# How do you react to this photo? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 21, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620 "2006-04-21T14:35:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/41 "2006-04-22T04:58:33Z")
My first reaction was: What happened? When I read what happened, my reaction: No big deal (but I bet a lot of people will make a big deal of it). ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/42 "2006-04-22T05:40:25Z")
It’s a still. I’d have to see video to make a judgement. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/43 "2006-04-22T05:58:07Z")
> [@nivlac](#): > > When I read what happened, my reaction: No big deal (but I bet a lot of people will make a big deal of it). So if you tried to go the wrong way, and someone grabbed your sleeve to tell you that, you won’t mind _at all_? I’d be annoyed even if my girlfriend did that. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs\_O\_Malley\_s\_Cow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Mrs\_O\_Malley\_s\_Cow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs_O_Malley_s_Cow)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/44 "2006-04-22T06:15:44Z")
Like Bush was helping him to his spot. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/45 "2006-04-22T06:23:55Z")
What bothers the heck out of me is not the fact that Bush has been uncouth in any way, but the fact that the leader of CHINA, one of the worst human rights abusive countries, a country that is at economic war with America, is being lead to a photo op and not to GITMO! HU is a bad bad man. BAD PRESIDENT BAD! NO COOKIE FOR YOU! ---
**Author:** ![Mac\_Guffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2bfe46/32.png) [@Mac\_Guffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mac_Guffin)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/46 "2006-04-22T10:05:30Z")
And now, because a day has passed, none of the links to this pic in the thread show it anymore. Sigh. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/47 "2006-04-22T12:28:29Z")
I saw the picture and my first thought was “if someone did that to Bush the Secret Service would be on them like white on rice.” I’m sure it was just a second long thing and the still picture makes it look worse than it was, but it just shows a large lack of tact. Which Bush isn’t exactly know for anyway. No big deal. I really, really dislike Bush. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/48 "2006-04-22T15:06:16Z")
> [@JohnBckWLD](#): > > If you were a Chinese citizen outside of HK, that photo probably wouldn’t be visible behind the Great FireWall of China. Yes, please inform us of your vast knowledge of the Great Firewall of China. It’s visible…as is all of [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) and [BBC.com](http://BBC.com). In fact, it’s hard to find web sites that are filtered out here. I think I saw the photo on Xinhua even. ---
**Author:** ![Loopydude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e56c9b/32.png) [@Loopydude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopydude)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/49 "2006-04-22T15:11:37Z")
I just can’t take stills to seriously anymore, as photographers seem to have an uncanny knack for catching people at their most imbecillic…even if that imbecile moment lasted a tenth of a second. How many stills of someone speaking have I seen that make brilliant intellectuals look like drooling vegetables with a bad case of Bell’s palsy. If it’s a boxer connecting with a guy’s face, that’s one thing. But it seems almost guaranteed that if anyone steps anywhere near a lectern, a photographer will manage to capture their most unflattering likeness and reproduce it for publication. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/50 "2006-04-22T18:16:49Z")
I’ll add that Bush is actually correcting Hu because he’s walking down the wrong stairs. He was probably reaching for his arm and ended up getting the cloth only. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2006, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/51 "2006-04-22T19:01:20Z")
> [@Mac Guffin](#): > > And now, because a day has passed, none of the links to this pic in the thread show it anymore. Sigh. [Link to image](http://img357.imageshack.us/img357/6348/np3910307210420065xg.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/52 "2006-04-22T19:04:00Z")
What is that? Velvet? ---
**Author:** ![Lama\_Pacos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Lama\_Pacos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lama_Pacos)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2006, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/53 "2006-04-22T20:24:14Z")
Honestly, I find it hard to muster up a lot of empathy for the great indignities suffered by the suit jacket of Hu freakin’ Jintao. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/54 "2006-04-23T01:54:11Z")
I didn’t see it until **Larry Mudd** posted a direct link, but the image I had in my head after reading the responses was a lot less obnoxious than the real photo. I hope that was just an unfortunately timed shot, because he’s really doing what it looks like he’s doing, that’s just plain tactless and rude. Still, one of the first things that popped into my head was Ancient Chinese secret, huh?which is probably why I never pursued a career in diplomacy. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/55 "2006-04-23T04:58:12Z")
“Have you been working out?” “That’s all me, baby.” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/56 "2006-04-23T04:59:37Z")
Yeah, I’m never going to be a diplomat, either. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/57 "2006-04-23T05:50:57Z")
Hmpf. By the time I pulled up the OP’s original link the photo was gone. There was this headline though: “Reilly seizes on Patrick’s tie…” [okay, there was more, once I scrolled down: “…to lender”] But what a great first impression, considering the subject. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/58 "2006-04-23T06:09:34Z")
The officer commanding the honour guard lived to regret the shouted order “Slope…arms!”, after the president made a grab and whooped, “Yee-haw! I got me mine right here!” ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/59 "2006-04-23T11:51:51Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Like a lot of people’ve said, it looks worse than it is. Photographers have a genius for getting people at all the wrong moments. -cough- As a professional, I take umbrage at that. Photographers- unless they are employing post-shoot manipulative software such as PhotoShop- capture a moment in time that appears before them. They do not manipulate it, they do not taint it, they do not post the President to fit their agenda. They take a photograph. Period. Pity… that somehow a Republican President’s faux pas becomes the fault of the Evil Media. Sounds a lot like he was trying to keep the gentleman up on the dias with him, and didn’t quite catch him by touching his arm. ( Just going by what people who saw it live on t.v. say up there ). It does not mean the photograph was taken at a wrong moment. It simply means that it was a moment in time. YMMV. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2006, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620/60 "2006-04-23T12:47:10Z")
What would be the big yank if Hu went down the “wrong” stairs? Did Bush say, “I’m the decider! We’re taking _these_ stairs!”? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-react-to-this-photo/353620.md?page=4)