i think the two pics Malkin had on her site were taken at pretty much the same time - the same mostly-bald guy is sitting across from Kerry in both, for example. but the angle, and the way the flash only really illuminates Kerry, in the first picture makes Kerry look more isolated than he really is.

i believe this is why Hugh Hewitt called the picture provocative and perhaps misleading.

First of all, I don't know what these people are talking about.

The natural inclination of your average service member is to AVOID VIPs, the dog and pony show, and the inevitable handlers and chaos that surrounds a visitor like Kerry.

Anyone who gravitates to that and wants to bask in the aura of a VIP is either an ass kisser or an officer, probably both at once.

the same mostly-bald guy is sitting across from Kerry in both

oops. there's another shot of the same scene, on one of the many wingnut blogs showing the pics, that shows the balding guy better than the one Malkin has. will try to find it.

Who the F*** cares! Only wingnuts...

Forgive us if nobody is as stupid as you are. Seriously, you're beliving a Bush spokesperson and Michelle Malkin? Christ, You're a a fucking sucker.

Ultimately, who cares about John Kerry anyway? The fact that right-wing websites are obsessing over this shows them simultaneously to be sore winners ("Bush may have fucked up royally, but at least the guy he beat is really unpopular!") and sore losers ("We got our asses kicked in November, but look--John Kerry is sitting alone!"). The truth about Kerry being snubbed or not is unimportant to these people, as is truth as a general concept. But the sad thing is that Kerry is still important to them--much more important to them than he is to Democrats.

If they hated Kerry - would they have bothered to take a picture?

So, every single member of our armed forces is a Kerry-hater? How much more proof do we need? Hey, if the DFL were currently in similar streits, we might be reaching for such straws as well.

Hennen sells to a very conservative and isolated market. I travel to that area, and find the local media mostly (not entirely, but mostly) preaching GOP rhetoric.

As much as I have little love, and far less respect, for our Prez -- if I saw Bush sitting alone, I would not hesitate to stop and talk, if allowed. He's still a piece of history.

As a former aide to several U.S. senators, I see a very plausible and likely explanation for this photograph. Like any politician in a crowded room, Kerry "worked the room." He didn't just sit down and expect the soldiers and others in the room to come to him, he likely moved around, making sure to greet everyone. Like most politicians in a room set-up like this, I'm sure that he table hopped. At the moment this picture was taken, Kerry was engaging in conversation with some smaller group of people at a half-empty table. It doesn't mean that two minutes later, he wasn't up and moving about again, this time sitting at a table full of soldiers. Every good politician I've ever known would never just sit down in a room like this and expect soldiers or other guests to come pay him homage. He/she "works the room" and makes sure that there's no person who goes untouched.

Seriously, who gives a shit?

The fact that our troops have no defined mission and no exit strategy is a lot more important than who they aren't eating with.

I saw another version of the same photo, not sure where, and Jane Fonda was sitting in the seat next to Kerry. The picture of Kerry "alone" was clearly doctored to remove Jane.

Is this complete wingnut self-parody or what?

You got guys like Al always talking about "Bush derangement syndrome", but the wingnuts are demonstrably orders-of-magnitude more deranged about a long list of Dems who are barely even relevant, for the most part. Kerry is just one of them.

Yes, Shrub is a piece of history - He also is a piece of __________!

He's still a piece of history.
Posted by: wishIwuz2

I'm sure most here agree that he's a piece of something.

Fill in the blank: "Dubya is a piece of _______."

A) work
B) shit
C) both A&B are true

No argument, T3P

..and he may not like some of my questions. But I would still view it as an opportunity.

I have to agree with Pale Rider. First of all, the place looks half-empty. Second, think about your recent holiday party. How much co-mingling was going on between the CEO and the secretaries. People, when they're on break, like to take it easy, not have to be put on display for a VIP. It looks more like, I got my lunch, I'll sit here with my friends. They don't even look like they're aware that Kerry is there. Maybe if he staged a photo-op with a Turkey....

Probably some young republicans sat at his table so they could later get up at the same time and snap some pictures. Sounds like the former speech writer is at the top of his game.

3rdP and MsN have head-on collision.

No injuries were reported to authorities.

Probably some young republicans sat at his table

Dude, there are NO young republicans in Iraq, I can assure you of that.

Dude, there are NO young republicans in Iraq, I can assure you of that.

of course there are! they're the people the Deep Thinking Braniacs of BushCo put in charge of rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure.

