need DU help...is this Bush* at DMZ pic authentic and where can i verify?

[ElsewheresDaughter]

i need it for public speaking course assignment....i know you guys are the best

[Cappurr]

1. I believe that is a photo of Bush

looking across the DMZ in Korea. I also believe he had the covers on the goggles :crazy:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

2. yes it is bush and i need authenticity...my prof won't accept doctored pic

[htuttle]

5. I saw it when it came out

...but have no way to authenticate it.

However, as one who has doctored many a photo in their time, I have to say that I'd be VERY hard pressed to make a photo like this one.

I see NO sign of doctoring, and the lens caps are just too 'in there' in the picture to imagine them being drawn or pasted on after. Look at the subtle reflection and shadowing on them -- it's perfect. If you wanted to doctor it, you'd almost have to have set up a pair of binoculars in the same exact angle and lighting as the one in the picture to be able to get a clip of the lens caps by themselves to paste on.

My conclusion: It's authentic.

HOWEVER, that being said, he probably raised them to his eyes, didn't see anything, then pulled them down and took the lens caps off. There's a second picture that seems to be chronologically in sequence where he's finally taken the lens caps off a moment later. Everyone's shifted in position in the second one -- ie., it's not the same photo 'pre-doctoring'. So presumably he didn't stand there for a long time looking at nothing.

I said, 'presumably'....but who knows with Shrub...:eyes:

[leetrisck]

3. He was there-don't know where to

verify the picture though. He made a statement while he was there about the "axe incident" from a few years back. The way he said it, you knew he had never heard of the incident before he got there and I found that rather mind boggling. I was there quite a few years back - it's a very eerie place and very dangerous.

[many a good man]

12. Axes of Evil?

So that's where the expression came from!

[RobertSeattle]

4. Snopes has some info

http://www.snopes.com/photos/binoculars.asp

I have a hard time believing any Army officer would have a Mega VIP like the (any) President Bino's with the lens covers on - these events are highly choreographed and this kind of screwup just doesn't happen.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

6. Robert..thank you ...

[HawkerHurricane]

7. I've seen it before

only it was Clinton at the DMZ, trying to look through binoculars with the lens caps on...

[grasswire]

8. two different pics

a pic of Clinton had been photoshopped, I believe. The freepers laughed themselves sick over it.

[htuttle]

10. That's the picture the Snopes link mainly talks about

It also mentions the newer picture of Bush, and states that the Bush one seems to be authentic, but that he probably hadn't held that pose for more than a moment until he realized the lens cap was on.

(mentioning this just in case someone else assumes that the presence of a snopes link means it's debunked).

[wuushew]

13. It appears he takes the lens caps off at some point

[berry]

9. If you look at "properties" after right-clicking,

it says it comes from rense.com, which is not the original source one assumes. Hmm. Google to get the dates of Bush's trip to Korea. Then try any/all of the news/photo services for the date. Since this was a photo-op, there should be lots of similar photos. Also, I'd drop a note to rense.com asking for an identification. They really shouldn't post the pic w/o the source identified (IMO).

I've never searched for a photo--but Reuters and Yahoo and some other sites have lots, and presumably archives. Do you need to have a picture with the lenscaps on? I tend to agree with the poster who suggested that that was just a moment in time and that he then took the caps off. It's a cute moment, but I don't think it says much about Bush*--or if it does, I'm guilty too. I can't say how many times I've tried to take a photo with the lenscap still on my camera.

BTW, good luck with your speech!

[Lefty48197]

11. Hey, these night vision goggles work GREAT!

They even make it look like night in the middle of the day!
This was a caption contest wasn't it?