WP: Second Impressions (Bushes telegraph casual confidence)

[kskiska]

The first thing that one notices about the portrait of President and Laura Bush in the January issue of Vogue is its informality. The photograph was taken in the Oval Office by Annie Leibovitz and shows the president in his shirt sleeves. To be sure, his shirt has French cuffs and he is wearing a tie -- a blue one. But he has removed his suit jacket.

While it is always somewhat risky to read meaning into a facial expression, it would not be too much of a stretch to say that the president looks amused and mischievous, as if he is about to tell a tried-and-true joke. He is pushed away from his desk and is leaning back in his office chair. The president is some distance from his desk to accommodate the first lady, who happens to be perched on it. She is dressed in a grayish-blue suit by Carolina Herrera and is, as usual, wearing a restrained, inscrutable smile.

Vogue has been photographing first ladies since Mamie Eisenhower. The only exception has been Jackie Kennedy, who requested a sketch instead of a photo. And only Hillary Clinton, as first lady, has made the cover of the magazine.

(snip)

But it's the portrait taken in the Oval Office that is most striking: such informality in a White House that prides itself on its spit-and-polish facade. Only days after Bush's first inauguration, he made a big to-do of announcing that he was bringing rigor and formality back to the White House. He banished jeans from the Oval Office. No more business casual. Bush was drawing a visual distinction between his administration and that of President Clinton, which was known for no small amount of jeans-wearing. The formal attire would signify a White House that was efficient, prompt and not riddled with leaks and scandals.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53450-2004Dec9.html

[Straight Shooter]

1. Not riddled with leaks and scandals

Only riddled with warmongering and embezzlement of our futures.

[maddezmom]

2. if the shoe (or the hat) fits

this WH has been full of leaks and scandals...

[Goldeneye]

3. God for him!

Way to lay down the line. Banishing jeans from the oval office has long been my top priority.

[maddezmom]

5. God or good?

;) either way, I say neither.

[Zorra]

4. They think the fact that people actually voted for * is hilarious. The

smiles on their faces are mocking smiles of contempt for the peasant fools that willingly voted themselves into slavery.

"Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."
-- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

[AndyTiedye]

6. It's Always OK For the Prez to get a Blowjob From the Media

:puffpiece::puffpiece::puffpiece::puffpiece::puffpiece::puffpiece::puke:

[TahitiNut]

7. Those are "Freedom Cuffs" if you please.

:eyes:

[GRLMGC]

9. haha, yeah n/t

[flordehinojos]

8. ...not riddled with scandals...?

i'll take a scandal any day over a skull and bone.... and the resident in the white house has certainly filled it with the skull and bones of those his illegal war has killed.