Photo Credit: Gerald Herbert, Associated Press
We haven't done a photo caption contest here in far too long, and this one just begged for it. What exactly is Bush saying? Picture a word balloon above him, and what would you put in it?
Now, to be fair, Bush is being set up here. It's obvious in the photo, and it's even more obvious when you read the story AP ran with the photo:
...the president headed for the beach volleyball at Chaoyang Park, getting sandy with defending gold medalist Misty May-Treanor on the practice courts during a half-hour stop.
Bush posed for pictures with the U.S. players and staff. May-Treanor and her partner Kerri Walsh took a break in practice so Bush could try out a few bumps himself.
The president needs some work on his passing, mis-hitting a pair off his knuckles. When May-Treanor passed the ball back to him, he acted like he was going to dive after it but decided to stay on his feet.
Then May-Treanor turned her back to the president, offering her bikinied rear for one of the traditional slaps that volleyball players frequently give each other.
"Mr. President, want to?" she asked, repeating an offer she made when Bush gave a pep talk to the U.S. athletes before Friday's opening ceremonies.
Bush smilingly gave a flick with the back of his hand to the small of her back instead.
One hesitates to guess what was in the mind of the young woman, but I'm thinking she just wanted to be able to say for the rest of her life: "I was patted on my butt by a United States President, and his name wasn't Bill Clinton!"
Ahem. This is why one should hesitate before making guesses like that.
Anyway, I throw it open to all -- what caption would you write for the photo above? Remember, we've only got a few more months of Bush humor left to go, so let's make the most of it while we can! While AP managed to get the phrase "offering her bikinied rear" right next to "the president," I'm sure we can do better here if we but(t?) try.
Gold, silver, and bronze awards will be given for the best captions you guys can write. Profanity is allowed.
On your marks, get set... go!
Chris Weigant blogs at: ChrisWeigant.com