Ranch on the Side

Since entering office, Dubya has made the biggest deal about who does and doesn’t get the Crawford invite.

In viewing the images out of the dude’s ranch, however, I’m always interested in how the White House PR operation scripts the setting and story line for each guest.  For the elementary school version of this latest visit, check out a site like Wonkette for plenty of snickering about how Bush and Crown Prince Abdullah spent the morning holding hands.  Maybe the Wonk (and a whole lot of others) fell for some visual bait, however.  What better way to deflect the fact the Bush’s are in bed with the Saudis than to encourage a visual stir over some literal contact.  Sort of breaks up the coverage, doesn’t it?

Beyond the flesh, I was thinking about the graphics in terms of another aspect of wildlife.  I was thinking about how the location scouts picked out cactus for Sharon a few weeks ago, whereas the Crown Prince earned bluebonnets.

(image 1: Jason Reed/Reuters, April 25, 2005 in YahooNews; image 2: Tim Sloan/AFP Monday, April 11, 2005 in YahooNews)