Yo Blair

Tony Blair has been at the front line of British politics for 15 years - Bush too. How come these two experienced politicians failed to notice the microphones all round them at a G8 lunch?
The casual conversation between the two has been picked over by the press - it was certainly something of a shock to hear the President of the United States greet our PM with the words "Yo, Blair!"
Does the exchanges over the Middle East situation expose Bush as a simplistic idiot? Probably. Not exactly shocking. What is shocking is the supine posture of Blair towards his more powerful ally. In fact at one point the PM offers to go out to the region to prepare the ground for a Condi Rice visit. Blair seems to think that it would be better for him to go out and fail than for the Americans to.
What are we to make of it all? And why did Blair send Bush a jumper as a present?
Full transcript here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5188258.stm