Correction:

Dude, there are NO young republicans in uniform in Iraq, I can assure you of that.

MsN,
You funny lady.

Nice try, Steve, but there isn't any sane human out there who needs even more proof that Kerry's insult caused lingering resentment amongst the troops. Why defend this moron?

Dude, there are NO young republicans in Iraq, I can assure you of that.

You mean all the CPA ideologues went home and this former speech writer for Bush accidently fell on his keyboard and emailed a picture to right wing radio?

Thanks for setting me straight. I now have more faith in our diplomatic mission.

Florida State fans still celebrating, eh?

Oh nevermind. back to being depressed

Florida State fans still celebrating, eh?
Posted by: stupid git

Mostly just whimpering in a higher key.

psst...A13...thanks, sweets, you're no slouch your own self. You may have missed my announcement of handle change but this is the poster formerly known as CFShep.

*waving gaily*

The photo isn't proof of the narrative. It's just a piece of evidence that may support it. Just as it wrong to assume that the photo proves the narrative, it is wrong to dismiss the narrative because this one piece of evidence isn't sufficient to draw conclusions from.

I don't know about everyone else, but Malkin's convinced me. The Kerry photo is real, and therefore the war in Iraq has been a total success.

MsN, Missed that announcment. *smacks forehead* Still...you funny! Glad to you see are still posting here.

This flap was about alleged proof that Kerry's flubbed joke from November caused lingering resentment between the senator and the men and women in uniform. Given the picture Malkin found of Kerry surrounded by troops, that part of the story appears to be untrue.

Um, that's not "part of the story", that's the whole story. And its entirely, obviously, untrue.

That part of the supporting spin to the false story was presented by a Bush speechwriter now employed, apparently, as a military propagandist who apparently was so impressed with such a spinnable picture of a politician from the opposite party as the President that he immediately sought a copy of it probably says something, too.

Sheesh...butter fingers and lack of coffee. But MsN, you knew what I meant.

How about the fact that the narrative is meaningless, anecdotal tripe originating from a documented wingnut and promulgated by the most extreme wingnuts on the internets? Is that sufficient reason for dismissal, Aaron?

How bout giving us a reason not to dismiss it.

Am I the only one that gets tired of blogs that constantly get their giggles by publishing photos of politicians they don't like that make them look stupid?

I can count endless images of Bush like that. The turkey-in-the-pants Bush. The Bush-and-the-locked door. The clueless Bush on the ranch. Endless.

So the righties find ONE picture that if interpreted correctly, makes Kerry look less than stellar. Boo hoo. That makes the score something like 15,000 to 2. (Kerry in the bunny suit was a keeper from their point of view).

Can we talk about something that matters?

Can't we just ignore this stuff? I know, I know, you've got a blog to fill up (and you've been doing great at that in a slow news week, Steve), and Malkin et al. are always a "target-rich environment," but they're like trolls -- the less said about them, the better. One of Kevin's virtues is a general ability to avoid comment on most of the idiocy that sets right-wing blogs, or blogs in general, all atwitter. We should all emulate him.

Apollo 13,

When that happens to me, I attribute to either too much or too little Stumptown Coffee.

Some may attribute it to a touch too many "tomahawk chops" over the keyboard.

Who cares?

It is much ado about nothihng, but the right has precious little and they are trying furiously to spin that bit of straw into gold. But all roads ultimately lead to rome: Bush, the failed occupation, the deaths...It all comes back to rest at the feet of the insipid man-child.

My portraits are more about me than they are about the people I photograph. --Richard Avedon

"15,000 to 2)

But, Shrub is far more photogenic and comical.

Some may attribute it to a touch too many "tomahawk chops" over the keyboard.

Bwah ha! How right you are...if I were paranoid, I could worry that you've been spying on me during baseball season.

Must be a conspiracy of "tomahawk chops"

The Seminoles, the Braves, and the Chiefs on the same thread - Why, we'll all be ostracized, ya'll. Where oh where is y'all? Probably helping Lou P on evaluations.

When a success waiting to happen such as November 7 destroys a party's myth of infallibility, they will reach for any straw and/or strawman to hang their sorry heads and hopes upon. The Kerry pic is simply that for the right.

It is much ado about nothihng, but the right has precious little and they are trying furiously to spin that bit of straw into gold....

