Some outside observers found it ironic that members of the once-salty world
of American journalism had become so delicate - recently issuing
proclamations against profanity and urging greater sensitivity in newsrooms
- while those who once criticized Bush for his cowboy ways longed for tough
talk.
At a press conference, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld turned the
tables and blamed the press for Bush's seeming lapse of manliness.
"If President Bush had said the Œs' word, you people would have gotten your
panties in a bunch. Ew, a bad word, we're gonna te-ell. Then when he doesn't
say a bad word, you have a hissy fit anyway. What is it you people want? Why
don't you figure it out and drop us a memo?
"The truth is, you people did this to him. President Bush used to speak his
mind and at least you knew where he stood. And so did our enemies. Now,
thanks to your incessant ragging, he's become cautious, self-censoring and,
frankly, weak. Me? I wish he'd said, ŒSyria needs to stop doing this s---.'
Why?
"Because that's how real men talk, that's why. Because when a real man
thinks about Hezbollah, he doesn't think about dookie. We know what
Hezbollah is. It rhymes with Œspit' and you scrape it off your shoe, and we
ought to scrape Hezbollah off the face of the earth. Same for Hamas."
Needless to say, Rumsfeld's remarks have been widely circulated - and poorly
received - throughout the Arab and Muslim world. Asked if he regretted or
wanted to apologize for his comments, he said, "No, I felt better after I
said them."
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, meanwhile, has gained new fans,
including Sunni Palestinians, who admire his chutzpah in attacking the
region's mightiest military power. When asked by an al-Jazeera reporter if
he had a message for President Bush, Nasrallah replied: "Shiite happens."