Bush Photos

January 13, 2005 2:06 PM

Did anyone ever figure out what was behind the photos of various Bush administration appointees, with Bush in the background, out of focus, giving the exact same smirk in each one? I saw another one in a story a few days ago and could hardly believe my eyes.
posted by ism to law & government (15 comments total)

He just doesn't change his face much for such occasions, I guess. Here's an animation I made of his appointments so far. You'll see some variation:


posted by brownpau at 2:18 PM on January 13, 2005

Wow, thanks! That's really creepy. I wonder to what extent the facial expressions were planned, and what message it's supposed to send about his attitude towards his cabinet. Thanks again, cool animation! The Rice and González ones are almost too close for comfort though.
posted by ism at 2:20 PM on January 13, 2005

Damn that is hypnotizing, brownpau.
posted by xmutex at 2:20 PM on January 13, 2005

WOW, brownpau!!!

Ism, I think you're reading too much into this. That's probably just the way his face looks on those of occasions.
posted by orange swan at 2:37 PM on January 13, 2005

I'm sure it's all in my head but I think that Bush always has a smirk on his face. I think he could be crying his eyes out and I could still find that smirk
posted by Justin Case at 2:50 PM on January 13, 2005

Is there something I can answer or is this just Bush bashing?

I imagine a lot of us would look the same if we stood in X spot with the photog in Y spot for many successive occasions.
posted by sled at 2:59 PM on January 13, 2005

I'm sure his handlers have just coached him to smirk that way for photo-ops.
posted by driveler at 3:23 PM on January 13, 2005

Notice he looks kind of dubious about Kerik, though. "I thought I was getting Giuliani, WTF?"
posted by Saucy Intruder at 3:41 PM on January 13, 2005

Two of those looked suspiciously identical (no, I'm not trying to be a smartass)--the one with Condi immediately followed by the one with Alberto Gonzalez look like the same shot of Bush, with slightly different crops. Bush's hair, his eyes, the shadow under his neck, the position of his head, the drapes--they all look identical and I can't help wondering if a stock image of Bush is being used for these various photo-ops.
posted by fandango_matt at 3:46 PM on January 13, 2005

According to this Washington Post story ("'Machine' Politician Exposed By Photos"), those two photos were taken at the same ceremony. They're the accompanying photos for the story so you can compare 'n' contrast. I remember the print version of this story, which had about five or six eerily similar photos.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:20 PM on January 13, 2005

Looks normal to me. It's the same situation each time, and that's a normal face for Bush (everyone has such a "just standing and watching" face). Perhaps we should find Clinton appointments to compare.
posted by NickDouglas at 6:19 PM on January 13, 2005

Notice how the position of the picture frame in the background changes in the two that are from the same ceremony. The photographer moved to get the two shots; they might've been taken only a second apart.
posted by smackfu at 7:01 PM on January 13, 2005

I don't think he is intentionaly smirking. He often has that expression when talking about tragedies as well.
posted by Megafly at 9:29 PM on January 13, 2005

That's just his "proud father" face. Really nothing out of the ordinary.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:33 AM on January 14, 2005

Maybe he's a android.
posted by RockCorpse at 7:29 AM on January 14, 2005