THEY'RE LIKE THE BLACK CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS AT THE STATE OF THE UNION:

European Union leaders in battle for Bush's ear (Graham Bowley, February 21, 2005, International Herald Tribune)

The government of tiny Luxembourg, which has been charged with organizing the summit meeting, held primarily to close the rift caused by the Iraq war, has complained about the embarrassing haggling between EU countries, and between proud Brussels institutions, to get valuable time with the president.

"If ridicule could kill, there would be bodies piling up in the streets in Brussels," said Jean-Claude Juncker, the prime minister of Luxembourg. "One day you will read in my memoirs the difficulty to find the right way to have a press conference or to put a knife and fork together without having disrespect between institutions."

Leaders have been nudging each other aside to get to talk to the president, who many had reviled over the war in Iraq.