Presidential snark
I think this is a way to do it, though I would be annoyed to no end if I didn’t agree with the president’s position. It comes off the White House blog, a photo slideshow of the stimulus bill’s process, told in photos from the presidential perspective:
Jan. 27, 2009: House Republicans surround the President after the meeting. Many of them were seeking his autograph. Every House Republican eventually voted against the bill.
*update* You know, the more I look at this, the more devastating it seems to me to be. Here is photographic evidence of the president bending over backwards to be reasonable to all sides, take into account varied positions, listen, argue, and work through a complicated and contentious bill. And as one of the captions (completely understated) notes (photo 12, with Susan Collins) that she was one of 3 Republicans who voted for it.
Hiya Peter. You know, when I first saw these pictures, I thought it was a little snarky too. But on further reflection I agree with what (I think) you’re saying here. The caption is more of a morose acknowledgment of the irony of the situation by some staffer in charge of captioning photos on whitehouse.gov than it is a jab.
Along similar lines, I saw a clip of Obama speaking to some marines about the war earlier this evening. I was struck by their clenched expressions and hesitant clapping during his speech, but then they all crowded around to shake his hand and take his picture afterward. I wonder if their apparent admiration was genuine or of the republican variety. Or is the republicans’ admiration genuine? It’s a mystery.