About time he took that watch off: everyone's always saying that the world has gone to hell on Bush's watch.

Eh. I'm no fan of Bush, but it could have been an act of consideration. Not wanting to scratch or poke somebody in that crush of people tugging at his arms.

Or simpler self-interest, not wanting to get snagged on somebody's clothing.

I hope all of you America-hating liberals will now apologize to the fine citizens of Albania for slandering them as watch thieves.

Does anybody know what kind of watch it is?

It's a Timex Brainless (always High Noon).

Does anybody know what kind of watch it is?

A $50.00 Timex. George is pretty slick.

His greatest sleight-of-hand, though, was making over 60 million people believe he was a good president.

He took off his watch before shaking hands with the Albanians?

...That's worse than having it stolen.

Bush removes his watch before working _American_ crowds, as well. Washington Post:

"The president put it in his pocket, and it returned safely home," said press secretary Tony Snow yesterday. It's not unusual for the president to remove his wedding ring and watch before working a crowd, confirms our colleague Peter Baker.

The Bush family's well documented aversion to plebes.

Any footage of the Albanians taking their watches off before they shake Dubya's hand?

At 1:40 in the video he takes his shirt off, presumably to make it easier for the Albanians to feel him.

The whole thing strikes me as strange. All the touching, feeling, and kissing. Nothing like the time I went to see Bush in the US. I only saw the limo from 50 yards and I only got to feel the backside of a policeman's horse.

Tirana, capital of Albania, is the stolen car-fencing capital of Europe. Banditry is an honored Albanian tradition, of which Lord Byron wrote.

funny though, you can see in the video you linked to earlier that he had it on well into the "wading into the crowd" phase, and I sure didn't see him take it off. maybe his moves on his own watch are like taking money out of our pockets and giving it to his rich friends? fast and unnoticed by most?

I know it's a trivial detail, but given the White House's penchant for lying, can we actually see the watch?

Not the replacement for the one that was stolen, that is...

This whole watch story smells of a liberal smear campaign against Albania for demonstrating such adulation for our President.

That YouTube link doesn't work anymore. Why would anyone trust one word Tony Snowjob says?

The YouTube video is gone, so I don't know what the evidence is. I'm perfectly willing to believe that Bush removed the watch, but a statement from the White House means nothing, since they'd claim it wasn't stolen even if it was.

To be fair, they were grabbing at his hands and arms.

Chris Hayes: "Although it's also pretty awesome that while he's glad-handling he's thinking 'I bet you one of these Albanians is going to try to take my watch.'"

If you're going to put words into Bush's mouth, then at least try to do it correctly, in part by using the more succinct Bush-inspired phrase "one o' them Albaniacs".

It is amazing that Kevin and others make a foolish mistake about what happened, then instead of just letting it drop or saying they made a mistake, they attempt to find another way to bash Bush about it. Sometimes, you guys are even stupider than you think Bush is -- now you think Bush is worried about losing a cheap watch?

Al: "This whole watch story smells of a liberal smear campaign against Albania for demonstrating such adulation for our President."

This is obviously a sensitive issue with Al. Perhaps his parents named him after the country.

All the political guys, even apparently the dumb ones, know you don't wear a good watch or cuff-links when you gland hand a crowd. The Secret Service is just there to make sure it doesn't get out of hand (people start snapping off fingers to get rings.) Apparently, even Bush's screened republican crowds do it. It's all done with love...

brian: "Sometimes, you guys are even stupider than you think Bush is ..."

After reading your insipid comment above, I sadly realized that I often fail to give you actual credit for appearing to be even stupider than you probably already are.

You may rest assured that such an oversight will never happen again.

Given George's long criminal history and the involvement of his family in all manner of criminal activity for years, it's not surprising that he might anticipate being pickpocketed. It takes a thief to know a thief.

[By the way, not to be pedantic, but I believe it is "glad handing", not "handling".]

He did NOT take off the watch. Take a look at this Reuter's video:

http://www.reuters.com/news/video/videoStory?videoId=56515

I can see no evidence that it was removed by Bush. So why the lie? Just more evidence of the pathology that inhabits the WH?

