George Grooves in Georgia

From the New York Times, Dubya’s typically lackluster diplomacy finally shines.

Stage in Georgia Lets Bush Show a Secret Talent
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
May 10, 2005

TBILISI, Georgia, May 9 – After a morning spent watching columns of Russian troops goose-step across Red Square in Moscow, President Bush arrived Monday night in this former Soviet republic, climbed up on a street stage of Georgian dancers, then swiveled his hips in tune to blasting folk music.

Mr. Bush, whose previous dancing in public has been limited to brief waltzes with his wife, gyrated for only a few moments. But it was long enough to be captured in a scene that was replayed on Georgian television into the night. Georgians seemed taken aback but pleased, and gave polite good reviews to Mr. Bush’s Elvis-like moves. “Some dancers told me they liked his rhythm,” President Mikheil Saakashvili said at a party afterward. “He was much better than I might have been.” Nino Burjanadze, the speaker of Parliament, who was at the same party, said Mr. Bush “had a good feel for the music.”

The teetotaling Mr. Bush, who is normally in bed by 9 p.m., seemed exuberant upon landing in Georgia, an 18-month-old democracy where Mr. Saakashvili displaced President Eduard A. Shevardnadze in a bloodless coup. On Tuesday, the last day of a five-day trip to Europe, Mr. Bush is to hold a joint news conference with Mr. Saakashvili, give a pro-democracy speech in Freedom Square, then head home to Washington.

Mr. Bush is popular in countries like Georgia, where his vision of spreading democracy is embraced, and seems a lot looser than in his visits to Germany and France.

He and his wife, Laura, ended up having a long, unscheduled dinner with Mr. Saakashvili, 37, and his wife, Sandra Roelofs, at Gorgasali, a restaurant in Tbilisi’s old town. There, too, Mr. Bush seemed in a good mood.

“He didn’t just eat, he ordered more food,” said Daniel L. Kunin, an adviser to the government, who was impressed with the quantity of Georgian specialties – cheese bread, dumplings, barbecue, cornbread and cheeses – that Mr. Bush ate. “Great food, really good food, I recommend getting a bite there,” Mr. Bush said to reporters as he left. It was close to 10 p.m., and he headed to his hotel, an hour past his bedtime.

There are few better ways to ingratiate yourself with a host in a foreign land by complimenting the food. Kudos, Mr. President.

UPDATE: From Eurasianet.net (Disclaimer! Soros Foundation!):