Chance Encounter

He only clapped his arm over Clinton's shoulder this time, but the story reminded me of Bush's other habit: hanging his lazy arm over the common folk. He did it to that firefighter during that bullhorn moment next to the twin towers' rubble; he did it to some Katrina survivors. He's done it several times since; watch him in a photo op moment with the commoners and chances are you'll see him do it.

We're not talking the warm, comforting arm around the shoulder here (which to be fair, he also does sometimes); this is about his arm hanging over someone's shoulder like a limp noodle.

I've always found it extremely patronizing and rude; it suggests a familiarity and informality that isn't there, with a healthy dose of arrogant, "I'll hang my lazy arm over you because I'm the POTUS and I can, dammit".

Those folks didn't seem to mind but personally, I don't care if you're the freakin' President of the Universe; you'll respect my personal space and you certainly can't use my shoulder as an arm rack!



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