# context of the snarling Dick Cheney photo?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/context-of-the-snarling-dick-cheney-photo/522548>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 25, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/context-of-the-snarling-dick-cheney-photo/522548 "2009-12-25T15:18:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/context-of-the-snarling-dick-cheney-photo/522548/1 "2009-12-25T15:18:21Z")

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[This one,](http://osmoothie.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/cheney_snarl.jpg) of course.

Always shown to illustrate his inner self, which I won’t gainsay, but does anyone know what he was specifically saying when the photo was taken?

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**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/context-of-the-snarling-dick-cheney-photo/522548/2 "2009-12-25T15:49:38Z")

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I don’t, but it looks like a split-second capture that happens to look like a snarl more than something he was really feeling.

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/context-of-the-snarling-dick-cheney-photo/522548/3 "2009-12-25T16:21:04Z")

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Looks like it’s from 2004 or earlier.  
[Here](http://www.humorgazette.com/blog1.htm) is a cartoon rendition of the picture, dated September 15, 2004.

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**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\
**Post date:** [December 25, 2009, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/context-of-the-snarling-dick-cheney-photo/522548/4 "2009-12-25T18:00:08Z")

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Cheney always looks like he had a snarl or sneer on his face; his upper lip has a rather pronounced curve to it. The first page of Google’s [image search](http://images.google.se/images?hl=sv&source=hp&q=dick%20cheney&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi) has a few examples.

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**Author:** ![CutterJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@CutterJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CutterJohn)\
**Post date:** [December 26, 2009, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/context-of-the-snarling-dick-cheney-photo/522548/5 "2009-12-26T03:03:54Z")

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Take a lot of pictures of anyone talking and you are bound to find plenty that make them look evil, like a buffoon, etc. Your make some really weird faces while talking that nobody notices because its in the middle of another motion.

Or heck, it coulda been just after a sneeze.

Doesn’t help that he’s kinda got the ‘get off my lawn’ looks about him, though.