When bad photo-ops happen to bad people — Part IV

April 28, 2006

In part four in my ongoing look at media events gone horribly awry, I give you Speaker Dennis Hastert. (here are parts I, II, and III)

With gas prices soaring, this probably seemed like a terrific photo-op. If only [tag]Hastert[/tag] could have stayed away from his [tag]SUV[/tag] for a little longer.

The Republican House leadership, hopping aboard the new anti-oil-addiction campaign, staged a fine media event yesterday at a BP gas station at Ninth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE that featured a [tag]hydrogen[/tag]-powered [tag]car[/tag].

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (Ill.), along with other top House Republicans, was photographed in and around the snappy blue General Motors HydroGen 3 van.

Reporters ate it up and the media stunt was a huge success. Hastert rode off in the very fuel-efficient vehicle, with photographers snapping away. It was a little shallow — the Speaker was just in the car, he didn’t buy it — but no matter. A good media stunt is a good media stunt.

Unfortunately, those same photographers kept snapping when Hastert got out of the hydrogen-powered car — and into his SUV.

Hastert, who appeared to have walked to the station, left in the very fuel-efficient vehicle, apparently headed for his office. But he went only a block or so before he got out and stepped into his pre-positioned gas-guzzling armored SUV to take him back to his office. Alert photographers, suspecting a ploy, had followed the speaker and captured the bait-and-switch.

He was only going a few blocks back to the Hill, but Hastert’s spokesperson said that “security officials demanded that he ride in the much more secure armored SUV.” It’s not a great argument — as Al Kamen put it, “Perhaps the security folks thought the vehicle was related to the ill-fated Hindenburg?” — but when you’re busted, your standards for political defenses drop.

My question is, Hastert couldn’t wait until he got around the corner?

Seems like Hastert could have used a good walk. Maybe next time he will go all the way with the stunt and carpool or walk or take the bus. Anything but get into your SUV to drive 2 blocks. Maybe he was trying to make a statement and personify the problem. kind of a “Don’t do what Denny Don’t does” kind of thing.

What a maroon!

  • If you go to the WaPo source on this and scroll down, the story just beneath is one of those “we can’t make this stuff up, folks” sort of Republican propaganda.

    To save you the time, here it is:

    Let’s face it, the media continue to emphasize the bad news out of Iraq and absolutely refuse to highlight the important good news coming out of there of late.

    Fortunately, the Republican National Committee puts out a weekly “Iraq Facts” page on its Web site that focuses on all the good news out of Iraq. This week’s “Other Good News” section tells us: “Baghdad is to get its first water park and wave machine — thanks to a Scottish company” called Murphy’s Waves.

    The RNC cites a report on the Web site of Scotland’s Glasgow Daily Record a couple of weeks ago, quoting Murphy’s international sales manager, Jim Stuart , who says he’s “delighted to be involved in this project and it shows that rebuilding in Iraq really is happening.”

    The wave-machine pool project has been in the works for a couple of years, he said, when someone from a company called Baghdad Pools called and said he wanted to build a “fun pool for the city.”

    What better way to cope with the coming brutally hot summer in Baghdad with temps hitting 120 degrees? In the prewar days you might have had air conditioning, but electricity is still not up to prewar levels — even to WWII levels.

    So why not ride the great waves?

  • one wonders how they are going to generate those waves without electricity. Or whether enough clean water will be available.

  • I would like to see Bush and Cheney at this Iraqi water park enjoying the warm water and dogging the bullets from the insurgents and perhaps the Coalition forces!! They should bring Rummy and Rove with them too.

  • Is this any way for a future (acting) president of the usa to act?
    Once Bush’s ineptitude finally causes him to be replaced and pushed
    off the political stage, we are going to wind up being ruled by Dennie.
    I hope he realizes he better clean up his act and at least start acting
    like a leader. He has suffered from having Tom Delay run the show in
    the House for too long so he hasn’t had to worry about how he looks
    on camera. And, yes, a little more walking every now and then wouldn’t
    hurt, would it?

  • What is with the big, black SUVs that our representatives and senators ride in to their political appearances?

    The caravan of black in Bush’s last inaugural parade was a case in point.

    There is something surrealistically reminiscent of the old soviet system on display here.

    I see a lot of private citizens mimicing this on the highways. Its like they are saying — I am a rich, powerful SOB, so don’t you peons even think of messing with me. Chariots of the gods.

  • Granted it looks bad on Hastert, but as has been pointed out, while I don’t know for sure, it’s a reasonable possibility that the big, black SUV is a government-issue required vehicle for elected officials. Lou’s observation suggests that the things are practically ubiquitous in Washington, probably because they’re all Secret Service vehicles or something, which is what I’ve been led to believe. And while Congress probably can decide that the government fleet should instead be comprised of armored 50-mpg+ Priuses, they haven’t been on the anti-gas-guzzler kick long enough to really enact that.

    I dunno. It’s still possible the SUV is his personal vehicle and Congress doesn’t enjoy the same Secret Service-like protections that the President enjoys. There were lots of pictures taken, did anyone get the number on the license plate? Some simple fact-finding should easily clear up what is true in this story.

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