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Yes, it's (just about) Friday -- and I can't wait to see where you take this one.
The other two views are here and here.
Here's a short background summary on this right wing masterpiece.
Here's a link to the gallery exhibition.
(image: Capla Kesting Fine Art)
If GDub thinks he's having trouble with Iraqi images on U.S. TV, he seems to overlook the bigger issue of what the Iraqi's are watching.
With our military superiority largely mitigated by political turmoil, we have become enveloped in a massive perceptual battle -- on radically unfamiliar and increasingly adversarial turf. Only magnifying the problem is the fact that the Gulf, in the past two years (and especially in post-Saddam Iraq), has experienced an explosion of autonomous TV news.
The LAT (which I believe has been far superior to the NYT in its Iraqi coverage lately) had a good summary piece (Unfair, Unbalanced Channels) on Tuesday on the Iraqi news networks. Just as the country is partitioning along factional lines, so, too, are the increasingly popular TV organizations. Although the U.S. was catching no break from the Sunni-oriented Baghdad TV, the Shiite-run Al Furat and the government sponsored Al Iraqiya (recently turned over by the U.S.) are now taking a progressively fundamental Shia line -- and whipping the U.S. with it.
Marking its supposed staff shake-up, the White House released a not-so-intentionally humorous set of images Tuesday. Forgetting for a moment that the Card for Bolten swap is little more than a token difference, consider the "meta-communication" in and between these shots.
Given the way Bush has been floundering, the top photo seems like a tremendous rip on Card. We see Andy Boy helping Bush with a map, knowing full well Bush has become hopelessly lost of late. In the second pic (And, why wouldn't the White House have its own stewardesses?), the lighting is not only more dramatic, the kneeling Bolten actually seems to have an audience. (If you consider this a completely obvious point, well, you could survey a lot of pictures before you came across one in which Bush actually seemed to be listening to an aide.)
Going back to the day's White House photo gallery, also notice the matching pair of Bolten and Card photos with Bush on the White House lawn. It's also a crack-up how the Bush/Bolten shot is so large and businesslike, whereas the Bush/Card shot -- beyond the endearing nostalgia -- shows the two looking not-so-significant amidst the green expanse.
(image 1: March 2002. Air Force One en route to El Paso. whitehouse.gov. image 2: Eric Draper. March 28, 2006. Air Force One en route to Portland. whitehouse.gov.)
Leave it to the White House, and the preponderance of more dramatic news (U.S. getting dragged into Iraq civil war; Washington immigration fight bringing people into the streets) to water this down, but the news of the British war memo is a real bombshell.
The NYT has disclosed a memo, written by a top aid to Tony Blair, confirming Bush's decision to invade Iraq before playing out his U.N. initiative charade.
I thought I would lift these two out of their "meet the press" moment to highlight both the swagger and the synchrony. (And to suggest just how little of substance we've been dealing with all this time).
As much as I bash The Times, the choice of photo here is simply masterful. First, it lines up exactly with events, showing GW and TB strutting their cocksure stuff immediately following the reported meeting. Also, the body language -- with the two men in perfect lockstep -- makes you wonder exactly how strongly Blair maintained reservations about Bush's intentions.
(hat tip: Steve)
(image: Doug Mills/The New York Times. January 31, 2003. Washington, D.C. via nyt.com)
Back in 2001, in working with the first Villaraigosa mayoral campaign to create a series of identifying web and print graphics, we imagined a different character for L.A.'s City Hall.
The vision involved an emphasis on listening, openness and the capacity to build bridges between radically disparate communities. Plenty of marketing hype? Sure. Still, we were already identifying with what would surely be going through the mind of that kid on the balcony (lower right, below) as he marveled at this crowd.
In studying not just dozens of newswire photos, but also hundreds of pro and amateur Flickr shots of L.A.'s massive pro-immigration rally on Saturday, there was one attribute that stood out for me more than any other.
Yes, the patriotism. (I understand the crowds were encouraged to wear white and bring American flags. Still, surveying the images from protests across the country, it seemed more than a natural and fitting gesture.)
Continue reading ""You Bug So Much You Woke Up The Sleeping Giant"" »
Okay, now I'm convinced the NYT bleeds elephant red.
Even if today's NYT Mag profile of Maryland's GOP Senatorial candidate isn't completely flattering, why does it feel like we are somehow supposed to be fascinated with this guy? Why, especially given these shots, should it seem like the coolest, most obvious choice for the job is Maryland's Michael Steele?
So Steele's friend warns him not to become an "outreach" pawn (which the author of the article, Michael Sokolove, explains is an African-American used by Republicans to expand their voting pool). Steele claims he's not, but the Lieutenant Governor (whose job is largely ceremonial) can barely explain what it is he stands for. Also lacking in political instinct, Steele essentially confirms that he got roped into running by Rove, Bush and Cheney.
But where the article really gets strange is with these visuals.
As a visual piece of corporate propaganda, what's not to admire?
Maybe it's not blaxploitation in the classic sense, but there's 'ole Andy Young, shaken' it with a sea of young sisters alongside one big-ass stereo speaker. Yep, Andy -- famous for his role in the civil rights movement, labor activism, and his U.N. ambassadorship -- is now whoring (when he's not dancing) for Wal-Mart.
Obviously, WalMart intends to employ Andy in much the same way the image does. You pair Young -- cued up with all his (ever more) historical social justice credentials -- alongside young, happy go lucky looking managerial-level African-Americans (the ones behind the clutter of corporate badges and logos). Then, you sit back and let the color and cultural associations obscure the fact Young has far less in common with these kids than he does with the white corporate types who have forked out the cash to own their very own civil rights icon.
But c'mon. Beyond the surface, does anybody believe this company really cares more than 98¢ about health and beauty aides department manager Sabrina Taylor (left) or ladies apparel department manager Antonia Priest?
And then, what makes this Decatur grand opening "newswire worthy" in the first place ... rather than just another piece of big ass corporate PR?
(image: Ric Feld/A.P. March 22, 2006. Decatur, Ga. Via YahooNews.)
(Additional Notes: F. It's Friday, I Can't Help It.)
(image: Charles Dharapak/A.P. March 22, 2006. Wheeling, W.Va. Via YahooNews. Caption: President Bush speaks about on the war on terror at Capitol Music Hall in Wheeling, W.Va. Bush spoke about the war in Iraq and took questions from the audience, which included those on active duty and families of military personnel, on a wide range of issues.)
"Fighting Democrat" Tammy Duckworth wins Democratic Congressional primary in Illinois' 6th. Story here.
Is it politically incorrect to discuss the visual power of Ms. Duckworth and her candidacy? In general, people seem uncomfortable publicly dealing with the subject of the "physically challenged." Still, Ms. Duckworth is a woman; an Asian-American; an Iraq War veteran; she's charasmatic; and she's missing two lower legs. With heavy backing of the Democrat party, she just beat a more experienced Democratic challenger. How do you read it?
(With Henry Hyde's seat in play, Rahm Emanuel reads it like a potential slam dunk.)
(image 1: Chip Somodevilla/Reuters. March 17, 2005. Via YahooNews. Caption: Maj. Tammy Duckworth testifies during a Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee hearing in Washington. Duckworth, an Iraq war veteran who lost both legs in the conflict held a slim lead on Wednesday in her bid to run for Congress as a Democrat in a district held by Republicans for 32 years)
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