and handwriting analysis on a note regarding the need to use a restroom? This is even more absurd and surreal than the note itself. I feel like I'm dreaming as I read through this thread.
 
  • #46
loseyourname said:
So now we're performing psychoanalysis and handwriting analysis on a note regarding the need to use a restroom? This is even more absurd and surreal than the note itself. I feel like I'm dreaming as I read through this thread.


Ain't it the ever loving truth! :rolleyes:
 
  • #47
loseyourname said:
So now we're performing psychoanalysis and handwriting analysis on a note regarding the need to use a restroom? This is even more absurd and surreal than the note itself. I feel like I'm dreaming as I read through this thread.
I saw it as entertainment, but I am surprised the thread has gone this long. But then it has been the tendency in this forum to analyze the tiniest things to extreme (like the slight nuance in meanings of words, etc.).
 
  • #48
SOS2008 said:
I saw it as entertainment, but I am surprised the thread has gone this long. But then it has been the tendency in this forum to analyze the tiniest things to extreme (like the slight nuance in meanings of words, etc.).

Oh, it's certainly funny, but I don't exactly see it as letting me into the inner workings of Bush's mind.
 
  • #49
loseyourname said:
So now we're performing psychoanalysis and handwriting analysis on a note regarding the need to use a restroom? This is even more absurd and surreal than the note itself. I feel like I'm dreaming as I read through this thread.
Yep, this gets my vote for the most meaningless and absurd thread in PF political forum history.
 
  • #51
loseyourname said:
Oh, it's certainly funny, but I don't exactly see it as letting me into the inner workings of Bush's mind.
Nor I. I think SOS, Art, et al were kidding. Russ got the vibe too. The problem is certain people thought this might be ammo, and certain others may be a little fed up with jokes featuring Bush as their butt and have come to stomp heads. Ho hum.
 
  • #52
Evo said:
Yep, this gets my vote for the most meaningless and absurd thread in PF political forum history.
\o/ Do I get a little icon in my profile for that?
 
  • #53
loseyourname said:
Oh, it's certainly funny, but I don't exactly see it as letting me into the inner workings of Bush's mind.

Makes me think of the Totally Perspective Vortex :-p
 
  • #54
vanesch said:
Makes me think of the Totally Perspective Vortex :-p
I shudder to think what he saw in it. Perhaps the finished note ended: "Is it possible this is the work of the evil-doers?"
 
  • #55
loseyourname said:
So now we're performing psychoanalysis and handwriting analysis on a note regarding the need to use a restroom? This is even more absurd and surreal than the note itself. I feel like I'm dreaming as I read through this thread.
You aint seen nutin yet...

It only gets better.

 
  • #56
Protocol is such a pain. But, how does it look if he just gets up and leaves; that's probably why he was asking, so he would be sure not to offend anyone.

The news was definitely in the toilet today...the other big story around here apparently is that Home Depot is being sued because some guy got glued to one of their toilet seats and it took 20 min before an employee believed him and called for help...had to be taken to the hospital with toilet seat still attached. I saw a clip from MSNBC where the reporter couldn't even get through the story with a straight face.
 
  • #57
Evo said:
Yep, this gets my vote for the most meaningless and absurd thread in PF political forum history.
Well, you were looking for funniest member nominees. :smile:
 
  • #58
I'm an HVAC engineer - I design (test, troubleshoot, etc) heating and air conditioning systems. The story was from a past life when I was enlisted in the Navy.
wow youve had two lifes? :biggrin:
 
  • #59
What is this - night of the living thread?!? Who reanimated this thing?
 
  • #60
Dunno but I laughed :biggrin:
 

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