…well, that’s what my Father would have said, had he been around to witness the smarmy perviness (thanks for submitting this to the news tab, KXB!):
For those who (like me) can’t see wideo at work, here’s what went down:
Sarah Palin and the foreign leaders she has met with in New York have said very little to reporters over the last two days, but the press happened to be in the room on Wednesday for one eyebrow-raising exchange, as the new president of Pakistan lavished praise on Palin’s looks. [CNN]
But first, his wing-woman conveniently buttered her up:
On entering a room filled with several Pakistani officials this afternoon, Palin was immediately greeted by Sherry Rehman, the country’s Information Minister.
“And how does one keep looking that good when one is that busy?,” Rehman asked, drawing friendly laughter from the room when she complimented Palin.
“Oh, thank you,” Palin said. [CNN]
Cue goosebumps from Uncle Slimey:
Pakistan’s recently-elected president, Asif Ali Zardari, entered the room seconds later. Palin rose to shake his hand, saying she was “honored†to meet him.
Zardari then called her “gorgeous” and said: “Now I know why the whole of America is crazy about you.”
“You are so nice,” Palin said, smiling. “Thank you.”
A handler from Zardari’s entourage then told the two politicians to keep shaking hands for the cameras.
“If he’s insisting, I might hug,” Zardari said. Palin smiled politely. [CNN]
CLASSY.
Blogger Teeth Maestro has this to say:
I do not mean to suggest that this is in anyway a crime, but being the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan there are some protocols that should be adhered to in an effort to uplift the respect and dignity of Pakistan and to the office with which he has been assigned to. [link]
Such protocols or standards shouldn’t just be adhered to by the leader of Pakistan, they should be expected of any leader, period. Palin looked uneasy and Zardari seemed sleazy; I don’t think this is what McCain had in mind, when he sent his vice-MILF to New York. Silly Republicans, it ain’t sex and The City* for nothing.
::
*One of my pet peeves used to be the lazy and inaccurate substitution of “in” for “at”, when it came to the title of that now defunct series which became an awful movie. AND. AND. It was always AND, damn it.
Moose + Palin + 5 more clowns = this.
Remember that the McCain campaign has tried its best to shield Palin from reporters and serious questioning.
When the extent of your policy decision making is moose crap disposal then it makes sense.
heh heh. good ol’ asif. spent several years in confinement, volatile temperament, and always being so unpredictable. he’s my second favorite maverick.
clearly zardari’s in the tank for mccain, knowing his behaviour will lead to PUMA sympathy for Palin. I suspect this is being done at the behest of bill clinton, who is now as close to openly endorsing mccain as one can be without actually doing it. probably he asked bono first, but he declined, worrying that mccain wouyld hurt his hedge fund.
49 · Marl Balou said
Thank you! There is a clip after all, so they must have let in the video crews. But a no-live-mikes rule – or visuals-only rule – makes a big difference. Notice in the same clip that Zardari’s interaction now appears relatively innocuous, when voiced over.
Ikram does have a point. i’ve seen many a woman fall faster for Pakistani men than Lehman shares on the NYSE. They don’t get enough credit for this.
I thought that’s against sharia law to hit on other women. haha.
So, I don’t know how this is playing out in redland, but is McCain being seen, at least to some extent, as the gigantic douche that he’s shown himself to be in the last couple of days? First cutting and running on the debate, and next, trampling all over whatever delicate consensus could be ironed out? Gee, I can’t wait to see the narrative that will come out in the next day or three (it will probably have to be after Friday so he can weasel out of the debate, and schedule it in such a manner as to prevent the Palin-Biden debate from happening) about how this crazy, self-absorbed coot is the knight in shining armor who brought unity to Washington.
I don’t know how this is playing out in redland
dont shoot until you can see the whites of their eyes
58 · mccain bailed out? said
You are so freakin spot on with your observation that I can now myself “feel” the
hypehope for change…Yea McCain is such a douche, fo shoz…Oh Man Oh Man SO EXCITING…I really really ridiculously hope that you won’t be let down!!! But only three more days!!!…Gotta wait gotta wait!!!Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub…Yay Obama! PBUH
Not making excuses for him…really, I’m not. But. I have seen older desi men do the same to women in positions of power, to show comraderie, etc. They just don’t know how else to act. Once the woman deflects the small talk and moves to business talk, the men then snap back to the business-mode. I think its just that they don’t really know how to make small talk. Cringe-worthy? Sure. But not creepy.
Chachaji, As always you have hot the nail on the head.
