Stipulated: Photos lie. They show but one moment among millions. They rarely encompass the context of the moment. They’re taken by human beings, famously flawed and agenda-driven. Years of work in journalism have taught me to distrust them, even as I respect their power.
OK? Everyone read the stipulations? Great.
All I want to ask is this: Why do George Bush’s handlers, all of whom presumably know the power of a single image, on a day when a major American city is descending into chaos, allow him to appear in a photo like this?
james said on August 31, 2005 at 10:00 am
Uh… because he can’t play the fiddle, while America burns?
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Mindy said on August 31, 2005 at 10:43 am
Why, indeed. The thinking leader would cancel all appearances unrelated to human suffering if only to avoid the lens. But then, the operative word here is “thinking.”
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mary said on August 31, 2005 at 11:57 am
His tan looks good in the photo, though. He looks so well rested after his vacation.
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brian stouder said on August 31, 2005 at 12:38 pm
oh well.
I suppose it is more invigorating to have some public personage to focus anger upon –
than to only have the awful reality of the human suffering within the disaster itself to contemplate.
to me, this sounds exactly like the small-minded and crabbed world-view expressed by several people on local talk radio last night, who wanted to focus upon the pictures of people looting teevees and so on.
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Rose said on August 31, 2005 at 12:58 pm
Old George: Big hat no cows; New George: big guitar, no strings Rose
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Fr Jim said on August 31, 2005 at 2:13 pm
What do W and that Guitar share in common? That’s right; they’re both sorely out of tune.
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Nance said on August 31, 2005 at 2:23 pm
Come on, Brian, can’t you even acknowledge this is another “My Pet Goat” moment? Even if he’s in touch by phone and up-to-the-second communications, is this really the time to be yukking it up with anyone, much less an entertainer? And in front of cameras?
As soon as the winds died down, the vacation should have been over, the schedule cleared and Marine One gassed up for a flyover at the very least. People pay attention to what the president pays attention to, and this, of all things, demanded his attention.
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Bushfan said on August 31, 2005 at 2:31 pm
Gosh I love 2nd terms!
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brian stouder said on August 31, 2005 at 3:03 pm
“Come on, Brian, can’t you even acknowledge this is another “My Pet Goat” moment?”
Granted.
And you might also acknowledge that hide-bound Bush-hating is a one-size-fits-all mantra that can be applied to any set of facts.
Sort of like the couched racism in all the indignant grumbling about looting… just a good chance to unfurl one’s carefully stored prejudices
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kirk said on August 31, 2005 at 3:30 pm
Bushfan has the answer: 2nd term. Dubya’s not running for anything now, so he doesn’t have to pretend that he gives a rat’s ass.
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mary said on August 31, 2005 at 3:37 pm
I didn’t start off disliking Bush. I didn’t have an opinon one way or another. He’s earned my dislike. I don’t have to make his actions fit my opinion.
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brian stouder said on August 31, 2005 at 3:46 pm
Fair enough, Mary.
And indeed, I voted for Bill Clinton in 1992, and then learned to loathe him after that, too.
But aside from all that, after another full dose of news yesterday, the young folks and I saddled up and – instead of going to a restaurant to eat – went down to the Red Cross, and gave about the equivalent of two trips to a sit-down restaurant….and then went home and had a frozen pizza (and appreciated it!).
gotta plant the thought in the next generation, eh?
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Dorothy said on August 31, 2005 at 3:46 pm
Ditto, Mary. I tried to be open minded, I really did. But my gut instinct from day one when he declared his run for office was that he was a twit, and always would be. So far I’ve never seen any proof otherwise. Just look at his eyes – there is never any kind of glimmer in them indicating he has a CLUE as to how to do anything correctly in this world. Vapid, uneducated and worthless is what he is.
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mary said on August 31, 2005 at 4:45 pm
Molly Ivins, who knew W in high school, says he’s all about the “bidness.” It’s the Texas way. What’s good for business is good for Texas. She claims he’s not stupid or shallow, but she does write a lot of really bad things about him.
He reminds me of the rich frat boys I avoided in college. They all knew they’d be working for Dad or dad would get them a job. They all had pretty nice cars and big enough allowances to provide them with lots of beer and expensive drugs. I didn’t like those guys then, and they don’t seem to improve with age.
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Grant said on August 31, 2005 at 5:14 pm
just a good chance to unfurl one’s carefully stored prejudices
Huh? How does racial prejudice fit in the same galaxy as a “prejudice” against George Bush?
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pansauce said on August 31, 2005 at 8:03 pm
Thought bubble over goatee-guy’s head: ‘Db7 +aug4? I teach him a simple f****n’ C chord, and he can’t even get it right.’
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Mike said on September 5, 2005 at 10:53 am
Singing “This land is your land…..”
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