Yeah, that's my take, too, Globe. Reading what Steve wrote...CPT Benjamin G. Runkle, former Bush speechwriter and staff assistant to Defense undersecretary Douglas Feith... said it all for me. I read on the other thread that Ben is a captain in the propaganda ministry, er, I mean, Strategic Effects unit of the Communications Division. Uh, huh.

In a false quarrel there is no true valour. -- William Shakespeare.

Red tablecloths in the Kerry photo,
White tablecloths in the Runkle photo.

No discrepancies there...

the right has precious little and they are trying furiously to spin that bit of straw into gold

Please! Mocking clowns like Kerry and Gore is a sport. It's not a serious activity nor has anyone pretended otherwise. It's all in fun.

I will give Steve credit in coming clean. He thought he had a 'scandal'. It had to be painful to admit Michele Malkin did her homework. Trying to suggest he was correct after all is rather silly since as you pointed out it's not a serious topic in the least.

BTW GC: Checking out those stock market averages? 2007 is shaping up to be another banner year. Housing is firming and energy prices shold be constrained. OPEC has taken 1.7M gallons off the market to hold prices yet we're still over-suplied. They now have excess capacity of > 10% while demand is dropping. This week the US had it's lowest drawdown of natural gas since they've been tracking inventories.

Look for higher stock markets, another surge in tax revenues, continued strong profitability, hiring and low inflation. This is the best of all worlds.

As usual, PowerLineBlog does a more thorough and thoughtful job than Kevin Drum and Steve Benen.

Really? Did they explain away the red tablecloths in Kerry's picture and the white tablecloths in the "proof" picture taken by CPT Runkle?

I think I missed that...

*slaps rdw*

*And GC tromps on his toe*

I'm seriously, though.

I know rdw has been here for a while. But does anyone know what "rdw" stands for? Republican Dimwit maybe?

Ronald Donald Wooten, male prostitute.

Thanks for that Dan Akroyd image, Pale Rider.

This is so funny, is this all the righties losers have to whine about this week? Aren't they jumping for joy that Saddam will swing?

No, they can't get over their obsessions, just like the losers rdw and Kenneth here. They will be continually harping on the actions of men 1000 times more successful than they ever will be.

Man, some people don't wear defeat very well, do they?

Thanks for that Dan Akroyd image, Pale Rider.

You better have three crisp &100 bills ready for him when he shows up at your door with a leisure suit and a jar of Crisco.

The Jolly Green Giant protector of the high seas, goes by many titles - The Doofus of Drexel Hill, The Dimwit of Chester County - Hyacinth's Brother-in-law, curb crawling, you know.

Witless the Woot, Wooten, the Witless.

A loyal member of Mark Steyn's Knight Templars legion of former telephone workers who have fallen from poles. All work up pole is still Classified. No word in yet from the Freedom of Mis-information Act.

I want the Bass-o-matic

Wow, Bass-O-Matic. One of the first times I ever gagged while watching TV!

Kerry's a politician. Politicians work a room, going up to unoccupied people and talking to them. He'd probably just sat down.

Phil is correct - When Shrub visits Iraq, he likes to go out into the Green Zone and talk with occupied people.

Did anyone actually LOOK at the so-called verifying picture? The one with the lone person reading a newspaper?

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002249.php

OMG, that is the fakest thing I have ever seen. The righties really have to get better at Photoshop.

. . . former Bush speechwriter and staff assistant to Defense undersecretary Douglas Feith . . .

Sure sounds like someone we can trust to verify a photo . . .

. . . one of the group that manufactured evidence of WMDs and has repeatedly lied about all aspects of the war, not to mention a host of other issues.

The authenticity of the picture remains in question as long as anyone connected to the Bush administration appears to be responsible for either its authentication or its creation.

In fact, it wouldn't surprise me a bit if someone iin the Bush administration (formerly or currently) didn't ask Kerry to pose in that manner and shooed everyone else away ('Hey, Sen. Kerry, we just want you in the picture. It's for my kids. They are big fans.') just to set him up.

In any event, it is much ado about nothing and what the Right is left with now that failure comes to everything they touch: focus on Clinton and Kerry boogeymen from the past.

The wingers are hurting their own interests in playing up these stories because they should want Kerry to be the opponent in 2008.

He botched a joke in a way that a politician can't afford to botch a joke, reminding us yet again what a clumsy campaigner he is.

But worse, he handled the initial reactions to that botched joke in a way that shows he learned absolutely nothing about how to respond to "swift boating" stories that define the narrative.

