http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/ 15 en-us Copyright 2008 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:06:23 -0400 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.36 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss By Michael Abramowitz RUSUTSU, Japan -- Information keeps flowing in about the continuing celebrations of President Bush's 62nd birthday. At his private dinner Sunday with Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, Bush was presented with a windbreaker and a birthday cake in the shape of a baseball park. He also received a traditional Japanese "Daruma" doll, a round and hollow armless figure with white eyes, according to Kazuo Kodama, the press secretary for the Japanese Foreign Ministry. The president was invited to fill in one of the eyes with black ink and make a wish, Kodama said. According to tradition, the recipient fills in the other eye when the wish is realized. Kodama said he does not know what the president wished for, but he did say that Bush told the prime minister that when he was young, he "thought the age of 62 was quite old" -- though he said he http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-at-g8-july-2008/more_about_the_presidential_bi.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-at-g8-july-2008/more_about_the_presidential_bi.html Bush at G-8, July 2008 Mon, 07 Jul 2008 23:06:23 -0400 By Michael Abramowitz TOYAKO, Japan -- Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda showed diplomatic dexterity in avoiding a direct question Sunday about the U.S. presidential elections. During his news conference here with President Bush, I asked Fukuda whether he was "paying close attention to the American election? And in particular, I'm curious if you can discern any differences right now between the two candidates as it relates to Japan." Fukuda had a few minutes to develop his response as Bush answered a different question, about why he was attending the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Beijing next month. Then Fukuda seemed to decide that he would rather answer a question about the Olympics than U.S. politics. (Of course, it's also possible that he just missed the question.) When it was his turn to speak, Fukuda looked up and said, "Well, your question for me, was it along the same http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-at-g8-july-2008/obamamccain_rivalry_reaches_ar.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-at-g8-july-2008/obamamccain_rivalry_reaches_ar.html Bush at G-8, July 2008 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:30:00 -0400 By Michael Abramowitz TOYAKO, Japan -- As the start of the Olympic Games approaches, expect incidents to generate criticism of President Bush's decision to attend the opening ceremonies in Beijing -- a decision that Bush explained Sunday was aimed at avoiding an "affront" to the Chinese people. A case in point: Late last month, Bush met in the Roosevelt Room with Li Baiguang and Li Heping, Chinese lawyers who were being honored for their work promoting human rights and religious freedom by the National Endowment for the Democracy. According to NED chairman Carl Gershman, it was mostly a photo opportunity, but Bush told the two -- as well as representatives of awardees prevented from leaving China -- how much he admired their courage and work. He told them that he planned after his presidency to create a center at a university in Texas where people such as they could come http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-at-g8-july-2008/bushs_olympic_game_plan_cultiv.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-at-g8-july-2008/bushs_olympic_game_plan_cultiv.html Bush at G-8, July 2008 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:00:00 -0400 By Michael Abramowitz TOYAKO, Japan, July 6 -- Sherpas typically refer to the Nepalese porters who help climbers reach the top of Himalayan mountains. But here at the annual summit of the Group of Eight nations, sherpas and their sidekicks, the sous-sherpas and yaks, are different sorts of characters altogether. These are the mostly faceless bureaucrats who are responsible for developing the agenda and statements their leaders are considering this week at the yearly meeting of the leading industrialized nations here. Their work, conducted during the past year in face-to-face meetings, conference calls, and countless e-mail exchanges, will help determine whether the final G-Eight summit of the Bush presidency is a success. Some of the most accomplished diplomats in the world are sherpas. The French sherpa this year, Jean-David Levitte, is a former ambassador to Washington now serving as diplomatic adviser to President Nicolas Sarkozy The U.S. sherpa this year http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-at-g8-july-2008/g8_sherpas.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-at-g8-july-2008/g8_sherpas.html Bush at G-8, July 2008 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:25:12 -0400 By Michael Abramowitz ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, July 6--We're flying to Hokkaido, the northern Japanese island where President Bush will attend his final meeting of the Group of Eight, the world's leading industrial powers whose leaders vconvene once a year to thrash out carefully worded communiques on siuch issues as global warming, development in Africa and terrorism. I thought I would try to reinstate our On The Plane blog, our periodic dispatches about traveling with the president and the secretary of state. Most of the rest of the White House press crew is already in Japan, having left on Friday on a charter: Because of the vagaries of the rotation, it's my turn to be part of a tiny pool of about a dozen wire reporters, photographers and television crew members to be traveling in a press cabin in the back of the plane, sequestered from a posse of senior http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-at-g8-july-2008/skyhigh_birthday.