Bush and Putin: By Jon Gill

This weekend, news was all over the story of Bush and Putin getting together for talks. It seemed this was prompted by Putin, and that even Bush didn't really know what the purpose of the talks was. Today, I found the answer in a headline:

"Bush and Putin meet to discuss ties"

While this seems like a silly thing to travel thousands of miles for (I have done that flight, and east-to-west it's 9 1/2 hours), I understand the importance of good relationships within one's occupation. Since being president is a bit more global of an occupation than my own (bartending), I can see that it would take great measures to ensure that relationships are kept up. Still, you think they would discuss other fun things, like sports or hobbies, instead of their ties. Here is my idea of a fun conversation on ties:

Bush: "Hey Vlad, that's a kickin' tie you got there. Whaddya call that color?"
Putin: "You probably could not pronounce what we call it, but I think it translates to 'Cornflower Blue' in your country. It is Chinese silk, and it cost 3 million barrels of oil."
Bush: "Cool. I got this one in West Virginia. Flea markets are great. Not too keen on China. Love oil though."
Putin: "I think I have seen you wear this tie before."
Bush: "Oh yeah, I wear it all the time. This is my 'Hello America, do you feel safe?' tie. See? It's patriotic - got the red, the white, and the blue right in there, like our flag."
Putin: "My flag is also white and red and blue."
Bush: "No kiddin'? Cool."

Perhaps the headlines, which have been thin lately, will keep us updated on more presidential conversation pieces in the near future. I would love to see what Hugo Chavez thinks about NASCAR. I'm sure George would too.

Bush and Putin put aside their differences and their ties for the sake of occupational friendship and politeness.