L4m3st ph0t0 0p 3V4R!

Cross-posted at my blog

I think Monkeypants has worked himself into a public relations hole.  He's managed to get so many people upset with him that most situations he encounters will get filtered through a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" lense.  It doesn't help that his Disministration seems woefully off balance politically (too many pending subpoenas, perhaps?), to the point that one could make a case that they are casting about wildly, hoping the poll numbers will bite on something.  Take this hella-lame photo op stunt he pulled this morning, ostensibly to "rally the troops."  Rally the troops?  You mean those 11 troops on the other end of the video conference?

More below the fold . . .

Anyhoo, back to the lense theory.  Bush can't go to Iraq, because that would hurt him on several domestic issues.  Hurricane relief, fuel conservation, and fiscal responsibility are the ones that come immediately to mind.  He can't not go to Iraq for something like this, because then he'll be seen as a coward, or not believing his own spin about how well things are going over there.  

The result of this conflict is the bastard child of a public relations event witnessed this morning.  Preznit Sock-in-the-Crotch videoconferencing his support to the troops.  Jiminy Christmas, talk about "phoning it in!"  Lame stunt, lame words, and very lame imagery.  Take the AP photo to the right, for instance.  Little Georgie Porgie waving howdy to the soldiers, looking like some cheap bluescreen effect from a second-rate 1970's movie.

Really, the best thing that he could have done was nothing at all.  However, thanks to his "admit no mistakes" policy, he is forever trapped in his damn "I ♥ the Iraq War" rut, so he has to find some newsworthy way to trot out his "Freedom good, Terr'ists baaaad" line a few more times before the Iraqi Constitution gets passed like a kidney stone and miraculously drives the terr'ists from the land.

Unfortunately for BushCo, repeating nonsense ad nauseum doesn't make it true, and semi-random, lame photo ops won't shore up your sagging ratings.

•  Yup. That's Pretty Damn Lame Right There.

  Contrast with the "Mission Accomplished" aircraft carrier stunt show.

  What is he going to do in another year or two, do a photo op with Sgt. Mutt, the Baghdad Officer's Club mascot? Or perhaps a bloodied boot containing a severed foot from an IED incident? Sorry, that was in poor taste, but all of the past five years have been in poor taste.

  by NewDirection on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 10:47:06 AM PDT

•  Well, at least, unlike the Jackson Square...

  ...television speech in New Orleans, it does look like he got his shirt buttoned correctly.

  Always give credit where credit is due.

  by wonkydonkey on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 10:56:27 AM PDT

•  Snorting very loud

  I agree with what you said, but I gotta tell you, "Preznit Sock-in-the-Crotch" caused me to snort my Mountain Dew, making my coworkers wonder if I need a Heimlich.

  Thanks for a howler of a nickname -- made my day.

  by cvannatta on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 10:59:59 AM PDT

  •  HA!

    I have no idea if I read that somewhere else, or if I just made it up this morning.  Likely it is a derivative of something I read somewhere else.

    Regardless, I'm glad it got you to "Do the Dew," since no one got hurt.  ;-)

    by Praxxus on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 11:44:09 AM PDT

•  And the soldiers look like

  they're in a 3rd grade class photo.

  Not very stirring.

  by jem6x on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 11:06:11 AM PDT

•  Troops.....

  as props ......literally. Unreal.  

  by DEVO9SAM on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 11:28:38 AM PDT

•  I wish the Daily Show was not in re-runs

  But I am sure the scribes there are working on a great segment.  Also a Sat Night Live skit must be pushing out some other lame bit as we umm write.

  by namnick on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 11:33:02 AM PDT

•  Had to recommend

  1. for the title.  l33t u r!
     
  2. for the content.  Pretty hilarious!

  by Plutonium Page on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 11:35:14 AM PDT

  •  Thanks.

    The title stemmed from me initially putting "EVAR" in it, but that looked dumb.  "3V4R" by itself looked stupid, too.  It obviously needed the rest of the title to be "133+3d" up.

    Thus "Lamest photo op ever!" became what you see before you.

    by Praxxus on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 11:38:16 AM PDT

    •  Off-topic

      but related to the l33t5p34k stuff... here's a hilarious diary:

      If World War II was a chatroom RTS game...

      </nerd alert>

      by Plutonium Page on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 11:44:15 AM PDT

      •  Very telling about me . . .

        I find that to be some seriously funny **!

        by Praxxus on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 11:52:30 AM PDT

•  I liked it when he said

  "I wish I could be there to see you face to face and thank you personally. Probably a little early for me to go to Tikrit. Perhaps one of these days the situation will be such that I'll be able to get back to Iraq."

  by magnus on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 12:09:46 PM PDT

  •  Me too.

    That's the "lame words" link in my diary post.  It's to Atrios' "Quote of the Day."

    Laaaaame.  Totally lame.

    by Praxxus on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 12:34:02 PM PDT

•  Is Dumbya ...

  so numbed to reality that he has absolutely no clue just how embarrassing this is? Incredible!

  I feel we're all living in a Potemkin village, where we're all looking at each other trying to see the things The Ruler sees.

  by Appalled on Thu Oct 13, 2005 at 12:30:27 PM PDT