I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of this Reuters picture.
To be fair, based on the caption, the president was probably supposed to stand on the flag; it’s a carpet commemorating 9/11.
Still, given this president and his record, it’s likely to be one of those images that sticks, don’t you think?
Wouldn’t this count as flag desecration?
Would this be prohibited under the oft-proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw desecration of the flag?
If burning a flag is worthy of a constitutional amendment I think walking on one (even if it isn’t an official flag) should be.
Ah, the art of Found Symbology.
“I’m not feeling very optimistic, Mr. President.” –The Rug
Okay, who’s the ditz in the President’s entourage who did not have the brains to say: “Let’s not have a rug with the U.S. flag for the President to step on.” Does it take that much brain power to see how this would be taken?
I think the Bushites have really let Boy George II down.
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Damn. Where’s that Constitutional Amendment now that we need it? Heck, if all you damned Liberals hadn’t been out campaigning against it, we could have been locking Bush up in a padded cell for a few years, based just on this photo!
Shucks. So goes the law of unintended consequences. *sigh*
Adds to my suspicion that there are machiavellians in the west wing who are deliberately trying to enhance this guy’s already-formidable capacity for looking like an idiot.
somewhere some yahoo will claim that this has been photo-shopped by the american hating MSM.
“somewhere some yahoo will claim that this has been photo-shopped by the american hating MSM.” – shingles
Actually looks it too!
Is it me, or does Boy George II’s stride look a little gawky in this picture?
George and Laura look really annoyed at something. Apart from that I cannot help wondering who thought an american Flag 9/11 comemorative doormat was a good idea. Cannot help wondering how ballistic the GOP machine would be if Clinton had stepped on this. Wannot help but think Clinton never would have been so stupid and unaware as to be caught stepping on this.
All that’s needed is for him to be wiping his shoes on it. Which is what he’s been doing for the past 5 years.
Maybe if his shoe was ON FIRE we could have gotten him for flag burning. Fist time I’ve thought of giving someone a hot foot in years. That used to be such a standard of the cartoons.
I saw the photo and thought “book cover”.
Next Bush will be burning the flag.
Any truely patriotic (as opposed to grandstanding) American knows you don’t step on the flag in any version – even if a mat.
Bush probably thought it had the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights woven into that door mat also.
.
You should see what he wipes on the Bill of Rights.
“You should see what he wipes on the Bill of Rights”
His mouth?
…it poops too
I think it would have been more endearing if he had posed ‘scootching’ on it – you know, like a dog with worms. It would be nice to see his daily workouts put to use (I just tried it on my office floor and it is harder to keep your legs up than it looks).
Seriously, it makes me think ‘sock puppet’. Presumably only a miniscule amount of savvy is required to say, “wait a minute, I’m not going to pose standing on an American flag”…
-jjf
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🙂 Aw come on out and play koreyel. It could be worse. Next year they’re instituting the “11 Shopping Days ’till 9/11” program to boost the economy.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Xmas.
Remember the days when they always arranged to have a halo around George’s head in his photos? Now they can’t even keep him from putting his foot in all the wrong places.
He looks like someone who is concerned for his safety.
What’s that critter on the leash standing to his left? Looks obedient. Well trained.
Appropriate considering this is all he had to stand on the past five years.
As I mentioned here, there was an art installation some years back involving a flag on the floor that got Republicans exercised. But IOKIYAR.
is this a yin/yang thing, like the opposite of The Optimistic Rug?
‘…Typical of his governing style, though, he gave a clear principle as guidance: he wanted the rug to express the view that an “optimistic person comes here”…’
so the one he’s stepping on means…?
He and Laura could have got away with it if they had stood on the blue areas of the carpet on either side of the flag, but he’s showing about as much carelessness here as he did going into Iraq.
Elementary flag etiquette suggests that it should never be displayed on the floor. Common sense suggests that, if it were so displayed, it shouldn’t be stepped on.
George Walker Bush is a dolt. This proves he’s also a rude one.
Are we sure that photo isn’t photoshopped? – As Lance noted, the photo is a little odd-looking. Bush’s leg looks strange and his shoe looks too big.
On the other hand,
http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/georgewbush/ig/100-Bush-Pictures/Bush-Flag-Desecration.htm
IOKIYAR.
Isn’t stepping on the American flag the highlight of those Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps parades in Tehran?
But to go along with Lance and N.Wells, his feet do seem a little out of place with the rest of his body. Almost Frankenstein-looking.
Definitely iconic of the fall of the Bush administration.
I wonder what it should be titled? Maybe just use the title from the ascent; Mission Accomplished.
Maybe; Watch where you step.
How about; Quick, pull!
Stop drop and roll yourself up in the flag, George.
It really ties the room together…
The problem with the flag desecration law was that it was attempting to outlaw the thought behind the action, and not the action itself. It’s OK to brn a flag in order to dispose of old, torn flags. In the case of the flag rug, it’s OK to have a flag rug on the floor if you want to honor the flag. It’s not OK if you burn the flag or step on the flag with malicous intent. Yeah, I know it’s a horrible double standard. Apparantly patriotic republicans think you can outlaw a thought.
Photo is *not* photoshopped–Reuters photo, saw it on the Yahoo slideshow yesterday with other wide-angle shots. Now very difficult to find; you can see more pictures here. Whole photo-op was disgusting, but that picture just floored me.
I see ongoing uses for that photo. Bad mistake on the part of the WH to stage that one….
What are you all getting so worked up for? The man has basically wiped his ass with the constitution. The government can now wiretap your phone, read your mail, read your e-mail, see what library books you check out, demand your medical records, lock you up for nothing by declaring you an “enemy combatant”… So the bastard is standing on top of the symbol of intolerance, racism, narrowmindedness, and a misplaced sense of chauvanistic entitlement… So what? Stepping on the American flag is the only GOOD thing he’s done these last 8 years.
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