Victory

S prazdnikom dorogie druz’ia!

These two crack me up. Boy it looks like they’re having fun. So much fun that the only positive things to have come out of Bush’s trip so far have been these highlights reported in the New York Times:

Mr. Bush and Mr. Putin even took a brief spin on the dacha grounds in a gleaming 1956 Volga, with Mr. Bush at the wheel. In a photograph that is likely to become a symbol of the good will that the White House and Kremlin sought to portray here on a damp spring evening, the two presidents waved from the windows as the car, purchased by Mr. Putin last year, emerged from a forest of birches.

“I’m having so much fun, we’re going for another lap,” Mr. Bush told reporters.

(Ooh, it’s too good an opportunity to miss. What’s going on in there? Is Bush saying to Putin, “Sorry Vlad, I’m afraid it’s the airline food, I’ll just roll down the window…”)

Or there’s this symbol of friendship between the two, when Bush later said:

“I am looking forward to the celebration tomorrow,” Mr. Bush said. “It is a moment where the world will recognize the great bravery and sacrifice the Russian people made in the defeat of Nazism.”

“I’m glad you invited me and Laura to dinner tonight,” he added. “Having had one of your meals before, I’m looking forward to this one a lot.”