# 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:** 2
**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, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/21 "2005-09-15T06:00:40Z")
The Snopes page says there are multiple photos, which would be plenty convincing to me, but the two they link to could just be a larger original and a cropped closeup. ---
**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, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/22 "2005-09-15T06:15:34Z")
[Here’s the uncropped version](http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/wl/091405unworldsummit/im:/050914/ids_photos_ts/r404176213.jpg). [Here’s a wide shot, which incidentally appears to show the same butterfly clip on his papers.](http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/wl/091405unworldsummit/im:/050914/ids_photos_ts/r2922524984.jpg) [Here’s a shot of the luncheon _before_ the summit](http://news.yahoo.com/photos/ss/events/wl/091405unworldsummit/im:/050914/ids_photos_ts/r2024434645.jpg). _Q.E.D._ 😃 > [@Chronos](#): > > I’d be skeptical of the mixed case. Not just the mixed case itself, mind you, but where it shows up. Or, perhaps, _My First Presidentiary_ wasn’t as wide of the mark as we might hope that it was. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/23 "2005-09-15T13:36:46Z")
The difference in handwriting styles makes me skeptical as well. I also notice that it’s a fairly young-looking hand. I’ve never paid any attention to W’s wrinkles, but it seems to me like his hands would be showing his age more than the photo would indicate. Strange. ---
**Author:** ![Tupug\_Anachi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@Tupug\_Anachi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tupug_Anachi)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/24 "2005-09-15T13:46:31Z")
Sorry, but the graphite pencil lead looks entirely too black to me to be real. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/25 "2005-09-15T15:04:23Z")
I don’t like the way the text on the printed paper fades around the outline of his hand. ---
**Author:** ![xbuckeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9e8a1a/32.png) [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/26 "2005-09-15T15:21:09Z")
> [@Tupug Anachi](#): > > Sorry, but the graphite pencil lead looks entirely too black to me to be real. And I can’t recall ever seeing any president write with a #2 bright yellow pencil. But really…do we care that the president has to take a leak? Was he making a remark about something someone was saying (ie, they were full of shit)? This looks like the margins of my class notes from almost any class I took with friends where we passed written remarks to pass the time while not paying attention to the lecture. ---
**Author:** ![xbuckeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9e8a1a/32.png) [@xbuckeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xbuckeye)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/27 "2005-09-15T15:23:18Z")
I retract the yellow pencil comment…I just found the picture that **Larry Mudd** meant to post (linked to a NYSE pic when I opened it) Yes, apparently our president writes with a #2 bright yellow pencil :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/28 "2005-09-15T15:28:44Z")
More photos of Bush at the UN yesterday [here](http://www.bagnewsnotes.com/). ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/29 "2005-09-15T15:53:05Z")
[Reuters Photog Captures Bush at U.N. With ‘Bathroom Break’ Note](http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001137252) > [@](#): > > The photo, which appeared on Reuters’ official photo site, was quickly published all over the Web, though dismissed by some as a likely photoshop special. Others suggested that surely someone must have hacked the Reuters site. But **a Reuters spokesman on Thursday told E&P the photo was legit.** ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/30 "2005-09-15T20:00:58Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > the president would defer to his National Security Advisor over these things :::ahem::: Secretary of State. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/31 "2005-09-15T20:16:06Z")
I’m going to call fake. Wouldn’t there be some sort of security issue allowing a photographer to get that close to take a picture of someone’s notes? Even if he used a telephoto lens? I’m going to be a little :dubious: until I get more info. ---
**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, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/32 "2005-09-15T20:28:47Z")
**Rilch** – Hey, it was late. :smack: > [@xbuckeye](#): > > I just found the picture that Larry Mudd meant to post (linked to a NYSE pic when I opened it) Huh. I made sure the links worked before I posted, because they’re tricksy ones. Must be time- or cookie- dependent. Those pics can be seen [here](http://www.larrymudd.com/images/pp_summit_pics.jpg). I don’t see any reason to doubt that the picture is real. Security issues? In a room with that many cameras and that many national interests represented, I think that SOP for security issues is not to expose any documents that contain information you wouldn’t feel comfortable wearing printed on a t-shirt in bold, friendly letters. ---
**Author:** ![Feydeau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df788c/32.png) [@Feydeau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feydeau)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/33 "2005-09-15T20:43:57Z")
The grip on the pencil looks posed. I don’t hold a pencil quite that far up from the lead (not that I’m saying Dubya has to hold a pencil in the same manner as I do). It just looks posed. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/34 "2005-09-15T22:03:31Z")
I’m sure that the journalist is normally a fine & upstanding citizen, but I’m calling fake. The note appears to alternate between several different handwriting styles. Frankly, it just looks like a bad Photoshop job. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/35 "2005-09-16T01:47:05Z")
Some of these objections are just plain weird. “The graphite is too black?” **Diceman** , the fact that there are different handwriting styles on the note could mean what several people have suggested: someone else wrote the bathroom part, and Bush was responding. If Reuters is vouching for the photo and explaining how it happened - in an IMHO thread about this, it’s explained that they needed to play with Photoshop to determine what the note said - I think it’s time to drop the quibbles. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/36 "2005-09-16T02:07:12Z")
There’s at least one other photo of Bush’s handwritten notes out there; shot at a cabinet meeting a year or two ago. It too raised eyebrows at the time, but I’ll be dipped if I can remember the subject at the time. Perhaps someone with a better memory could find it, and do a comparison? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/37 "2005-09-16T02:38:33Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > **Diceman** , the fact that there are different handwriting styles on the note could mean what several people have suggested: someone else wrote the bathroom part, and Bush was responding. Actually, I meant within each sentence. In the first sentence, pay attention to the mix of upper and lower cases. The sentence says, “I think I MAY NEED A BATHroom break?” Notice how “think” and “break” are written in lowercase, while “MAY NEED A” is written in caps. Stranger yet, “bathroom” is written with mixed cases: the questioner needs a “BATHroom” break. In the second sentence, the words “Is this” are written in cursive, while “possible” is printed. Incidentally, I agree that Bush is probably responding to a question that someone else is asking. No argument there. My theory is that Rick Wilking submitted a photo of a boring, innocuous note, and some joker in Reuter’s computer labs decided to make it funnier with a little creative Photoshopping. I retract my comment that implied that Wilkins himself faked the note; if anything unethical is going on, it was probably the guy who “clarified” the picture that is responsible. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/38 "2005-09-16T03:03:11Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Actually, I meant within each sentence. In the first sentence, pay attention to the mix of upper and lower cases. The sentence says, “I think I MAY NEED A BATHroom break?” Notice how “think” and “break” are written in lowercase, while “MAY NEED A” is written in caps. Maybe her back teeth were floating. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/39 "2005-09-16T04:22:35Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > My theory is that Rick Wilking submitted a photo of a boring, innocuous note, and some joker in Reuter’s computer labs decided to make it funnier with a little creative Photoshopping. And Reuters is standing behind it because… ? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2005, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708/40 "2005-09-16T11:32:47Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > And Reuters is standing behind it because… ? Reflex action. Remember, CBS defended that fake memo for a while before they kinda went “Oops! My bad!” and fired Dan Rather. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ap-photo-of-gwb-writing-note-to-condi-at-todays-u-n-summit/321708.md?page=3)