NEW YORK (AP) -- An impromptu back rub that President George W. Bush gave German Chancellor Angela Merkel is now massaging millions of funnybones.

A 5-second video and series of photographs recently posted on YouTube.com and various blogs show Bush surprising Merkel at the G-8 Summit by quickly rubbing the back of her neck and shoulders. The chancellor immediately hunches her shoulders, throws her arms up and grimaces, though she appears to smile as Bush walks away.

The video has been one of the most popular clips on the Web and spawned countless remarks on the particulars of etiquette for world leaders.

Coupled with Bush's use of an expletive at the summit and a U.S. senator comparing the Internet to a "series of tubes," the incident reveals anew the power of the Web -- and YouTube, specifically -- to beam embarrassing political gaffes around the world.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/interne....ap/index.html

Five second video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dfrH...0george%20bush


Jon Stewart's analysis....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzv2F...0george%20bush

Jon's joking commentary included...
1) "The chancellor of Germany disengaged herself from the president of the United States using a move she learned in date rape prevention class."
2) If that had been President Clinton, he would have somehow managed to remove her bra...

What an asshat. Sure his attitude "plays well with the heartland", but this is diplomacy. You don't go up and give the Chancellor of Germany a message.

Why not? Shroeder did all he could to not help America. At least she is pro American. Maybe it's kinda like him saying "massage my shoulders and I'll massage yours.

Schroeder wasn't anti-American, he was just anti-war. Schroeder didn't damage relations with the US, THE US damaged relations with Germany. The inciting event was the Iraq War, not the election of Schroeder. Its just basic logic man.

And there's something called common etiquette; especially at a summit. If you met with someone distinguished and someone that you essentially don't know, you don't just get up and give them a message. The biggest thing I have a problem about this here isn't the fact that he did this, but it just display's Bush's contempt of other countries and other world leaders. This is the same condescending attitude that he uses toward the press and American people. As if what they think don't matter, and he's right all the time. If he's viewed as the village idiot and someone that just doesn't take diplomacy seriously, then world leaders wont take him seriously and shit like what happens in North Korea and Iran happens.

Even Bill Clinton would have more tact than that, and that's saying a lot...

He was anti-Iraq war which makes him anti-American. How do you get from a shoulder massage to Bush showing contempt for other countries and world leaders? That is quite a jump, but easy to make if you have a bad case of Bush Derangement Syndrome like you have.

So I'm anti-American because I'm anti-Iraq War? That is quite a jump, but easy to make if you have a bad case of Liberal Derangement Syndrom like you have.

It is vital to America that we win in Iraq. You don't get it. It's way past time that that region be tilled over and a new crop started. The world cannot go on living with this shit. This is just starting and you don't get it.

How is it vital to America? It may be important to Iraqis, but I highly doubt pulling out of Iraq will threaten the sovereignty of the United States. Iraq isn't going to suddenly grow a military worthy of landing on our shores and sacking Washington D.C.

If anything, this war is anti-American. Because the only thing it has done is recruited for groups like Al-Qaeda. It has only made the security of this nation much more jeapardized.