La Gloria gets a Star-spangled salute at Bush ‘White House’

WASHINGTON, DC – It was a big welcome mat laid out for President Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday morning on the south lawn of the White House – you know, the fife and drum variety – followed by reception on the State Floor tendered by US President George W. Bush and his First Lady, Ms. Laura Bush.

What transpired later in the more intimate setting of the Oval Office, we’ll leave to the keyhole-peepers (frankly, the Oval looks incongruously small for the captain of a Superpower-Ship whose Aircraft Carrier battle groups dominate sea, sky, and land).

But the Monday (May 19) issue of USA TODAY said it all in its four-column headline on an inner page: "Bush Rewards Backers of Iraq War." The subhead is even more sanguine: "Supporters to Get US Hospitality: Critics Not Invited."

I’ll have to say that President GMA’s backing of Dubya’s war and postwar was not entirely fulsome, and there was quite a bit of urong-sulong. Yet, as American Ambassador Francis Ricciardone, Jr., once put it: "President Bush likes GMA, and loves the Philippines." Another American official, who shall be unnamed, interjected, "for some strange reason loves Filipinos!" So, there you are: The long and the strange meeting on the lawn of the White House.

USA TODAY reporters Richard Benedetto and Bill Nichols were more specific: "When President Bush hosts Philippine President Macapagal-Arroyo tonight at a state dinner, he will possibly be sending a signal to nations that opposed the war in Iraq: Friends get rewards; foes pay a price.

"Ever since combat in Iraq began winding down, Bush has been hosting leaders of nations that supported the war and snubbed those that didn’t. The meetings are a political boon for those who receive them, including many from smaller nations.

"Since April 9, the day Saddam Hussein’s statue was toppled in Baghdad, Bush has met at the White House or at his ranch near Crawford, Texas, with 20 world leaders, all of whom supported the war. That number will grow to 23 by the end of this week after the Arroyo visit, a meeting Tuesday with Dominican Republic President Hipolito Mejia and a get-together Friday at the ranch with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

"No war opponents have been invited to receive the President’s hospitality. But the President’s pique has not gone much beyond symbolism."

" . . .war opponents," the Washington datelined piece went on to point out, "could pay a price."

(1) Bush delayed until fall signing a free trade agreement with Chile, which opposed the war, while accelerating a similar deal with Singapore, an ally; (2) Bush postponed a May 5 trip to Canada to meet with Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who was a critic of the Iraq War; (3) "with the United States and Britain controlling the transition in Iraq, French and German companies could lose out on contracts to rebuild the nation; (4) Russia’s long-sought repeal of the Jackson-Vanik Law which ties trade breaks to Russian emigration changes, is stalled in Congress – and the White House isn’t pushing it."

Meanwhile, Bush has "been doing favors for war allies – helping Spain in its crackdown on the separatist Batasuna party, backing a free-trade zone to help the cooperative Persian Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and speeding consideration of a free-trade pact with Australia."

In contrast, the article concludes, "no White House visits for war critics are scheduled soon . . ."

Even when Germany’s Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sought a "one-on-one" meeting with Bush at an upcoming world industrial summit in France next month, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday there just "won’t be time" for long conversations. "The two will meet in a group setting," Powell said.

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Our Presidenta, La Gloria, is indeed in clover here.

I still say, on the other hand, that owing to the clumsiness (or deliberate bungling) of her handlers here in Washington, DC, she missed a golden opportunity to be hosted by POTUS (the President of the United States)and FLOTUS (First Lady of the US) at their Crawford Ranch in Texas – a mark of special intimacy, friendship and honor.

Oh, well, the White House State Dinner for GMA – tux, black tie, and all – is one of the capitol season’s biggest deals. As Roxanne Roberts wrote in the influential The Washington Post last Sunday, in a lead piece headlined: "When’s Dinner? In May" . . . "it’s time for President Bush’s annual White House state dinner."

And the gala for GMA kicks off that season, I guess.

Said Roberts:"Mexican President Vicente Fox got the nod in 2001, Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski in 2002, and Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be the guest of honor tomorrow night (Monday)."

The writer noted that "Bush’s dislike for formal events is an open secret, and terrorism and war have certainly put a damper on glitzy presidential socializing. Even so, this is a sharp departure from the traditional displays of international friendship that characterized previous administrations: President Reagan hosted more than 50 state dinners during his eight years in office; President Bush’s father held more than 20 dinners in just four years; and President Clinton presided over 30 during his two terms.

"It’s an age-old accepted form of extending high-level attention and hospitality," says Walter Cutler, president of Meridian International Center and former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Zaire."