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-at-g8-july-2008/skyhigh_birthday.html Bush at G-8, July 2008 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:20:09 -0400 Jerusalem -- Just before President Bush left for Israel this week, the White House named an "honorary delegation" of some 80 prominent American Jews, big-time GOP donors and others to accompany him to the celebration of the Jewish state's 60th anniversary. It turns out you don't get too much for being in that group -- no ride on Air Force One for example. That's not a problem for some in the delegation: Former New York Times columnist William Safire told me he was able to hitch a ride on publisher Mort Zuckerman's jet along with Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who is not an honorary delegate but was coming for "big ideas" conference being sponsored here by Israeli President Shimon Peres. Thursday night, Bush delivered on perhaps the one perk available to the delegates, an invitation to an elaborate reception in the sculpture garden of the Israeli Museum. The museum http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/rice-in-middle-east-and-europe-march-2008/jerusalem_just_before_presiden.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/rice-in-middle-east-and-europe-march-2008/jerusalem_just_before_presiden.html Rice in Middle East and Europe, March 2008 Fri, 16 May 2008 05:44:58 -0400 ZAGREB, Croatia -- Gordon Johndroe has been a fixture in Bushworld for a decade -- he worked on the 1998 governor's race in Texas and the 2000 presidential race, served as an assistant White House press secretary, Department of Homeland Security press secretary, the first lady's press secretary and strategic communications director for the State Department and now works as the chief spokesman for the National Security Council. But with the days of the Bush administration dwindling, it looks as if he may have a future in Croatian politics. Johndroe ran into the foreign minister of this tiny Adriatic nation today during President Bush's visit here to celebrate NATO expansion. The foreign minister handed the NSC spokesman his card: Gordan Jandrokovic. "Do you have any Croatian blood in you?" Gordan Jandrokovic asked Gordon Johndroe. Not that he knows of. But that shouldn't stop his new political career. -- Peter Baker http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/a_future_in_croatian_politics.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/a_future_in_croatian_politics.html Bush in Eastern Europe, April 2008 Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:42:05 -0400 BUCHAREST, Romania -- Days in the White House filing center on the road can be tedious, mind-numbing and extremely long. Journalists find themselves sitting inside a windowless conference room without ever seeing daylight. But on the other hand, you never know who might show up. During President Bush's journey through Africa in February, it was rocker-turned-activist Bob Geldof, who hitched a ride on Air Force One to talk with Bush, and Jordin Sparks of "American Idol," who was promoting malaria programs. Here in Romania, who would be more appropriate than Zamfir, the master of the pan flute and a ubiquitous television commercial presence for anyone growing up in the 1970s? Gheorghe Zamfir, his full name, and his band just wrapped up an impromptu performance in the televsion transmission room here at the Intercontinental Hotel. It seems that the folks at NBC News thought it would be neat to see the http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/live_from_bucharest_its_zamfir.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/live_from_bucharest_its_zamfir.html Bush in Eastern Europe, April 2008 Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:04:06 -0400 BUCHAREST, Romania -- So why did President Bush abruptly bolt from the last NATO discussion of the day? Maybe he was annoyed to learn the latest news: The White House press charter has been cleared to follow him to his next stop after all. United Airlines grounded all of its Boeing 777 jumbo jets yesterday because it had not conducted needed inspections of their fire suppression systems. That grounding included the chartered plane ferrying most of the White House press corps as well as a number of White House staff and Secret Service officers on Bush's European trip. United reported today that it has now taken care of the problem and the charter will take off tomorrow along with Air Force One en route to Bush's next stop in Zagreb, Croatia. "All of our aircraft but one are back in service, including the plane in Bucharest," United Airlines spokesperson Jeff http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/all_cleared_for_takeoff.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/all_cleared_for_takeoff.html Bush in Eastern Europe, April 2008 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 16:53:21 -0400 BUCHAREST, Romania -- So he's a busy guy. That's what President Bush's top advisers said when asked why he suddenly bolted from the last NATO summit meeting this evening. Our colleague, Terry Hunt of the Associated Press, pigeonholed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Stephen Hadley after a briefing in the White House filing center here to ask about the president's departure before the end of a discussion on Afghanistan. "The president stayed there all day long. He listened to everybody," Rice explained. "It is rare -- if you actually counted the number of heads of states that were up and down and gone most of the time, it's a lot. So, the president had been there all day. He now has to get ready to go . . . " Hadley interjected: "And he didn't go in and out like of other people." "And he didn't http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/hes_got_a_few_other_things_to.