Gauche

I don't know what Heads of State are like in private with each other... whether they are all chummy, especially after they have known each other for a while. However in public, I cannot see how personal contact of this type could ever be proper. Hugs, handshakes, even kisses... all contact of equals... is obviously fine, but this massage thing? To another world leader? When cameras are around? To someone he hasn't known that long? To (and I really only add this as an aside because I would still say it otherwise) a woman?

Perhaps Chancellor Merkels and President Bush get along fabulously well in private, but even if right before this picture was snapped, the German Chancellor called out to the American President, "George, my shoulders are sore, could you massage them for me?" (And, judging by the look on her face, she certainly made no such request...) President Bush shouldn't have done it. After 6 years on the world stage, I would have thought that he would have figured that one out.

My take: An innocent, light-hearted gesture, but a bush-league level diplomatic gaffe. Pun intended.