You want lox with that, Mr. President?

By Libby Spencer

This may offer a clue on why Bush prefers bombs to banter. In order to conduct diplomatic talks, you have to have some command of language:

Personal relationships were also on Mr. Bush’s mind as he arrived here in Jerusalem, just days after the May 10 wedding of his daughter, Jenna. His Israeli hosts were well aware of the nuptials; many greeted the president with the traditional Jewish offer of congratulations, “Mazel tov,” which means, “Good luck.”

But Mr. Bush had clearly not brushed up on his Hebrew. Before he left the White House, two Israeli journalists opened an interview by congratulating him — in English.

“Thank you,” Mr. Bush said. “It was — as my Jewish friends tell me, there was mazel tov.”

This is the man that claims he going to broker a peace agreement before he leaves office? One might think with those lofty goals he would have bothered to learn the meaning of the most common Hebrew phrase on the planet.

How many days is it again? My backwards Bush clock stopped working at 666. [via]

(Cross-posted at The Impolitic.)