Monday, February 13, 2006

Photos schmotos!

The photo flap:
Dada at a White House reception with president Bush, 2003.
(He's the one standing under the arrow.)

I think we need to cut the president some slack over this Abramoff photo flap. We all know there's no one who loves a good schmoozy photo-op more than Bush. Be it standing atop the rubbled graves of 3,000 World Trade Center victims with his arm around a fireman, landing his jet on a carrier deck to proclaim to the world our Iraq "mission accomplished," or hugging an African American girl amid the post Katrina ruins of Alabama, Bush is the King of Schmooz. But to appear in the same photo, not once but at least five times, with a sleezy, well known corruption boss like Jack Abramoff, it's easy to see why Bush may wish to distance himself. (Is it just me, or do so many of these golden photo-ops eventually turn out to be burs under the president's saddle he wished he'd never have let Rove talk him into? )

Well, with the release of one of the much poo-poohed White House photographs today, I realized this is the same reception I attended back in 2003. And from that experience, and armed with this great pic of me with the president, it would be easy for me to claim that he and I are great buddies too. To exaggerate a bit and say I've met with Bush on a number of occasions and we talked about the kids; that Bush even invited me down to his Crawford ranch, or I'd given him a $100,000 for his campaign. But that wouldn't be true.


So maybe, just maybe, we should lay off Bush here because in fact, the sad truth is, Bush didn't even get over to shake my hand. That's because when I removed my sport jacket, revealing my T-shirt with a bold lettered "BUSH" inscribed across the chest with a big screw through it, I was quickly and quietly removed from the room by two secret service agents. (Geez, it was just a joke!)

So Abramoff may claim he's friends with Bush, but the president may actually be telling the truth. He really might not even remember Abramoff at all. In fact, if we could ask him--even though I never did get to really meet Bush--I'm sure he'd probably remember me better than Jack Abramoff because of the t-shirt he saw me wearing as I was leaving.

2 comments:

enigma4ever said...

hmmm hanging out with Casino Jack and Dubya , I don't know Dada....I might have to quit you....( okay just kidding...)

Photos and emails will be the undoing of this administration...

Dada said...

Whew! Scared the hell outta me there for a sec, e4.

"Photos and emails will be the undoing of this administration..."

I hope so. If I thought it would help and thought they might withstand scrutiny, hell, I'd be glad to write a few incrimminating e-mails myself. Why, I could even Photoshop some photos for 'em.