If you've been following the wires, the tactic of surrounding Bush with service men and women has reached almost manic proportions. It's one thing to put Dubya on a chow line, but this shot -- taken yesterday during a "visit" with the US Coast Guard in Miami -- hardly...
Continue ReadingWe've been witnessing Administration finger wagging for years now. I don't recall an instance, however, when it came back at them like this. Maybe "Old Europe" has finally had it with America's "New Middle East."
Continue ReadingIsn't breast feeding supposed to be a pleasurable act, one which expands the (otherwise incredibly narrow American) definition of healthy sexuality?
Continue ReadingI've been meaning to post this fine cover since it came out one week ago. My hope, if we could, is to focus on Israel versus Hezbollah in terms of results on the battlefield.
Continue ReadingYesterday, Condi Rice stymied a whole contingent of Arab and European countries in Rome, arguing against the vision of a "non-sustainable" cease fire in Lebanon. At the press briefing following the meeting, she took an emotional pummeling for it from an empassioned Lebanese Prime Minister, Fuad Siniora. Yesterday in Rome,...
Continue ReadingWhenever I'm running low on zzzz's, I know I can count on the readership to maintain the pace. With the Lieberman primary coming soon, Thomas Dworzak offers up this freakish photo in the latest New York Magazine.... Coming up with zilch, the best I could do was read it...
Continue ReadingFor someone who said she refused to engage in shuttle diplomacy, however, and was on her way to Rome, Condi's sudden appearance in Beirut this morning was another White House piece of media theatrics.... US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (L) and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora shake hands...
Continue ReadingJust for a moment, couldn't you imagine these U.S. Marines landing in Lebanon this past week for some deeper purpose, such as peace keeping or local humanitarian relief? Instead, however, the visual media -- once again, serving as the PR arm of the government -- flooded us with dramatic...
Continue ReadingThe thing about those "Merkel massage" video frames is that nobody really looks too closely at Bush. Like scanning a flip book, one is concerned with the story line, focusing on two key plot points -- Merkel, in shot #3, flipping out, and Bush, in shots #3 and #4, making...
Continue ReadingOver the last month or so, The BAG has experience an uptick in mail relating to Bush's tendency to hug, kiss or put his hands all over people.
Continue ReadingStudying yesterday's newswire with a particular eye to Bush's appearance before the not-so-friendly NAACP -- I came upon something I found curious.
Continue ReadingSo many of you wrote me about these images, I felt I had to address them. But then, I struggled for a long time to find my orientation. I even did a couple write ups based on the politics and ethics of these images -- feeling, the whole time,...
Continue ReadingThe BAG is quite impressed with this photo-illustration on the latest cover of TIME. A good image is one that, regardless of familiarity, keeps calling you back.... On first pass, the power differential is blatantly obvious.... There are other things: A deeper way to read this is as a...
Continue ReadingJuly 15: A man hurls a stone at a U.N. vehicle carrying bodies away from the Tyre hospital. The Lebanese government called on the U.N. Security Council to establish a cease-fire. (image: Hassan Ammar/AFP-Getty. Tyre, Lebanon.
Continue ReadingOh, now I understand why the Dems pulled their "controversial" web ad about America being on the wrong track. It was not just because the piece contained the one shot of caskets coming back from Iraq. It's because it contained two offensive frames -- the second revealing a standing...
Continue ReadingWith crises in every direction, reporters were just looking for a few words of intelligence and reassurance from the carver-in-chief.... Putin jab http://thinkprogress.org/2006/07/15/putin-jab/ Bush changes story with pig http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_digbysblog_archive.html#115291755754051676 U.S. President George W. Bush (center L) cuts a roasted wild pig beside German Chancellor Angela Merkel during a barbecue...
Continue ReadingLast week, as part of its Talk to the Newsroom series, the NYT featured a Q. and A. with Director of Photography, Michele McNally. Given the quality, influence and visibility of The Times photo coverage (especially at this address), I thought it worthwhile to spend at least a few...
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