Priorities:Look closely at the clip from the hurricane Katrina video conference that had Bush saying little except empty promises.
It's a guy taking pictures of Bush.
That's important. Why bother with additional staff who could be involved with the federal response to the crisis? Far better to have pictures of the president looking good.
By the way, is Bush the Clarence Thomas of the executive branch? Both apparently don't ask any questions when important subjects are debated. Perhaps it's because they don't have much of an ability to be engaged with anything complex.
UPDATE: The cameraman appears to be using a still-shot camera (not a videocamera) and almost certainly took this picture (below) which was released by the White House to show Bush fully engaged.
posted by Quiddity at 3/03/2006 05:09:00 AM
I thought this was at Bush's ranch, not the white house- or is "white house" wherever Bush is, like Air Force One? I know they jokingly call his ranch the "Western White House", but I didn't think the joke made it into official teleconferences.
In fairness to Bush, not only does it look like they're holding a meeting in the hallway but that guy probably figured out that only one of the people in the room was the President and it was his job to get this great moment in non-decision making on the record.
Conservatives have long believed that no man's liberty was safe while Congress was in session, they're just taken the next logical step and sent the President on permanent vacation.
You thought they had no priciples?
is that a camera or a video camera? it looks almost like that guy is videotaping the video screen that bush is looking at while having the teleconference.... doesnt it?
I'm glad you caught that. As a shooter myself, I was particularly annoyed that a) only three people were in that room and b) one of them was a Nikon-equipped legacy-fluffer.
I can only hope the guy on the left is the one who follows Bush everywhere and holds a crown over his head while whispering the words, "All glory is fleeting."
The best part is that the picture was taken roughly when Bush was told that the levees were a major concern - that's the NOAA guy doing his part of the briefing on the video screen