As for hugging business- Here in the good ole US it’s quite common, at least in my circle. 8 out of 10 American women hug my husband when departing. Always initiated by them as you know he is a desi, he would be labeled pervert if he try to even shake their hands. I know it has lot to do with his looks and manners not his position. He is a younger Tom Selleck look alike. I’m cool with it since I know him well for over 20 years. But I don’t like these double standards where women are allowed to tease men but when men even hint it they labeled sick. And don’t get me started on eastern and western values.
BTW, Zardari need to be coached more by some PR guy to get out of these situations more gracefully.
58 · mccain bailed out? said
I think the South eats it up. Here’s a man who is truly COUNTRY FIRST. A man who sees the big picture and knows what needs to be done! A man with vision! etc etc etc.
I’m ready for tonight. And so glad McCain decided he could show up after all.
I think there was nothing an inappropriate on Mr. Zardari’s part. He is well-civilized person and know others’ mores as well. Let him do wht the Romans do when in Rome. For God’s sake, come out of conservative thinking….There is no harm in praise during greeting…
64 · Faik Ali said
OK. I guess I don’t know what civilized actually means. Whatever. And for all of you who are whining about the misrepresentation of Zardari’s comments. You did hear that the first thing he said was, “You are so gorgeous” followed by “Now I know why America is so fond of/likes/whatever you.” Even if it’s true, it’s still insulting IN THEORY to assume that Sarah Pallin’s likeability is based solely on her looks.
You know, if I (a woman) were a foreign head of state and I thought Vlad Putin was a hottie, would I say, “Oh, Vad, you’re so handsome, now I know why everyone in Russia puts up with your crap?”
And “do what the Romans do?!!” What is that supposed to mean, anyway? I sincerely doubt that Biden will be commenting on how “gorgeous” Palin is during their debate. Though, you never do know what’s going to come out of that man’s mouth…
Maybe he is referring to the other legendary thing caligula was famous for…
Well, at least he was more couth than the Prime Minister.
6 · nation of islam said
Agree with that.
Maybe in that patient-physiatrist way there would be an appeal. (I’ll let you guys decide whos is who). But when she starts talking she is hella ugly!
I’m still trying to figure out why people think Sarah Palin is fine. Just because she’s a woman doesn’t mean she looks good. Michelle Obama is 1000 times finer any day of the week.
Yeah, I can’t understand either why men are going ga ga over her or Michele – but Biden’s wife – she’s a beauty and a grandma.
This was so inappropriate for a country’s leader – as it was with Kennedy or anyone else doing such things. But I’ve got a feeling this is pretty common – commenting on a women leader’s looks by many male leaders – but Zardari was foolish enough to make comments like this where the press could record it; at least American presidents try and hide their sexism – lol.
PS, I grant that sexism certainly exists – and reflects itself in many unpleasant ways. But I think what a person looks like is not irrelevant to their entire persona, and this is even more true of politicians. In the old days, low resolution ‘photowires’ in gray scale printed on poor-quality ‘newsprint’ was all we had. But today’s media has unprecedented reach, access, resolution, color, etc. Given this, it is silly to expect that a fellow politician (derided, in his own country by many, as an intellectual lightweight and playboy) would not comment on the other’s visual appeal.
Zardari is guilty, if anything, of flubbing his lines. The point he seemed to have been making is that she is even more impressive in person than on TV (Instead, he said “in life”.) As far as him ‘now knowing why America is ga-ga over her’, he’s dead on. Also, neither seemed fully aware of the implications of a live mike, if they were in fact made aware of it – it is possible that their handlers screwed up, and let it in without either (or themselves) knowing.
Watch the clip without the sound actuality to ‘see’ what I mean. It looks innocuous enough.
The other thing to note is that video exposes the transparent fakery of the handshakes and artificial smiles completely. And it must have been a really conspiratorial handler who got them to do it twice, showing how completely devoid of spontaneity it can be. In the circs, I see Zardari’s banter as an ‘injection of levity’, rather like the way Hank Paulson went down on bended knee before Nancy Pelosi.
Sarah Palin is not some feeble woman who can be twisted by evil man; she is running for second most important position in the world. If she didn’t have any problem with it then why should others? Stop making something out of anything. I think it just tells us Sarah (next VP hopeful) and Asif (Civilian head of one of the most important country in current situation) were trying to look friendlier in public eye.
As long as our Civilian world leaders can solve matters on the table, I’m with them. West needs to clean up Afghanistan because they are the one who created this mess.
But I think what a person looks like is not irrelevant to their entire persona, and this is even more true of politicians.
I’d have to disagree with you. I really thought he was slimy. What you said above, yes, a person’s looks can be a big influence in all aspects of life…but I do think, particularly in politics it can only take you so far. Look at some of the women politicians like Hilary or Pelosi – I actually think they are both good-looking women – but particularly Hillary, one of the most successful women politicans in history, is considered not attractive. Ferraro or Shirley Chisholm- I don’t think they are considered that attractive either and they were successful in their own right.
