George Bush may not have the intellectual firepower of the Greatest President In History, but he had his own way of cutting through the crap.
Tony Blair tells one story in his new autobiography:
In his new book, A Journey, Mr Blair writes that the former US president was confused by the presence of Guy Verhofstadt at the 2001 G8 summit in Genoa.
“He didn’t know or recognise Guy, whose advice he listened to with considerable astonishment,” Mr Blair writes. “He then turned to me and whispered, ‘Who is this guy?’ ‘He is the prime minister of Belgium,’ I said.
“Belgium? George said, clearly aghast at the possible full extent of his stupidity. ‘Belgium is not part of the G8’.”
Mr Blair explained to Mr Bush that Mr Verhofstadt was there as “president of Europe”. Belgium held the presidency of the EU council at the time.
Mr Bush responded: “You got the Belgians running Europe?” before shaking his head, “now aghast at our stupidity”, Mr Blair writes.
What’s the only thing worse than having Belgians running Europe? Having a community organizer running the United States.
H/T: Telegraph UK
This post was last modified on January 26, 2021


View Comments (5)
I spent a lot of time in Antwerp and Zeebrugge over the years and learned three things about Belgium: 1. They have good beer, 2. They make good chocolate, and 3. It makes a great back door into France for Germany...
I would'nt mind going there, but there are places I would go before Belgium. Plus, I'll ake your word on #1(I'm allergic to beer),#2, they do have good chocolate. As for #3, I would'nt know.
Work took me to Belgium on multiple occasions.
3. It makes a great back door into France for Germany… World War II reference to Germany's invasion of France through Belgium thus avoiding the Maginot Line.
Look folks, I'm part Flemish(part of Belgium)& I'll say who gives a crap. The next time Belgium matters outside of the women's tennis scene, then I'll give a damn. Belgium, for all intents & purposes, does not matter.
How was he to know? All those white "Guys" look the same. ;-)