Re-Collecting

First impressions are not always the best impressions. "I wasn't a big fan of his policies," Elton John said of President George W. Bush. "I was very against the Iraq war. So, you know, his policies didn't sit well with mine." Well, times change and so do opinions. In 2004, "At the Kennedy Center concert we spent some time in the intermission with the President, George Bush, and he was amazingly informed about AIDS," John recounted.
Amazingly informed. Yes, you read that right. "One of the old adages in life is never judge someone until you meet them," Captain Fantastic said. "I found him charming. I found him well informed. And I found him determined to do something about the AIDS situation. So I changed my opinion of him. I learned a lesson." Apparently W's determination to do something about AIDS translated into   enacting the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a fifteen million dollar program aimed at prevention and treatment in Africa.
So the Rocket Man and W are pals now. In the meantime, he seems to have frozen out his buddy the Piano Man with a lot of talk about "tough love" and rehab. Billy doesn't seem impressed. Of course, I'm waiting for the three of them to sit down with a Diet Coke or two and swap war stories, but not real war stories.