And so that provides fuel for the mess hall story, even though the other photos showing him at a full table prove that story to be nothing but wingnut fantasy. Again reminding us that Kerry's team has no clue about how to control the narrative, or how to respond to the opposition controlling the narrative.

Kerry in 2008 would be like Kerry in 2004. I hope the Democrats aren't stupid enough to take that chance.

Drawing conclusions from a single snapshot about the feelings of 150,000 troops in Iraq towards John Kerry and by extension other Democrats and the policies they advocate is pretty stupid. I think this would be obvious to any non-neocon deadender visiting her site so responding to it and getting into public debates with the likes of Michelle Malkin is a lame waste of time. Lame in the way that allowing Rush Limbaugh to take debate away from the merits of stem cell research and onto what an asshole he is was lame. In the cases of the Iraq war and stem cell research you have solid majorities throughout the country supporting Democratic positions so it is not necessary to engage right wing trolls on the petty nonsense that they want to debate. Please Steve, save it for when they advocate more war and stay away from this kind of crap. But I still love you.

Thank God that Iraq is a stable democracy and shining beacon of hope to the entire Middle East. Thank God nobody, American or Iraqi, is getting killed and maimed in Iraq.

That gives us all plenty of free time to argue about some manufactured wing nut bullshit about a Democrat.

All this incident proves is that wingnuts prefer to spend their time over the holidays bashing Dems than being with their families.

Soul Power,

Whinning? You've got to work on your reading comprehension skills my friend. Celebrating record stock markets, record corporte profits, surging tax collections, low inflation, low unemployment is not whinning.

Did you know this was another year when the US dramatically ourgrew GDP versus Western Europe? We keep on getting richer and they don't. What's with that?

Not a bad point about Saddam however. To be honest, the fate his sons experienced would have been preferrable. But being conservative, in my case a Reagan conservative, means I am an optimist and there's see a brighter side.

In this case the hanging of Saddam will create a massive run on kleenex as the anti-death penalty twits cry their rivers of tears. Can't you just see the agony across London, Paris, Berlin, New York and LA? Should I buy stock in Kleenex or perhaps one of the Big Pharms selling anti-depressants?

Here's a prediction for 2007. The most watched video clip for all of 2007 will be Saddam doing his last dance.

Here's another prediction for 2007. The USA will outgrow Western Europe by more than 2 to 1 in 2007. Ok, I'm not sure that even qualifies as a prediction since it happens constantly so I'll make it 3 to 1.

And its entirely, obviously, untrue

Actually it's obviously true. It's also just as true that Kerry might be an even bigger dick than Al Gore. The simple ass never had a shot in 2008 anyway but his polls have been cut in half since that event and he will drop out as soon as his leftover cash from 2004 runs out. He might still be in denial but even Teddy has sent him the clear message. When he can't raise a dime he'll drop out and we'll all be able to date the beginning of the end for him.

I won't believe it till powerline sends us a picture of a green zone squirrel.

This is cool!!!!

Opinion NY Times
Editorial

The Rush to Hang Saddam Hussein

Published: December 29, 2006

What's not to like here? This is perfect. For once I am in agreement with the NYT's. Why Rush? Wait a month. How about a daily Editorial from the Times pleading for his life. 30 days of agony. I can't wait to read the agony from Europe. Drag this thing out. Tell Saddam and the libs, "todays the day". Wait a few hours so they can get a good cry in and then say, "nevermind".

I could enjoy that for a month. Why rush? Let's take a deep breath and make sure we really want to do this and right before the death warrant expires hang him.

Palpable pathology alert!

I could enjoy that for a month. Why rush? Let's take a deep breath and make sure we really want to do this and right before the death warrant expires hang him.

I shall not shed any tears for the demise of Saddam, but I see more than a few problems with your sadistic psychodrama. If you don't you are as feckless as Hussein.

I shall not shed any tears for the demise of Saddam

Well then as Yogi used to say, you are smarter than the average lib.

If that's true read the editorial and laugh as I did at the headline, "A Rush". Are you kidding me? We're going to see even more nonsense out of the insufferable Europeans. And I'm going to enjoy every bit of it.

Unfortunately Yahoo is reporting he'll be gone within 24 hours. Still, The French won't stop whinning after he's hung. They'll be bitching for years.

