He Pees!

by Daniel Gale-Grogen

Photos taken by a Reuters photographer could reveal how the press will be treating George W. Bush in the near future. The photos, taken during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, were shot over the president's shoulder and reveal the contents of a note being written: "I Think I May Need a Bathroom Break," Bush wrote.

Now, under normal conditions, there would be no good reason for the public to see a note like this, which was being passed to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He cannot simply stand up and walk out -- the diplomatic ramifications of a sudden and unexpected exit could be dire. Then again, he cannot stand up, raising one hand with the other on his crotch and yell, like a kindergartener, "I have to pee, Mr. Annan!" So, unless the note constituted some kind of invitation to his diplomatrix, Bush was doing the right thing. Still, the existence of these photos on a wire service is an indicator that the press is no longer so prone to treating Bush as though he were Christ Jesus striding on the Potomac.

The days of that old AP photo of Bush with the presidential seal behind him, creating an aurora, are gone. There is blood in the water, and if Bush does something embarrassing, it will make its way to the public. In fact, just the mainstream press acknowledgment that the man urinates, defecates and commits other mortal bodily waste to a porcelain fate is refreshing.

As, I'm sure, was his bathroom break.