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/hes_got_a_few_other_things_to.html Bush in Eastern Europe, April 2008 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:48:53 -0400 BUCHAREST, Romania -- Enough is enough, it seems. With the NATO summit meetings consistently running two hours over schedule most of the day, President Bush abruptly got up and left the last formal session of the day, not bothering to wait for an official summit photograph of all the leaders. Bush is no fan of windy meetings and evidently had had his fill. He left behind Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to represent him for the rest of the session, which concerned NATO operations in Afghanistan, but his departure was so sudden and unexpected that he left some of his motorcade behind, inculding his press pool, when he got into his car and headed back to his hotel. "The president sat through the entire first part of the meeting, unlike some of the other world leaders who went and came as they pleased," explained a White House official, who asked http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/abrupt_departure.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/abrupt_departure.html Bush in Eastern Europe, April 2008 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:12:26 -0400 BUCHAREST, Romania -- He's polite enough not to say so publicly, but President Bush is probably pretty annoyed by now. Not just that NATO rejected his bid to push two former Soviet republics closer to membership, but that they're taking so long in doing so. Bush is famous for his rigorous fidelity to schedules and his disdain for long-winded meetings. He not only starts nearly every event on time, he often starts early and has little patience for those who are tardy. When time is supposed to be up for a meeting, he ends it, even in mid-discussion. Robert Draper wrote in his recent book, "Dead Certain," that Bush in 2001 even locked the door of the Cabinet Room when then-Secretary of State Colin Powell showed up after the president had started a meeting. At a G-8 summit in Russia in 2006, an open microphone caught him grousing to an http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/at_nato_meetings_no_tight_sche_1.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/at_nato_meetings_no_tight_sche_1.html Bush in Eastern Europe, April 2008 Thu, 03 Apr 2008 10:18:55 -0400 BUCHAREST, Romania -- Like Condoleezza Rice, President Bush, of course, is also an exercise demon and likes his routine. Traveling overseas on these country-a-day trips can sometimes throw him off just a bit. Take his speech this morning to a parallel conference before the NATO summit began tonight. He stumbled over his prepared text several times. The White House stenographers who record his every public remark were left to insert [sic] in the transcript left and right: "Welcoming them into the MATO [sic] -- into the Membership Action Plan would send a signal to their citizens that if they continue on the path to democracy and reform, they will be welcomed into the institutions of Europe." "Afghanistan is the most daring and ambition [sic] mission in the history of NATO." "Our alliance must maintain its resolve and finish the fight in NATO [sic]." Maybe that's why he seemed so eager http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/overseas_travel_keeps_bush_off.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/overseas_travel_keeps_bush_off.html Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:59:00 -0400 BUCHAREST, Romania -- It's always something. First the hotels, now the plane. The White House press charter that ferries journalists, presidential staff and Secret Service agents whenever the president travels has been grounded. The chartered jumbo jet is one of the 52 Boeing-777 aircraft that United Airlines ordered out of service today until it can inspect them for possible problems with the fire suppression systems in the cargo holds. The jet is currently here in Bucharest, where President Bush is attending a NATO summit that opens tonight. United is scrambling to find a way to inspect the plane quickly to avoid messing up the president's European trip, possibly by dispatching inspectors here to Bucharest or maybe flying the plane somewhere else for a quick check and sending it right back. Fortunately for everyone, Bush is on the ground here for another couple days before heading to Zagreb, Croatia, on Friday http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/safety_first_even_for_the_pres.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/safety_first_even_for_the_pres.html Bush in Eastern Europe, April 2008 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:50:34 -0400 The Fitness magazine spread on Secretary of State Rice. BUCHAREST, Romania -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has joined President Bush on his trip, flying in on her own jet from Jordan and catching up to the Commander in Chief in Ukraine before coming here for the NATO summit that opens tonight. As our colleague, Glenn Kessler, wrote this week, Rice has been quite the globetrotter these past few months, challenging Henry Kissinger's record for foreign travel. So with all that frequent flying, how does she keep in such good shape? Fitness magazine has the sweaty scoop with an interview and photo spread showing America's chief diplomat doing tummy crunches and working with weights under the direction of her personal trainer. "How does one of the most controversial figures in the White House today seem to shut it all down, throw on a sports bra and let the pressures of http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/sweating_for_peace.html http://blog.washingtonpost.com/on-the-plane/bush-in-eastern-europe-april-2008/sweating_for_peace.html Bush in Eastern Europe, April 2008 Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:26:42 -0400