BTW: among the PR problems France has in this region is two famous criminal cases. Abu Jamal murdered a Phila Cop about 20 years ago in cold blood in front of witnessess in an open and shut case. Of course hollywood and other libs made him into a cause celeb with the French actually naming a steeet after him. Among the many snide tactics the libs used to 'prove' his innocence was that Philly was a racist town.

Two problems here. Philly cops and Philly civilains are not inclined to take any crap off Hollywood assh*les. They fought back in the press every step of the way aggresively, including a campaign against the French. They just 'marked' the anniversary with a round of benefits for the fallen Office Faulkner and his family. There was one 'ceremony' marking the 'rush to judgement' on Abu Jamal. A group of motorcycle enthusiast made sure their street corner speeches were not heard.

Abu Jamal is a houshold name in Philly and some sections of France. Here's what's happened. Officer Faulkner is a revered fallen hero. Abu Jamal is a turd. The French are bigger turds. Ed Asner nd his hollywood freak show are even bigger turds.

The 2nd case was just as famous. Ira Einhorn butchered his 22-yr old girlfriend and hid her body in a trunk in his closet in an inner-city duplex. After a year the stench attracted police and the young ladies family was able to pressure a search warrent and they found her partially mummified body. Seems Ira was a serial abuser. He somehow got bail and fled to Europe. He was found in the South of France. It took about 4 years of legal crap before they would extradite him. As you can imagine this was a very high profile casea and the people of Philly were very accepting of comments from the French they were not sure Ira was able to receive a fair trial in Philly. They thought the French were turds before this happened.

I know you're thinking our little 'problem' with the French is only a temporary thing due to GWB. You're a moron. Both cases long preceeded GWB.

BTW: Philly did decide to commute Ira's death penalty. He's someones girfriend today. I'm OK with that. Same for Abu.

RDW just provided his real name: Republican DickWad

Big Cat

Check out Powerline for a lesson on how to Mock clowns like Steve Benen. Here's the heading:

Some Thoughts on Moonbattery

It's all about the Kerry Pics and Steve's pathetic attempt to declare them a forgery.

"Although I did not personally take the pictures, I saw the person who did immediately after they took them and asked for a copy."

This sounds like a transparent lie to me; there is a grammatical "tell". If Runkle had actually seen such a person, he would refer to that person as "he" or "she". It's conceivable that Runkle is just linguistically challenged, or is playing with his prounouns to help keep the secret of the photographer's identity, but I think the likelier explanation is that he's a liar and a clumsy one.

The interesting thing about this whole episode was how quickly the left of the blogosphere included Stever here jumped on the EXIF data and concluded that the picture was bogus.

We can all be guilty (left or right) of latching on to those facts that support a ceratin position simply because we agree with the conclusion.

Some of you on this site would be smart to pick up this lesson.

rdw, John Hansen--

Based on everything I've seen, the picture has more issues that make it questionable than it has credibility.

Suppose there was a five to ten minute video where Kerry walked around the DFAC and couldn't get anyone to talk to him and couldn't get anyone to sit down with him--I would suspect you had a case.

And I will add this point, which I made earlier--when I served, I did everything I could to avoid the dog and pony show and avoid having to deal with VIPs, regardless of who they were. The only ones who swarm the VIPS are the ass kissers and the officers, generally.

Oh, except there is one anecdote I can share. A friend of mine who was a First Sergeant in the reserves told me about a VIP visit to Eagle Base in the Balkans. The VIP couldn't go anywhere without being mobbed, couldn't get from one end of the room to another without being asked for autographs and pictures. Everyone wanted to be near the VIP, it seemed like, but of course, everyone was also respectful. The VIP was fabulous and posed and talked to people and gave everyone as much time as possible and was widely regarded as being one of the most popular VIPs that ever visited the base.

My friend said the photos he has standing next to Jessica Simpson are the source of a lot of cool points with his kids, by the way.

So, RDW, how much is Michelle "Potty Mouth" Malkin paying you to post your drivel?

You rightwingers are so stupid that you haven't figured out that Kerry is the point man, sent to take all the fire. and you guys are falling for it hook, line, and sinker.

BTW: military relatives in our family do NOT feel that Kerry maligned them. They have to deal with the dregs that the military is being forced to take in because of BushCo's failed policies and illegal war. RDW, why don't you join the military? We could use some more dregs like you.

Oh, I forgot. You've probably got "other priorities" (like sitting in mamma's basement, spooging on her computer screen). Be sure and clean it off before she comes and finds you there. Or are you a young Rethug at some tony college and can't be bothered to fight in the war you "support"?