http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/imagenes_sociopol/bush26_02.jpg
The first photograph appeared in The Washington Post on Dec. 18. In it, the president-elect stands behind and to the side of Condoleezza Rice, his nominee for national security adviser. George W. Bush is slightly out of focus. His head is cocked to the left and tilted slightly backward, his mouth downturned in a perfect cartoonish crescent, the way a first-grader might draw a frown. His eyes are squinty.
The next photograph appeared in this paper two days later. In it, the president-elect stands behind and to the side of Alberto R. Gonzalez, his choice for White House counsel. George W. Bush is slightly out of focus. His head is cocked to the left and tilted slightly backward, his mouth downturned in a perfect, cartoonish crescent, the way a first-grader might draw a frown. His eyes are squinty.
It is not a similar pose; it is an identical pose. It is not a similar expression; it is the identical expression.
Both photos were sent to me via e-mail by Post reader Adam Shannon, and at first I suspected chicanery: that as a joke, Shannon had altered one or both of them in a Photoshop process. But no, Post archives confirmed that both had been published.
Then the third photo appeared in The Post two days later:
The president-elect stands behind and to the side of Ann Veneman, his nominee for agriculture secretary. George W. Bush is slightly out of focus. His head is cocked to the left and tilted slightly backward, his mouth downturned in a perfect cartoonish crescent, the way a first-grader might draw a frown. His eyes are squinty.
Identical. Different tie, identical pose.
Now I suspected chicanery of a different sort. Could The Post have violated its own hallowed standards for accuracy by ginning up these photos from old stock, to cover for lazy or drunken photographers who missed their assignments? Or something?
Then the fourth photo appeared. This was in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Bush, with his new EPA chief, Christine Todd Whitman. Cocked head. Backward tilt. Crescent frown. Squint.
Then, The Baltimore Sun. The New York Times. The Washington Times. Bush, with his nominee for treasury secretary, Paul O’Neill. Squints! Frowns! First-graders! Tilt!
Then, El Nuevo Herald in Miami. ¡Ceños! ¡Cortaduras! ¡Estrabismos! ¡Cabezas inclinadas!
I felt I was losing my mind.
Adopting a background pose of requisite gravity is evidently a tricky thing for a new president: In 1993, when Bill Clinton had to appear beside his new nominees, this very newspaper commented how similar the president-elect looked in the photographs: It was the birth of his famed lip-bite pose. But those photos were fraternal twins of each other. These new ones are clones.
