# AP Photo of GWB writing note to Condi at today's U.N. Summit. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 15, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708 "2005-09-15T02:10:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/1 "2005-09-15T02:10:54Z")
[Here](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/050914/ids_photos_ts/r2587077477.jpg). Uh… this is funny and all, but I’m really curious as to how it got published. That’s a bit of Presidential TMI, right there. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/2 "2005-09-15T02:12:29Z")
Uh, “Reuters” wouldn’t fit in the thread title. Yeah, that’s it. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/3 "2005-09-15T02:41:26Z")
I don’t get it… is he asking her or telling her that he needs a potty break? Also… \*\*Oh come on!!! \*\* This can’t be true, can it? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/4 "2005-09-15T03:02:04Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > \*\*Oh come on!!! \*\* This can’t be true, can it? :dubious: What has triggered your skepticism? The idea that getting up from the table at a U.N. Summit presents procedural difficulties (or that the president would defer to his National Security Advisor over these things,) or that George would _actually_ use mixed case in his printing? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/5 "2005-09-15T03:06:04Z")
The scene from Forest Gump where he meets Kennedy comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/6 "2005-09-15T03:07:30Z")
You should have thought about that before we left the house. You’ll just have to hold it. I wonder if he has some kind of problem. Maybe it’s related to that tube snaking under the back of his jacket at the debates. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/7 "2005-09-15T03:29:52Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Maybe it’s related to that tube snaking under the back of his jacket at the debates. Well, that would explain the unusual pauses in his speach patterns and the slight out of place smiles. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/8 "2005-09-15T04:15:07Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > What has triggered your skepticism? The idea that getting up from the table at a U.N. Summit presents procedural difficulties (or that the president would defer to his National Security Advisor over these things,) or that George would _actually_ use mixed case in his printing? 😃 No, it’s more that this looks more like a joke than an actual news photo. Since when are the newsies poised over the president’s shoulder, photographing his notes? And it seems to me that a purported photo of the president whould show more than his hand. :dubious: I call fake. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/9 "2005-09-15T04:19:44Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > No, it’s more that this looks more like a joke than an actual news photo. Since when are the newsies poised over the president’s shoulder, photographing his notes? And it seems to me that a purported photo of the president whould show more than his hand. :dubious: > > I call fake. They wouldn’t have to be that close, and I’m not sure how a fake photo would make it into the middle of a batch of real ones that way. Still, I don’t know what to make of it either. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/10 "2005-09-15T04:26:19Z")
I’m sure Snopes will be on this soon. I did check and saw that it’s being discussed on their message board. They found [one news story about the photo](http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001137252), the name and some bio information about the alleged photographer. His name is Rick Wilking. The pic is also up on the Reuters site. So far, I’m gonna say real. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/11 "2005-09-15T04:27:13Z")
> [@Scarlett67](#): > > I call fake. Could be, but it’s not like Reuter’s is some hack-job website liable to publish such a seemingly easy to debunk fraud. If it’s a fake it makes them look awfully bad. I’m inclined to believe it at first blush based on the source. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/12 "2005-09-15T04:31:53Z")
My first thought was that it was a fake because he’s left-handed. But then I realized that his dad was a lefty not him. Still, I guess they could have gotton it with a super telephoto lens. At the same time, the photo itself could have been staged very easily. There is nothing in the picture to indicate it’s the president. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/13 "2005-09-15T05:11:28Z")
I like that he phrased it as a question. Apparently, he has to ask his handlers about the condition of his own bladder. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/14 "2005-09-15T05:25:21Z")
Some people at Fark seem to think that Condi wrote “I think I may need a bathroom break?” and Bush is writing “Is this possible …” There is definately two different handwriting, look at the two capital Is. By the way, the first sentance isn’t much of a question, is it? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/15 "2005-09-15T05:35:31Z")
Who might be in a position to photograph the president’s hand writing as its being written? It seems a bit farfetched to me :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/16 "2005-09-15T05:38:03Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > Who might be in a position to photograph the president’s hand writing as its being written? A guy with a telephoto lens? He wouldn’t need to be standing over him. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/17 "2005-09-15T05:38:09Z")
I’m skeptical as well. I poked around Reuters and the AP (I have journalist’s access to the latter) and couldn’t find the photo. In addition, Rick Wilking, to whom the photo is credited, has apparently been in New Orleans for the last week or two, making it unlikely that he was at the UN World Summit today. No telling how it got into Yahoo!'s photo feed, but I doubt it’s legit. Reuters and the AP both ran other photos of Bush taken today, but none were from a similar angle or zoom. Come to think of it, the photo shows someone’s right hand; isn’t Bush left-handed? Or am I misremembering that? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/18 "2005-09-15T05:53:04Z")
> [@jackelope](#): > > In addition, Rick Wilking, to whom the photo is credited, has apparently been in New Orleans for the last week or two, making it unlikely that he was at the UN World Summit today. We know that he WAS there, I’m not sure that he IS there now. If you follow my link, you can find a profile of Wilking that says he was in New Orleans and planend to return. > [@](#): > > Come to think of it, the photo shows someone’s right hand; isn’t Bush left-handed? Or am I misremembering that? See above. GHWB was the lefty. I can’t find anything at Reuters either, although someone on the Snopes board promises you can. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/19 "2005-09-15T05:55:19Z")
If all the other factors weren’t enough, I’d be skeptical of the mixed case. Not just the mixed case itself, mind you, but where it shows up. I’m sure some folks routinely use mixed case in their informal handwriting, but one would expect that such folks would use the same case for each letter (like, R always capital, but g always lowercase, say). Here, though, the Es in “need” are capital, but in “break”, it’s lowercase. In fact, the entire fragment “MAY NEED A BATHROOM” is capital, but everything else is cased properly. This suggests to me that, even if the photo were originally genuine, it might have been photoshopped to change part of the text. ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/20 "2005-09-15T05:57:25Z")
Snopes has a [page](http://www.snopes.com/photos/politics/bushnote.asp) about this now, but it says “Undetermined.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708.md?page=2)