Sing the Chorus of "Friends"

Postie Al Kamen keeps track of the Washington weird:

The Ties That Bind the Tongue

President Bush , at his news conference yesterday with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi , noted, as he almost always does, "that it was not always a given that the United States and America [sic] would have a close relationship. After all, 60 years we were at war -- 60 years ago we were at war, and today we talked about North Korea, and Iran, and Iraq, and trade, and energy cooperation." Bush waxed on about how "It's amazing fact that we're able to have these discussions. To me it shows the power of liberty and democracy to transform enemies to allies and to help transform the world."

Did he ever talk about WWII when Italy's Silvio Berlusconi came to town? Will he mention it to German Chancellor Angela Merkel when they meet soon?

Meanwhile, Bush came out swinging Wednesday in urging global free trade. "We shouldn't fear global competition," he said. "We shouldn't fear a world that is more interacted."

Long as they acted right.