A caveat mentioned is that "the president doesn’t like to stay up much past 10 p.m. – and official dinners sometimes drag on until 10:30 or 11."

"Earlier this month," the Washington Post pointed out, "was typical of Bush’s style: His May 8 schedule included breakfast with the prime minister of Denmark, lunch with the emir of Qatar, and an afternoon group meeting with the foreign ministers of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia." To date, Bush has met with 165 different world leaders, mostly during informal meals and meetings at the White House or during summit across the globe, according to CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller. Knoller has covered every president since Gerald Ford, and has kept a day-to-day log of the presidential schedule since Day One of the Bush administration: An exhaustive list of where the president travels, what he does, and with whom he meets.

"Bush," says Knoller, "is not formal dinner kind of guy; he’s much happier playing host at Camp David or his Texas ranch."

"Consider the atmospherics between a state dinner and a visit to the ranch," he says. "At a state dinner, he’s in black tie and in the company of 150 other guests dressed to the nines. It doesn’t lend itself to the personal relationships he seeks to establish with important world leaders. But at the ranch, he’s dressed in jeans and cowboy boots. He drives his white pickup truck to the foot of the (presidential helicopter) Marine One and drives back to the guest house. He loves that."

Now hear this!

"A presidential invitation to Camp David is considered a sign of special friendship; a call to the ranch the top diplomatic prize." Thus spake the powerful, in-na-in Washington Post.

I say again: GMA’s planning team in our Washington, DC goofed in not jumping to accept the "hint" that GMA would be welcome, if she upped her arrival date, to visit the Bush’s at their ranch.

The Post recounted that "British Prime Minister Tony Blair was Bush’s first foreign guest at Camp David in 2001, followed by Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar got the nod last year, as did Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak . . . Blair’s invitation to Camp David was considered a coup for the prime minister – and 180 degrees different in style from Clinton just three years earlier.

"The first overnight ranch summit in Crawford was with Russian President Vladimir Putin in November 2001. ‘The best diplomacy starts with getting to know each other Bush told reporters before the summit. ‘And I want him to know my values and I want to know his values’."

Putin was treated to a "real Texas dinner", according to Pravda. "The menu included green salad, mesquite-smoked peppered beef tenderloin, smoked catfish, fire-roasted potatoes with poblano peppers, old-fashioned green peas, toasted bread and corn meal rolls with butter. Dessert consisted of pecan pie and vanilla ice cream."

The dress code was "cowboy boots and jeans. The entertainment was country music, performed by a Texas swing quartet.

The guest list was dominated by old friends of Bush: Commerce Secretary Don Evans, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and pro-golfer Ben Crenshaw.

"Last year’s Crawford guest list included Blair, Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and Chinese President Jiang Zemin. Aznar and Australian Prime Minister John Howard received the coveted summons this spring, and Koizumi is scheduled to stay overnight there later this week.

"It’s consistent with how he conducts foreign policy," says Mann. He’s skeptical of formal international organizations. He’s a forceful advocate of US acting alone, if necessary, to protect national security. Rather than see this as an anomaly, I see this as part of a pattern. It’s true to how he is, how he conducts himself as president."

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The Post relates: "Tomorrow’s dinner for Arroyo was originally scheduled for April but postponed because of the Iraqi war. The message this time: Thanks for being part of the ‘coalition of the willing’."

" ‘This is the president’s way of saying thank you to the government of the Philippines, to President Arroyo and to the people of the Philippines for their stalwart efforts in fighting the war on terror, for being such good and reliable ally to the United States,’ White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer explained to reporters."

"The country," he said, "has not received much attention in the war on terrorism because most of the focus had been on Afghanistan and Iraq. The Philippines, he said, has ‘suffered mightily,’ and Arroyo has shown great courage in aking on the terrorists, particularly on some of the more remote islands. ‘The President wants to express the gratitude and appreciation of the American people and himself by hosting a stae visit,’ Fleischer said.

"If the past two state dinners are any indication, Arroyo’s dinner should include more cronies than celebrities."

Former White House social secretary Ann Stock explains: "A state visit . . . requires a huge commitment of the president’s time: Months of planning and a day of ceremonies, meetings, news conferences, and a formal dinner."

"So for now, the glittering soirees in the East Room are few and far between: This president parties on his own terms. ‘He does everything on his own terms," says Knoller.

"Barbecue, anyone?" The newspaper asks in conclusion. With GMA on stage, the post-Barbecue will be interesting to watch.