The president is in Australia this week and apparently spent most of yesterday trying to rally support for Prime Minister John Howard, an ideological ally of Bush.

Not surprisingly, most of the public discussions have focused on developments in Iraq — with Tony Blair having stepped down, Howard is the last major supporter of the president’s war policy — and it led to one noteworthy exchange. (thanks to reader CG for the tip)

[Bush] believes success is being achieved in Iraq and told the Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Vaile, upon arrival on Tuesday night that “we’re kicking ass”.

Now, I realize that the president isn’t exactly an impressive guy, and making a good impression overseas probably ranks fairly low on his priority list, but does he really have to embarrass us this much?