The link to YouTube only displays a notice that the video in question has been removed because of a copyright dispute. So where's the proof that Bush took his watch off? Did someone actually capture him on video doing that?

Without some solid evidence, I tend to be a little suspicious of the watch removal story. Just because Tony Snow said it, doesn't mean it's false, but still...

The video link from Reuters that Pragmatic Liberal points to is pretty convincing - Bush had the watch on going into the crowd but not at the end of the video. At no point in the video do you see him taking the watch off and putting it in his pocket.

Of course it could have easily fallen off and not been stolen. So why the lie?

Sadly, it turns out that George Bush's watch wasn't stolen by some enterprising Albanian thief

Clearly Joe Klein is right about those nassssty hippie bloggers. Here's Kevin Drum actually regretting a failure to steal private property from the President.

Oh, forgot to close the tag: /snark

Oh, forgot to close the tag: /snark

Yeah, WTF, Kevin?

The Reuters video was one uninterrupted take, showing a wrist becoming watchless while his arm is in full view. There can be no doubt the White House is lying to people: why on earth would you accept that?

Who am I supposed to trust, you or my lying eyes, is that what you're saying?

Can't remember where I saw it now, but there was a film on either CNN and MSNBC that showed him taking the watch off. It was, indeed, very quick. I think, too, that it's probably something that people who work crowds get used to doing, not so much because of fear of theft but because watches and rings can scratch and catch on things.

I saw the Reuters video and I too thought that is was not possible for Bush to have removed his watch during that sequence.

But after seeing the MSNBC video, I changed my mind. He obviously did.

The real story here is that eyewitness accounts are less reliable than most people think.

The Reuters video.
The MSNBC video.

In the Reuters video, the moment he removes his watch is at second 18 - 10 (when he is moving and not engaging the crowd).

That should have been "second 18-19". He actually does it in less than a second.

I don't know; could you get your watch off in less than a second? It looks like a leather band and that would have some sort of buckle closure. I still think some pro lifted it.

Looks like his watch wasn't the only thing that dropped this week:

NBC/WSJ: 29% approval (-6)
Quinnipac: 28% (-7)

PL, did you watch the MSNBC video? I don't think it leaves any doubt that he did remove it.

OK -- it wasn't in less than a second. I watched again and it now looks more like 2 - 3 seconds.

And another thing; the story out of the White House says he took it off himself before he waded into the crowd. That is obviously not true no matter which video you look at. So again, why the lie?

So again, why the lie?

Igor ring bell. Dog drool. Bush lie. No mystery.

Albanians are notorious watch stealers, I never wear one around them.

I'm still surprised the coward got that close to people.

merlallen:

He never would have gotten that close to common people in the U.S., unless they were carefully screened Republican supporters on a military base. Unlike Bill Clinton, who often waded into crowds despite concerns from the Secret Service.
No one can ever accuse George W. Bush of being a "man of the people". He is an elitist coward.

TCD

TCD, actually, Bush occasionally shows up unannounced for dinner at D.C. restaurants and then visits both the kitchen staff and customers.

PL, I don't see that as a lie. you're being rather over-literal.

Bush taking off his watch like that is like someone who locks his car doors when he sees a black man walk down the street.

Not really what you'd call cool.

Doesn't everyone hold on to their wallets at Republican functions?

It's not about the frickin' watch... it the inability to tell the truth. Just say it got yanked off accidentally. How hard is that?

JS, you're right. I was wrong; apologies.

This story and the Paris story make me wonder if I need a vacation from Kevin for a week or two.

Remember too, that Bush is only "popular" in Albania etc. because of what Clinton did to liberate or protect Kosovo etc. a decade earlier. (BTW, we don't get enough appreciation from the Muslim world about our help to the Muslims in that area.)

Bull. I watched the original video several times. His hands were never together, from the last moment I saw the watch on his wrist, until I saw that it was gone. Your hands have to be together to take a watch off your wrist.