I’m really stumped by Palin’s “fans” calling her so attractive – it seems to be the first thing anybody thinks of when she came on board the Mccain campain. Does it reflect on her weak credentials? She has certainly gotten such a different treatment, by fellow politicans, at least in public, than Hillary. All gloves were off when it came to Hillary and maybe this is because, she was so powerful and smart.
The point is though, as a country’s leader, it’s inappropriate to be making such comments about her looks – The fact that the live mike, caught this doesn’t make it less so and yes, it can be an indication that they weren’t prepped for what publicly would be caught. Like I said, I’m sure some of our American male leaders, with their records in adultary and reputations for being a playboy, could have said things like this to other leaders, or women that they worked with, but the live mike didn’t catch it, or they were aware it would be inappropriate and look completely unprofessional to say this. And I don’t think American was going “ga-ga” – I think some Repubs desperate for some attention were going ga-ga and we know that’s about half the population.
I guess you are viewing this a different way, b/c you think there is a stereotype about slimy desi uncles? – but I don’t think that is my issue – as a women, who works, you often get slimy inappropriate comments made your way, and it can be awkward or infuriating – so far it hasn’t been desis that I experienced that have made inappropriate comments my way, so I don’t think I’m likely to stereotype. slimy or inappropriate is the same whatever the person’s background.
73 · PS said
don’t knock him, he’s just following the lead of republican opinion leaders: RUSH: She’s not going to remind anybody of their ex-wife, she’s going to remind men, “Gee, I wish she was single.”
74 · hot momma said
Why am I not surprised 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHHcf6ZNVM8
i love geo’s take on this nasty mess. at least you can sing along. he’s really mourning benazir. greasy fool.
70 · chachaji said
Chachaji,
since you’re sifting through the fine details here, how long did these meetings last? Did Zardari really have to fill up dead time or could he have simply said, “hi, how are you, that’s great, goodbye.” And will he come off looking like anything less than the Heartlanders’ nightmare dinner guest (Not, “guess who’s coming to dinner” but “dread who is coming to dinner!”)? Intentions are irrelevant in the anecdotal exchanges that form real world arguments, I just resent the fact that the people I work with (i.e. patrons of such fair and balanced sites like HotAir, AceofSpades, Little Green Footballs, etc.) are seeing the xenophobic flip-side of what everyone who commented here saw initially, a creepy greasy furriner itching to paw a white woman.
OMG yes! totally my pet peeve too…i used to work with this old lady called gena at a books/dvd/cd store (kind of like borders, but called whitcoulls in nz) who fully insisted that it was ‘sex in the city…cos that’s where they do it! in the city!’ to a customer and dismissed my satc knowledge.
it’s ALWAYS BEEN AND! really people.
i love gena but it’s hard to forgive her for that little moment of wrongness.
76 · Nayagan said
Nayagan, since you’re willing to grant that there might be a reality other than the one you and other commenters perceived through that video clip – or at least, I think you seem to, based on your comment – then really, all else is moot. Let’s just go forth and say, this is how it looks to me, so this is how it must have been.
Still, since you asked a question: I believe it was a half-hour meeting. And to keep this comment interesting, of course, Zardari could have done anything. He could, for example, have pretended he was meeting a lady dropping in from Victorian England, and greeted her with a slight bow, delicately taking her fingers in his, as if she were a delicate piece of china. No handshake that. Which is what Manmohan Singh pretty much did. And he needn’t have said anything whatever. Or he could have mumbled something while blushing for all the world to see. Then the media and the chatterati could have fun asking whether his lips actually moved during the interaction. (With Manmohan Singh, this is exactly what they did.)
But Zardari’s is an effusive personality. You should have seen him rushing off to the Visitor’s Gallery to hug Nawaz Sharif, his political archrival and on-again off-again ally, the minute he finished his inaugural Parliament speech, with his entourage running after him, trying to keep up.
Etiquette and protocol place some demands on behavior, but not to the point of having to let all spontaneity and effusiveness and fun out of even high-level political interactions. Since most of these go unrecorded aurally, this is pure speculation, but trying to get each other to smile artificially is hard without some casual banter. Granted, it won’t meet stand-up comic standards of timing and content, especially after the fact. There must be thousands of such pieces of failed attempts at humor lost to history. This one made it in.
All that said, the big story here is how a Republican Administration managed to get the party’s nominee for VP to meet 3 South Asian Heads of State/Government so that she could now claim that fact. (Remember Charlie Gibson had actually asked her that.) She dropped Zardari’s name the first chance she got, in her (follow-up) interview with Katie Couric.
78 · chachaji said
anna & tash:
but “in” always made more sense. that is where they did it, right?