Nothing if Not Blunt

It's the sort of accident that puts a spring in the step of White House watchers everywhere.

Somehow, the microphone in front of President Bush was left on during private conversations with his fellow world leaders at today's closing luncheon of the G-8 Summit in Russia.

And what do we learn?

That even when he thinks the public isn't watching, Bush doesn't put on airs. He's garrulous and a little vulgar, he talks while he chews, and he's a little unclear on geography. And, contrary to the speculation that he is turning into some sort of carefully calibrating multilateralist, he doesn't do nuance. He's nothing if not blunt.

Here's the full text as compiled by The Washington Post. CNN has a subtitled video of a good chunk of the captured conversation.

Peter Baker writes for The Washington Post: "During a lunch with other leaders at the Group of Eight summit on Monday, Bush was caught on a live microphone talking in tough, occasionally profane terms with British Prime Minister Tony Blair about the latest conflict in the Middle East. Bush criticized the position taken by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, and said he would soon send Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region."

From the full text:

Bush: "I think Condi's going to go pretty soon. . . ."

Blair: "Well, it's only if it's -- I mean, you know, if she's gotta -- or if she needs the ground prepared, as it were. Obviously, if she goes out, she's got to succeed, as it were, whereas I can just go out and talk."

Bush: "See, the irony is what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit, and it's over."

Baker writes that the overheard conversation also "punctured the White House line that the leaders all shared the same view of the Middle East" as "Bush expressed irritation at Annan's position."

Said Bush: "I don't like the sequence of it. His attitude is basically ceasefire and [then] everything else happens. You know what I'm saying?"