I cannot help but grin when I read about the Chilean's misunderestimation of President Bush. If you've been under a rock for the past few days and haven't heard, apparently the Secret Service got into a bit of a tussle with Chilean security guards. Geek commends the Secret Service for handling themselves professionally.

It looks like the Chileans were taking some sort of a macho bullshit stand, which W solved quite gracefully.

It turns out there was some contention regarding security arrangements, and they all saw this confrontation coming, which fills in the blanks and explains to me why it didn't escalate to a gunfight in short order, as my standing presumption would be that any attempt to cut off the president from his guard was a prelude to an assassination attempt.

I gotta applaud the secret service for striking the appropriate balance and pace of escalation here, their recognition that their role is at least partly diplomatic as well as tactical has shone through.

Meanwhile James Taranto has this hilarious account:

The [Washington Post] quotes Marcelo Romero, a Chilean reporter: "All of us journalists agree that President Bush looked like a cowboy. It was total breach of protocol. I've seen a lot of John Wayne movies, and President Bush was definitely acting like a cowboy." Apparently some journalists think that's a bad thing.

Neal says we should contrast this with how Senator John Kerry treated his Secret Service detail:

Remember when one of his Secret Service agents bumped into him while he was snowboarding and John Kerry called him an S.O.B? Compare that little episode with Bush's actions here. It's obvious that the president appreciates those that risk their lives to protect him.

And, in case you missed it, The Daily Recycler has the video.