NO Mystery Folks, Behold The UN-PHOTOSHOPPED Photo!

[Placebo]

I have come to know it far too well, since I used the original in a faux satyrical pro-bush campaign commercial I made for my video production class.

I don't see the big issue really, it isn't like they digitally enlarged a non-existent crowd of cheering soldiers for BC04, they just photoshopped shrub out.

They use the original on one of their officially sanctioned Bush/Cheney '04 desktop wallpapers:

[katusha]

1. what was the reason for taking bush out??? n/t

[AIJ Alom]

3. Simple, Bush doesn't stand with our troops. The campaign is simply trying

to be honest by being dishonest. It's Bush supporter logic.

[lil-petunia]

38. He's real nowhere man - - - -

[newsguyatl]

2. yeh, this has been posted in several threads already

[NewYorkerfromMass]

4. I have quite a problem with a poltician being conflated as a "troop"

especially an AWOL incompetent chickenhawk like Bush.
What a poseur.

[Placebo]

8. yup

[Boomer]

5. Why does anyone care?

This is nothing more than wallpaper. With Bush, without Bush, it's just as meaningless. There is no content, no "truth" to distort by taking Bush out or leaving him in.

I pity the poor photo editor who is watching this non-issue spin out of control, along with his/her job, for doing something I've done many times myself. You have a web site, you need some pretty but essentially vapid images to break up the page or provide a button or serve as backdrop for a quote, so you crop it, erase stuff you don't want, put other stuff in.

Where's the story in this? I just don't get it.

[Placebo]

6. I couldn't agree more.

This is a non-story, as I see it. I wish a lot of the people on DU wouldn't jump to conclusions thinking that bush (in all his evil non-glory) digitally enlarged a crowd of soldiers, when in fact the ad people just PS'd him @ the podium, out.

[montana500]

9. please ditch the thoughtful liberal act

This is the election of our lives. Every scrap of ammo must be used. There is no time for philosophizing, playing the thougtful liberal act, playing devils advocate and being wishy washy.

The media is reporting the doctored ad, so let them. It;s a negative on Bush.

[Boomer]

15. Thoughtful liberal my ass!

I'm a web master who is appalled that such a common technique is being villified. No one, on either side of the political divide, can withstand this level of scrutiny. If we start lobbing stones over this nonsense, it will turn about and bite us big time because WE ALL DO THIS.

[Placebo]

19. Exactly, anyone involved with graphics or Web design...

is quite familiar with this technique. I'm all for bashing the bushies, but this Photoshopped pic business is a bunch of poppycock, IMHO.

[Boomer]

25. In fact, it's a point of pride...

...to photoshop an awkward image to fit the layout, without anyone being the wiser. The only shame in this particular photo is that it was done so poorly that people noticed.

I'm NOT talking about news photos, where such changing of reality is verboten. That would have been a real scandal.

But in the design side of media, it's considered perfectly legitimate to do this. As long as there is no intent to pass off these kinds of decorative images as content, they can be manipulated as much as needed.

[Debi]

23. Could it be that the Kerry camp is just having a little fun

at the Bush Campaign expense...

And if it were no big deal why are the Bush spinners all over the airwaves about it?

[Mabus]

14. it matters b/c it is symbolic of the state of the army

you know, the ones that are getting the backdoor draft. Did I say draft? I meant a word that started with "sh."

on edit: it also is symbolic that there are fewer soliders than needed to cover lots of territory

it is symbolic that many of them are being forcible moved around without really understanding why

it is symbolic that many of them aren't where they are supposed to be. Instead of being at home they are Bush's living breathing "G.I. Joe's" that he can do anything he wants with.

[Goldmund]

21. I totally agree...

This is totally being over-zealous. It's like Freepers harping on whether or not Kerry had Botox injections...

[Mabus]

7. was it * they were removing?

comparing the two photos it looks like some minorities have been cropped out. A not so subtle way to appeal to NASCAR dads?

[Boomer]

18. Just the opposite

The guy in the lower left is dark-skinned, so they ended up putting more minority faces.

This wasn't done in an attempt to appeal to anyone. It was just a lousy way of filling in a hole in the photo so it would fit some poor web master's request for a backdrop image to use as a button. No hidden agenda, no plot, just seat-of-your pants graphic creation. Done it a hundred times myself.... just better. If I'd done it, no one would have noticed.

[rockydem]

10. could someone post the photshopped pic?

for comparison? the Kos site is down it seems...

[pacalo]

12. Here it is...

[rockydem]

13. It's symbolic

It's all about being a phony, a fake.

[pacalo]

11. Photoshopping the coWard out is entirely different than duplicating

faces in the crowd to made the attendance seem larger. This is small potatoes, I'll admit, but his obsessive need to distort the truth is disturbing. I'll be glad when he's gone.

[Boomer]

16. News flash -- Bush didn't do this

I'd be surprised if he even knew what Photoshop was, much less have any interest in using it.

