Why the fuck do WE get to pay for this?

[Redstone]

The whole fucking bushyboy Aerial Entourage, not to mention the disruption at the Memphis airport not to mention ALL THE OVERTIME for the Memphis cops, not to mention the LOST PRODUCTIVITY by people around Memphis, not to mention the productivity-sapping traffic jams...

WE (you and me) are PAYING HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDs OF D0LLARS so Chimpyboy can swan off out of DC and down to Memphis so he and his Japanese buttbuy can tour Graceland.

I hope that if they DO see Elvis, he kicks both of them in the nuts and tells them to get back to work.

Redstone

[mcscajun]

1. Thank yoooouuuu...thank you verrrry much.

Somebody had to say it. :)

[niyad]

2. "taking care of business" was one of elvis' favourite sayings. . . .

too bad chimpboy doesn't believe in it.

[MADem]

3. Because the Japanese LOOOOVE them some Elvis-San

I'm guessing this visit was at the PM's request, to get him some love from his peeps at home!

[Art_from_Ark]

8. The "peeps at home" don't give a rat's ass

about Koizumi's visit to Elvisland-- if anything, it makes him seem like a little kid in the eyes of a lot of Japanese.

First a bomber jacket and playing catch, now this. :eyes:

[MADem]

9. I lived there for four years, they loved the guy--they went nuts for him

On every other variety and karaoke program, there'd be some asswipe doing a bad imitation of him.

http://www.chomickmeder.com/cmfigure-elvisan.html

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20060617p2a00m0na003000c.html
As Koizumi heads for Graceland, Elvis still the king for Japanese fans
When Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi tours Graceland later this month with U.S. President George W. Bush, he will be representing a big constituency _ Japan has droves of Elvis Presley fans, and the biggest Elvis fan club in all of East Asia.

Koizumi, of course, is the most famous.

Last year he serenaded Bush with "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" at a birthday party for the president. Apparently it made quite an impression _ Bush and his wife, Laura, will accompany Koizumi on his June 30th visit.

But the prime minister is just one of thousands of die-hard Japanese Elvis lovers.

"I first heard Elvis around the time of his debut when the radio started playing 'Heartbreak Hotel,"' said C'mon Elvis Fans in Japan club president Yoko Hika, 64. "I was in junior high school. I didn't understand the words, but the feeling and sound of that voice just lifted me."

The Elvis Presley Fan Club in Japan, which claims to be the largest in East Asia, boasts of a 5,000-strong membership. Another 2,000 people or so belong to the recently formed Elvis Presley Society in Japan, said society president _ and occasional Elvis impersonator _ Tomikazu Taguchi. The even newer C'mon Elvis Fans in Japan is on a much smaller scale, with a membership in the dozens.....


A Japanese woman walks by a statue of Elvis Presley
in front of Love Me Tender store that specializes
in Elvis and 1950s rock'n'roll goods in Tokyo.
(AP Photo/Katsumi Kasahara)

...Fans snapped up all 200,000 copies of a limited-edition charity CD released in 2002 that featured 25 Elvis songs personally selected by Koizumi as his favourites, said Takuya Matsuyama of BMG Japan, which released the disc. ...

http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/2006/06/16/1636757-ap.html

[Art_from_Ark]

10. As a long term resident of Japan, it seems to me that

while a lot of Japanese might want to visit Graceland as tourists, Koizumi doesn't score many points with the visit because his behavior around bu$h is seen as childish, and only strengthens informed adults' perceptions that he is bu$h's errand boy ("Busshu no iinari", in the local vernacular).

[MADem]

12. Well, he isn't doing it just for fun

Clearly he sees political gain in all this. He must see this as benefitting his base, much like the Monkey trots off to church every now and again.

[Art_from_Ark]

13. I think he is mostly doing it for fun

He doesn't need to cater to his base because he has already announced that he is stepping down in September, and his party always wins all the important elections anyway.

[Art_from_Ark]

14. There might be another aspect as well,

in that Koizumi is negotiating to close a US base in Japan, and maybe he thinks it can be to his bargaining advantage to go on this silly trip.

But Koizumi's base is going to vote for his party anyway, no matter what, so he doesn't need to shovel off to Graceland to impress the Fred Flintstones back home.

Of course, a third reason may be that this silly trip is a diversion for him because he is getting in a bit of hot water at home by insisting on visiting a shrine that is guaranateed to rile the Chinese and South Koreans, both of which currently have territorial disputes with Japan.

[Warpy]

4. WE have to pay because our LOCAL GOVERNMENT

is rolling over and playing dead every time the little tin Jesus wants to go gallivanting.

Local governments need to start turning this stuff DOWN, citing the huge costs involved for paranoid, imperial security.

Let the RNC foot the bill for these fundraising junkets, because that's what they are.

[Redstone]

7. Fuck yes, states' rights! Local control! NO UNFUNDED MANDATES!

I'm absolutely with you on this one.

Redstone

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Shoulda just FedExed the two of them in and out of MEM.

It would have saved the unforutnate citizens/taxpayers of Memphis a whole lot of money and inconvenience. And yes, I hope Elvis' ghost kicks their asses.

[sweetheart]

6. same sentiment, orders of magnitude greater in scope

That damn war tax...

[lonestarnot]

11. They can't mess up their pant legs with a little flood water you know.

[Redstone]

16. Oh no, Graceland is more important!

Redstone

[w4rma]

15. Because Repukes have the power right now to do what they want. (nt)

[porphyrian]

17. It's only wasteful if Democrats do it.

When they do it, it's fiscally responsible. Like the record debt.

[shugh514]

18. I'm waiting for the day we hear this

from the White House

"Bush has left the building"

:woohoo:

[Redstone]

19. Can't come soon enough, can it?

Redstone