photo-op -- cleaning clean pans

I know politicians set up photo-ops, but I think this one takes a prize for artificiality.

This took place in Youngstown, Ohio:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/13/reporters-barred-from-covering-paul-ryan-exchange-with-homeless-ohioans-outside-soup-kitchen/

What are some other photo-ops that match this artificiality?

yeah, i saw that on another message board
pretty lame

And yet I think this is the best part (bolded):

“If one of you guys so much as breathes on me, my security staff will break every bone in your body!”

That’s exactly what Smilin’ Joe said to these bikers before he started making time with their lady friend for a photo op.

Bush was advised to roll up his sleeves during Hurricane Katrina press conferences. In the world of politics, baby kissing is nothing new, but I remember there was a fair amount of outrage over the sleeve-rolling thing.

A “biker” with an “ordained minister” patch? Down in Hell, Sonny Barger is weeping…

(Make that Phoenix, he ain’t dead yet…)

I couldn’t help noticing there was no photo attached to the linked story.

It’s about as phony as the photo of Thurston and Lovey Romney operate a hotel washing machine.

Oh, that’s an apt metaphor for the Romney/Ryan ticket.

“Obama inherited a sink full of dirty dishes, and he’s cleaned some of them, but we’re going to clean them better. And we’ll do it without soap, detergent, or hot water. How? We’ve worked it out. We’ve. Worked. It. Out.”

The Daily Mail ran it straight.

I love that he’s using SNO-EE brand detergent.

Reminds me of Nixon in wing tip shoes walking the beach.

Actually, that one is plausible. It reminds me of my uncle (Rich, as in money, not as in Richard). He took my brother and me out boating on a lake. He had my brother and me carry him out to the boat so his shoes wouldn’t get wet. Wingtips.

I honestly don’t get it. In the “WTF was he thinking?” mode. Did he really think that nobody would notice? If he had just shrugged his shoulders and walked away, nobody would have paid it any attention, because nothing happened. Instead, he goes into pantomime charade mode, pretending to do something in front of people who seek out discrepancy like a hungry dog sniffs out a pork chop. He turned zero into a negative, when he could have just left it alone.

OK, so he got there late, shit happens. And the actual thing, him pretending to do something, is pretty small potatoes. But he carefully turned “nothing” into a minor negative “something”.

Lots of outlets in Ohio are running the campaign narrative:

Warren Chronicle: Before he left Youngstown, Ryan stopped at a soup kitchen, where he thanked volunteers and washed dishes with his family.

Canton Repository: …after a brief stop at a Youngstown soup kitchen, where he, his wife and children thanked volunteers and washed dishes…

WKBN: VP Candidate Stops and Helps at Soup Kitchen

It happened. Kennedy had been photographed walking along the beach and Nixon wanted the same kind of photo. Neither his fashion sense nor an aide told him wing tipped shoes weren’t appropriate.
http://zero-drop.com/?p=1149

And let’s not forget the classic photo of Dukakis riding in that tank. As soon as I saw that, I thought: he’s toast.

Well apparently Ryan’s intrusion was not particularly welcomed:

Charity president unhappy about Paul Ryan soup kitchen ‘photo op’

So Ryan horns his way into a soup kitchen after it’s closed, gets his picture taken fake-washing clean dishes for a few minutes (literally for a few minutes, the entire stop was 15 minutes), and it turns out he never bothered to ask anybody about this or get permission.

If he’d actually put in a few hours of real work, it wouldn’t matter, but if you’re going to crash a soup kitchen for a cheap, staged photo-op, at least get permission first.
I’m sure Fox News is all over this story like white on rice, right? Right?

Actually once they’ve decided just what the news is they will be, I mean is it..

  1. Poor people don’t need help (plenty of private donors)
  2. Soup kitchen rejects Republican assistance in partisan move
  3. Intrepid Republican finds dangerously dirty dishes being used in soup kitchen