Worlds Collide in Beijing

Saturday's post, "W. Loves Beach Volleyball," broke all sorts of personal records for the most hits per day since I started this site back in October. Thanks for all the support, which I owe mostly to the Express Blog Log that featured the entry this morning. Apparently there is a huge demand out there for pictures of President Bush...

...or of volleyball players in bikinis.

Anyhow, the Bush / May-Treanor/ Walsh photo-op is but one of the many "athlete meets politician" stories to come out of the Games. The Washington Post reported this morning in an article about President George H.W. Bush a juicy little tidbit that you wish has been caught on film: The moment the former president met NBA star LeBron James. Michael Abramowitz writes:

Meeting Team USA with Bush 43 before the game, Bush 41 gave a warm hug to Lakers star Kobe Bryant and received an affectionate greeting from Cavaliers hero LeBron James: "What's up, pops?" the massive James asked.

Classic. Where are those citizen journalists when you need them? They'll catch George Allen or Barack Obama in awkward moments, but they're not around for perhaps the greatest line ever spoken to a living U.S. President. Maybe next time.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the uncanny resemblance between U.S. beach volleyball player Phil Dalhausser and Democratic strategist James Carville. He looks like Carville with a six pack, but of a different kind. Josh Brolin may pull off a decent Bush impersonation in Oliver Stone's new film, but if they ever put together a movie about the Clinton years, I'd get Dalhausser on the phone for the Carville part. He might have to work on the accent, though.