For all we know, the graphic artist who did this is a Democrat. It's a backdrop, meaningless wallpaper, it has NO symbolic significance.

[LibertyorDeath]

22. "NO symbolic significance." ROFLMAO!

:bounce::bounce::bounce::bounce:

"NO symbolic significance." ROFLMAO!"NO symbolic significance." ROFLMAO!"NO symbolic significance." ROFLMAO!"NO symbolic significance." ROFLMAO!"NO symbolic significance." ROFLMAO!"NO symbolic significance." ROFLMAO!"NO symbolic significance." ROFLMAO!

Stop your killin me LOL "NO symbolic significance." ROFLMAO!

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too funny Got any more like that.

[Bandit]

24. News Flash........."I am George W Bush* and I approve this ad"

:shrug:

[pacalo]

27. It most certainly IS symbolic of this deceptive administration.

No lie is too small for this administration. Have you gotten that used to this administration's lies to not see any symbolism here?

[Sean Reynolds]

17. The funny thing: It's actually a pretty good photo.

President, troops, little boy with the American flag. So....so Norman Rockwell!

[Bandit]

20. They lied and that is the story not why?

They use deception and lies at every opportunity. They have no credibility.

[Boomer]

26. Because it's not a news photo

If a photo that is supposed to reflect content had been altered, then criticism would be valid. But this was a photo used for purely design purposes, and it's considered standard practice among graphic artists to change these kinds of images to fit the needs of the layout.

"They" didn't do this. A web master or graphic artist did this. I do it all the time myself to create visual filler. There is no violation of ethics or principles involved.

[Placebo]

28. Bingo.

And with all the legitimate reasons to attack bush over his failures dealing with the missing weapons in Iraq, the economy, etc... if we start attacking them over this photoshop story, with the same amount of zeal and fervor, it belittles the real world issues bush can, is, and should be criticized on.

[Boomer]

32. Like 300+ tons of explosives that are missing

And dozens of issues of corruption, mismanagment, incompetence and just plain meanness.

If the American people can't distinguish between a real issue and nonsense, then not even John Kerry can save us from disaster.

[pacalo]

33. The purpose of the "design" was to infer that the coWard was

among a much larger number of "devoted" troops than were actually in the crowd. "Design purposes" makes it okay to distort, I see.

[Boomer]

35. Did you actually look at the original photo?

The only reason the soldiers were cloned was to fill in the hole that was created by taking Bush out. The number of soldiers did not change, because there were soldiers seated behind the podium.

If the photo had been changed to put Bush INTO the scenario -- leader talking to adoring crowd who were actually watching Bob Hope -- then I'd agree the change was a lie.

But the editor took Bush out to provide a bland wallpaper behind the content. Big friggin' deal.

[pacalo]

37. Is that the only photo they could find to use?

[NAO]

29. Bush Wags the Dog - Kerry's Team Produces Harsh Response

Kerry's team issued a nice, biting response (below). Will the news media cover this Bush dishonesty. It seems like so meting right out of the movie "Wag the Dog" (remember Kirsten Dunst as the girl holding the kitten and running across the bridge?)

Kerry's Response to the "Wag the Dog" Ad:

In response to the stunning revelation that the Bush-Cheney campaign’s much touted closing ad has been exposed as doctored, the Kerry campaign is demanding that this fake ad be taken off the airwaves immediately.

Senior Adviser Joe Lockhart issued the following statement:

"Now we know why this ad is named ‘Whatever it Takes.’ This administration has always had a problem telling the truth from Iraq to jobs to health care. The Bush campaign’s advertising has been consistently dishonest in what they say. But today, it’s been exposed for being dishonest about what we see.

“If they won’t tell the truth in an ad, they won’t tell the truth about anything else. This doctored commercial is fundamentally dishonest and insults the intelligence of the American people. The Bush campaign has no choice but to take this ad down immediately and issue an apology for its latest attempt to mislead the American people.

“Unless George Bush has changed its position on human cloning, it’s got to pull this fundamentally dishonest ad immediately.”

Here’s a link that shows how the ad is doctored: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/27/22442/878

[pacalo]

31. The key phrase is "Whatever it takes" -- s.o.p. for this administration.

[txindy]

30. Questions about the ad are already in the media, so who cares?

:shrug: They couldn't be bothered to Photoshop the picture with any degree of professional care, so maybe that's the story. The B*sh admin. outsourced the creation of the ad to a country with really old computers and no skills.

[w4rma]

34. Don't you try to make this an accepted practice, The Nation. Photoshopping

images and presenting them as real images needs to be abhored by the public. Otherwise when it's done on something more important and there is no outrage, then they will start doing much much more of it, filling Americans' heads full of faked images to support their faked reality.

[Boomer]

36. It already IS accepted practice...

...for designers, for decorative photos that have no meaning.

It has always been considered a scandal if done to NEWS photos, even if only to tidy up the composition. Several photographers have been caught doing this in past years and they've been blasted for it.

But graphic designers do it all the time for the filler visuals. This was a filler visual.