william_brasky
3/21/2006, 06:10 AM
President Bush is known as a plainspoken man, a straight-talker. So how did a word like "kerfuffle" come out of his mouth?
It's not an everyday word; it means a commotion or fuss. Bush casually used it during a question-and-answer session after a speech at the City Club in Cleveland. Someone had asked about his administration's warrantless surveillance program, which has stirred concern about whether it exceeds the bounds of his authority and violates the law.
Saying the program had "created quite a kerfuffle in the press," Bush gave his rationale for authorizing it.
No question, the program has riled some Republicans and Democrats. But Bush may be the only politician who says it has caused a kerfuffle. An aide said he has heard Bush use the word privately before, but not in public.
It's not an everyday word; it means a commotion or fuss. Bush casually used it during a question-and-answer session after a speech at the City Club in Cleveland. Someone had asked about his administration's warrantless surveillance program, which has stirred concern about whether it exceeds the bounds of his authority and violates the law.
Saying the program had "created quite a kerfuffle in the press," Bush gave his rationale for authorizing it.
No question, the program has riled some Republicans and Democrats. But Bush may be the only politician who says it has caused a kerfuffle. An aide said he has heard Bush use the word privately before, but not in public.