Bush “can’t get enough of fart jokes”

Via King of Zembla comes this asinine tidbit from Washington Whispers:

He loves to cuss, gets a jolly when a mountain biker wipes out trying to keep up with him, and now we're learning that the first frat boy loves flatulence jokes. A top insider let that slip when explaining why President Bush is paranoid around women, always worried about his behavior. But he's still a funny, earthy guy who, for example, can't get enough of fart jokes. He's also known to cut a few for laughs, especially when greeting new young aides, but forget about getting people to gas about that.

You know, I once had a boss who thought it was the height of hilarity to fart in front of his employees. We didn't regard him as "funny" or "earthy," but as "a total asshole."

And since when is Bush "paranoid around women?" His predilection for disrespecting staffers by letting rip with bodily functions in front of them reminds me of nothing more immediately than his groping German Chancellor Angela Merkel, which wasn't indicative of paranoia, but a complete disregard for anyone or anything but his own whims.

Bush is a bully. Like touching people against their wishes, a superior passing gas in front of them in a professional environment has the same manipulative quality, requiring them, irrespective of their honest personal reactions, to laugh and jolly along someone who's behaving badly. Getting away with acting like such a wanton ass in front of people who can't complain is just another way for Bush to get those around him to knuckle under. He's a despicable character, and it's pathetic that such antics are treated as "charming" by the media, because he's not jovial—he's mean.

(Crossposted at AlterNet PEEK.)