Picture of the Day - Kremlin Watching
I don't know if anyone else noticed the positioning of the principals in Bush's photo ops today, but they were very telling.
This picture is from a slight angle so Condi's prominence is a bit over emphasized, but the placement and message were clear. Condi a half step back and off the left shoulder, Rumsfeld and Cheney a full step back to the right and in the background.
And, in case you think I'm overexamining, if you can find a video clip of the group walking out, it is VERY clear that this positioning was intentional. Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Rice all came out roughly together, and then once the president stopped, they all readjusted like actors finding their marks on a stage. Cheney and Rumsfeld stepping noticably back, and Rice stepping forward and in. It was very intentional.
This shift in relative influence was the message today. Think about the other efforts to show Condi's new prominence like the "leaked" article on the Condi/Bush lunch which brought about the offer of Iran negotiations. Whether a shift in influence is real or not, I don't know, but they want you to believe that Condi is now the chief influence.
(Maybe this straight on, but low picture shows it from a "truer" perspective. Also, notice that Rumsfeld has been pushed out one seat at the briefing table with Condi next to Bush.)
posted by mikevotes at
5:36 AM
7 Comments:
I honestly wish you hippies would make up your hashish-ravaged mind: is Condi a lapdog or a Svengali? She can't be both, of course...unless she's some kind of mutant poodle with the ability to control others with her mind. You know, like my neighbor's dog. Get out of my head, Fifi!!!
By
Rex Kramer, Danger Seeker, at 10:02 PM
Yikes, if this is what the boys and girls of the administration spend their time worrying about, we need a new bunch of boys and girls working in the administration.
Good catch on the placement messages, Mike. I didn't notice that so much, but I was reminded of that time in Crawford when there was another photo op with all the principles spread out across the road like Wild West gunslingers. I forget what they were talking about, though it was probably Iraq. Unfortunately Barney the dog ruined the photo op by defecating in the background. I think the Jon Stewart joke about the photo op was: at least we can see there has been progress on the ground.
By
Reality-Based Educator, at 5:37 AM
Rex, I know it's satire, but you do raise a point.
I'm not saying that Condi is Svengali. I'm saying that she's the foreign policy "expert" that polls the best over Rumsfeld and Cheney. How much this VERY public shift represents any real change I don't know. My point is that they are desperately trying to present this change.
And Reality based, it was pre iraq, you made me go look at the picture. Now, in that picture it was Bush in the middle, Rumsfeld Miers on his left close and involved, Cheney right a half step back, and Condi Rice still further back on the far right. It has to be said that at that time she was not sec state, but Colin Powell's not in the picture at all.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 6:17 AM
With such a concentration of secretive, deceptive and decietful people, I wonder if the sunlight is actually dimmer in their vacinity...
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-epm, at 3:31 PM
It's amazing to me that they take so much time doing detail on stuff like this, but had no discernable postwar plan.
Mike
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mikevotes, at 5:36 PM
I think they're making Condi more prominent because they're pushing for her to run for president in 08. Hey I've seen internet ads that say "Condi for 2008" on Yahoo stories, so go figure.
By
Anonymous, at 12:15 AM
Whats even funnier is that the emporer appears to be making a hand greeting sign of the Wo Shing Wo triad.
..maybe its a Skull & Bones thing.
By
Anonymous, at 1:05 AM
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