Between Zuckerberg, Trump/Cohen and Syria — Our Visual Roundup of the Week

Smart one by @DavidButow: Special handling. @nbcnews #Zuckerberg pic.twitter.com/6mKvG8PMAr

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 11, 2018

The new photos this week were more complex than usual. For example, two stories that should have been completely separate seemed to merge. The first was Syria’s gas attack on its own people. The second was the raid on the office of Trump’s lawyer/fixer, Michael Cohen. In the week’s leading Trump visual, he used a meeting about the former to lash out about the latter.  Like we said last week, awash in troubles of his own making (Stormy, Mueller, tariffs, Cohen, Syria hedging, etc.), images of Trump seemed to cast him more clearly on the defensive.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance before Congress also attracted an internet’s worth of eyeballs. In the end, his exposure raised more questions than it answered, and made Zuck and the company a more publicly visible concern. Finally, the resignation of House Speaker Ryan was one more indicator of DC gridlock, Trump’s outsized impact, and the GOP’s vulnerability in November.

Post-raid and post-Hope, critical thing to track from a visual standpoint is how much the anger starts breaking into the open. This from the Cohen venting at top of Syria crisis meeting. pic.twitter.com/2UvuiW6lbq

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 10, 2018

Why was this #DoumaMassacre pic so powerful and widely seen? Whereas corpses elicit fatalism, children stricken, but not as desperately, throws the focus on circumstances and urgency. 📷 @UOSSM https://t.co/vvUk9I6S1S #Ghouta #Syria pic.twitter.com/F6DHOkz8o6

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 10, 2018

Nikki just reviewing notes in the one pic, but both shots speaks to futility. In this diplomacy-challenged era, #UN jammed up over response to #Syria gas attack. @drewangerer @gettyimages pic.twitter.com/fD0yDm0nFA

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 12, 2018

Resistance comes full circle. 📷Mark Wilson @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/P2ZkNYLsAg

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 12, 2018

Climate change. ✒@obrienillustration @time https://t.co/bbcYHogO5p pic.twitter.com/dxMjfmq6u6

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 12, 2018

Get ready for the unintended consequences of Trump’s trade war https://t.co/6n5A4YMnEl pic.twitter.com/dOzosoaGnm

— Businessweek (@BW) April 12, 2018

Seeing whole lotta pix like this. Midwest politicos getting grain-ular; farmers in stir over #tradewar, no US in #TPP. https://t.co/tAt7uTK7b7

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 12, 2018

The pic leading WAPO’s latest “tantrum” article is actually from February. Still, the diagnostic vibe says it all today. #SOS @jabinbotsford @postphoto https://t.co/CBuMXQvj1e pic.twitter.com/gCcJvwrz63

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 11, 2018

It’s not just the Justice Dept and the FBI on his back.

It’s not just @TheJusticeDept and the @FBI on his back. In the realm of “turn about is fair play,” #MichaelCohen is now prime news hound/celebrity bait. 📷 @maltaffer @AP_Images pic.twitter.com/2ZyP4kR8Fa

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 12, 2018

We are absolutely living in a Tom Wolfe novel. https://t.co/gfAlaQ4Vu5 pic.twitter.com/IAhmqkno7c

— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) April 9, 2018

Word pictures. https://t.co/j0fPtbS8AR

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 12, 2018

The NYT saw #Zuckerberg, the suit, as closing the Valley/DC gap and ever the grown up. Fidgety pix like this, though, from a DC photo press that has seen it all, casts him awkwardly out of uniform. #Zuckerberg @somogettynews https://t.co/QZQLOGZ322 pic.twitter.com/0009pF2RtN

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 10, 2018

You can be coached to the rafters, but you can’t get through this kind of gauntlet without the mask slipping here and there. Has the smell of fear. #Zuckerberg @alexwongcw @gettyimages pic.twitter.com/wuWjd8zfKL

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 10, 2018

This Avaaz display on the Capitol lawn strikes many chords about the “Facebook nation” — such as fact it virtually is one. Another thing it illustrates (and not just particular to Zuckerberg, but to many corps in the Valley) is a cult of the leader. pic.twitter.com/hK1zvsUPc9

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 10, 2018

Redundant questions. Analog legislators. ‘My peeps will get back to you.’ Sort of a blur. Photo: @gdemczuk for @nytimes. #Zuckerberg pic.twitter.com/lNEM3GCfWf

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 11, 2018

Well, that’s a fateful pic in Reuters’ “So long #PaulRyan” slideshow. His head is in the place of the coming digits. @brian_photog @reuterspictures https://t.co/bXOtWM3UoY #taxcutsforamerica pic.twitter.com/n4gqun2SDz

— Reading The Pictures (@ReadingThePix) April 11, 2018

Photo: David Butow via Instagram Caption: Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg leaves the building after concluding his final day of testimony in front of congressional committees. On assignment for NBC News. April 12, 2018.