November 22, 2002
LITTLE RASCALS HOUR:
Chretien turns down resignation of his aide for her reported 'moron' remark (LOUISE ELLIOTT, 11/21/02, CP)Prime Minister Jean Chretien said Friday he has refused the resignation of his embattled communications director, Francoise Ducros, over her alleged remark that U.S. President George W. Bush is a "moron." [...]Earlier Friday, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said the reported remarks won't sour Canada-U.S. relations. [...]
Graham vehemently denied Canada-U.S. relations have deteriorated seriously, saying they are no worse than they were under former prime minister Brian Mulroney despite Mulroney's reputedly close relationship with former president Ronald Reagan.
"Different styles are different styles," he said of the contrast between the approaches toward Washington taken by Mulroney and Chretien. "But the strength of the relationship is there."
Graham said he "didn't accept the premise" that the relationship between the countries has worsened significantly under a perception of anti-Americanism among some Liberals, though he acknowledged having been tough on certain issues.
"We've had tremendous disagreements over trade policy," he said. "Believe you me, if you're concerned about that (moron remark), you should have heard what I had to say to Mr. Powell over softwood lumber."
But, he said, the countries have a good framework to manage disagreements "and we manage it well."
Chretien, who tried to douse the flames of controversy Thursday, saying the remark was inappropriate. Bush is "a friend of mine," Chretien said. "He's not a moron at all, he's a friend. My personal relations with the president are extremely good."
That's simply a lie. As we've noted before, Mr. Bush despises Mr. Chretien. And not just Chretien, Fred Barnes on Fox News Special Report last night, said that Vaclav Havel asked President Bush if he'd mind if they changed the seating arrangement so that Gerhard Schroeder was sitting next to him. (Apparently Mr. Schroeder is obsessed by the deterioration of their personal relationship.) Mr. Bush told Mr. Havel that there was no way he'd sit next to the German chancellor.
Posted by Orrin Judd at November 22, 2002 2:32 PM
You would think someone named Chretien would be a little more sensitive on the moron crack.
Posted by: David Cohen at November 22, 2002 2:04 PMChretien is the French word for "Christian". It has no relationship to "cretin".
Posted by: James Haney at November 22, 2002 2:35 PMOdd, there appears
to be a relationship.
“Chretien said there have been no official complaints from American officials at the NATO summit, which closed Friday. He said U.S.-Canada relations had not been damaged.”
--
Of course there are no complaints. We Americans have got the drill down. (Well, about 53% of us do, anyway)
Bush demonstrates to everyone what a moron he is by….. saying what Bush says, and doing what Bush does.
Euro-Lefties on both sides of the Atlantic chortle about what a moron he is.
Bush then drives over them in his 4x4, crushes them under his wheels, and speeds off, leaving them broken by the side of the road, screaming “What a moron he is” in voices trailing off into silence. Bush laughs into rear-view mirror.
Bush moves onto next issue.
Process repeats itself.
Canada-US relations may not have been damaged by "The Remark" because it's likely they can't get any worse.... (Proof: Observant pundits have noted that Chretien has never been invited by Bush to go fishing or play golf!!)
Posted by: Barry Meislin at November 23, 2002 10:38 AM