Bush the Younger's Checkout Stand Moment

Remember when President George H.W. Bush (aka, Bush the Elder--the one who doesn't seem that bad a President in retrospect) marveled at the amazing leap of technology that was the grocery checkout stand product scanner back in 1988. Well, that may have been a bit of an urban myth (see this debunking at Snopes.com), but it certainly stuck in the memory as being emblamatic of a President out of touch with the daily realities his constituency faced.

Salon's War Room provides us what might be Bush the Younger's checkout stand moment:

The president was pitching the Medicare prescription drug plan at an event in Maryland Wednesday when someone in the audience asked him a question about the different rates hospitals charge for patients with or without insurance.

Bush started strong. "This guy has got a great question," he said, "because, really, what he's talking about is transparency in pricing." But then the president tried to move into the world of metaphor, and the wheels started coming off pretty quickly. "When you go buy a car, you know exactly what they're going to charge you," Bush said. The comment drew laughs from seniors in the audience who've apparently spent more time at car dealerships than their commander-in-chief. "Well, sometimes you don't know," Bush said. The seniors laughed some more. "Well, you negotiate with them," Bush said. More laughs. "Well, " Bush said, "they put something on the window that says price."

"His point is, is that the more you know about price, the better you can make better decisions, and I appreciate that," Bush said.

Got any other checkout stand moments? Let us know in the comments.