What do you do when you have to come face-to-face with someone you really do not care for? 

And you are forced to confront each other??

Barbra Streisand has been a vocal critic of former President Bush and frequently airs her views on her blog. I am quite sure these blogs were brought to the attention of White House Officials. After all, here is a powerful woman with a very large readership, saying very negative things about George W.

So imagine how uncomfortable it must have been for BOTH of them, to be in the same room together and come face-to-face?!  They even had to shake hands and share an awkward kiss in front of millions of people!  Many wondered if she would accept the Kennedy Center Honors Award and attend the traditional White House gala last month.  "This is a weekend that celebrates the arts and artists, so I shall say that -- art transcends politics this weekend," she said.

On her blog she said, "Last  month, I was in Washington DC to accept the Kennedy Center Honors, and I noticed that the kiss between me and the “soon to be former” President Bush created quite a stir. The Today Show even proclaimed that it was a sign of the apocalypse. The timing is ironic. After eight years of President Clinton and on the cusp of at least four years of President Obama, I get selected to receive this prestigious award…during the Bush Administration.

I have never met George W. Bush, but for the past eight years I have been blogging about him and his administration on my web site. I have relayed my frustration at the direction he has taken our country in no uncertain terms. So it was just as surprising to me as it apparently was to the press that upon meeting President Bush and extending my hand to him, he said to me, “Aw c’mon, gimme a hug and a kiss,” and then he proceeded to embrace me. I must say, I found him very warm and completely disarming…even though I think he was kissing me hello as I was kissing him goodbye…

 

During the White House ceremony, the President described each honorees attributes. After he listed mine, he added, “She’s also been known to speak her mind,” to which the audience first laughed and then applauded. I genuinely thought he was very funny and very gracious.

During the Kennedy Center Honors, President Bush gave me his signature wink (which he must have passed on to Sarah Palin) and mouthed, “We showed ‘em.” I guess in some small way, he and I proved that we could agree to disagree, and, for that weekend, art transcended politics.



SIDEBAR  NOTE - Barbra had helped President Obama with an  LA  fundraiser and wanted to be in Washington for the inauguration, but could not get away from her current recording project with Diane Krall and her trio.