The Queen, Bush, and Obama

BREAKING NEWS: The Queen calls Bush a dunce!

Not really.

She didn't say that, but the lib media are enjoying the Queen's joke.

WASHINGTON -- The queen had the last laugh. Dispensing with protocol briefly at the formal dinner she hosted for President Bush, Queen Elizabeth said, "I wonder whether I should start this toast by saying, 'When I was here in 1776.' "

The joke was at the expense of the president — the same president whose wife said he had to be talked into putting on the most formal dinner a White House can host — a white-tie affair.

Bush took it in stride, though, starting his toast by saying, "Your Majesty, I can't top that one."

Tuesday night's royal teasing contrasted sharply with the tightlipped, high-protocol, much-orchestrated style that characterized the British monarch's six-day U.S. tour. It was in reaction to Bush's faux pas Monday after he formally greeted the queen with trumpets, a 21-gun salute and a march by the Old Guard Fife & Drum Corp.

At one point in the South Lawn ceremony, Bush noted that the queen had dined with 10 U.S. presidents and had helped the United States "celebrate its bicentennial in 17 ... ." Bush caught himself and corrected the date to 1976." This brought loud laughter from many in the invited audience of thousands.

A chagrined Bush deadpanned that the queen just "gave me a look that only a mother could give a child."

When asked Tuesday what she had told him, Bush deferred, perhaps deciding to keep it to himself. "Nah, she didn't say anything," he told reporters.

The year 1776 cannot be a favorite year for the queen. It is the year when the monarch at the time of the American Revolution, George III, lost his richest colony.

At the Tuesday night dinner, the 81-year-old queen went on to toast her country's close relationship to the United States.

A slip of the tongue is not a big deal.

Bush didn't intend to insult the Queen.

Did Barack Obama intend to lie about the Kansas tornado?

Barack Obama, caught up in the fervor of a campaign speech Tuesday, drastically overstated the Kansas tornadoes death toll, saying 10,000 had died.

The death toll was 12.

"In case you missed it, this week, there was a tragedy in Kansas. Ten thousand people died -- an entire town destroyed," the Democratic presidential candidate said in a speech to 500 people packed into a sweltering Richmond art studio for a fundraiser.

Obama mentioned the disaster in Greensburg, Kan., in saying he had been told by the office of Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius that the state's National Guard had been depleted by its commitment to the Iraq War.

"Turns out that the National Guard in Kansas only had 40 percent of its equipment and they are having to slow down the recovery process in Kansas," Obama said, his shirt sleeves rolled up and his head glistening with sweat.

As the Illinois senator concluded his remarks a few minutes later, he appeared to realize his gaffe.

"There are going to be times when I get tired," he said. "There are going to be times when I get weary. There are going to be times when I make mistakes."

It appears that Obama can get weary, but Bush can't.

Obama can make mistakes, but Bush can't.

In my view, Obama's "gaffe" was a major screw up.

He wasn't thinking at all. How does one say that 10,000 people died in a natural disaster and not realize IMMEDIATELY that he misspoke?

Obama must be very, very weary.

If Obama can't handle the campaign trail, how could he handle the responsibilities of being the President of the United States?