# photo-op -- cleaning clean pans **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 15, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752 "2012-10-15T05:41:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ahduval](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahduval/32/11513_2.png) [@ahduval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ahduval)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/1 "2012-10-15T05:41:52Z")
I know politicians set up photo-ops, but I think this one takes a prize for artificiality. This took place in Youngstown, Ohio: > [@](#): > > Paul Ryan visited a soup kitchen here Saturday on his way to the airport, but by the time the GOP vice presidential nominee and his family had arrived shortly before noon, the grits, sausage and doughnuts had been served, the hall was empty of patrons and the volunteers appeared to have already cleaned up. > > When Ryan did talk to some men who appeared to be homeless, as he did when he left the venue, reporters were not allowed to listen in on the exchange. > > Ryan stood at the sink and took some large metal pans that did not appear to be dirty, soaped them up and rinsed them, remarking as the cameras clicked and the TV cameras rolled that he had spent a summer washing dishes when he was younger. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/13/reporters-barred-from-covering-paul-ryan-exchange-with-homeless-ohioans-outside-soup-kitchen/](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? ---
**Author:** ![Robert163](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/4af34b/32.png) [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/2 "2012-10-15T05:56:57Z")
yeah, i saw that on another message board pretty lame ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/3 "2012-10-15T09:35:11Z")
And yet I think this is the best part (bolded): > [@](#): > > As Ryan exited the building some minutes later, a small group of people, some of whom appeared to be homeless, seemed to engage Ryan, and the candidate stopped for several moments and spoke with them. > > The campaign escorted photographers from the bus for Ryan’s exchange, but reporters were not allowed to do so. Ryan’s motorcade took off for the airport a few moments later. > > **A campaign aide said that the exchange was not open to press because it was an impromptu conversation.** ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/4 "2012-10-15T13:08:41Z")
“If one of you guys so much as breathes on me, my security staff will break every bone in your body!” ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/5 "2012-10-15T13:22:31Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > “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](http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17yptnurdg9qzjpg/original.jpg) said to these bikers before he started making time with their lady friend for a photo op. ---
**Author:** ![Troppus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a587f6/32.png) [@Troppus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troppus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/6 "2012-10-15T13:29:17Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/7 "2012-10-15T13:37:55Z")
> [@Crazyhorse](#): > > That’s exactly what [Smilin’ Joe](http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/17yptnurdg9qzjpg/original.jpg) said to these bikers before he started making time with their lady friend for a photo op. A “biker” with an “ordained minister” patch? Down in Hell, Sonny Barger is weeping… (Make that Phoenix, he ain’t dead yet…) ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/8 "2012-10-15T14:00:55Z")
I couldn’t help noticing there was no photo attached to the linked story. ---
**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:** [October 15, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/9 "2012-10-15T14:03:10Z")
It’s about as phony as the photo of Thurston and Lovey Romney operate a hotel washing machine. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/10 "2012-10-15T14:14:03Z")
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.” ---
**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:** [October 15, 2012, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/11 "2012-10-15T15:25:46Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > I couldn’t help noticing there was no photo attached to the linked story. The _Daily Mail_ [ran it straight.](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2217280/Romney-Obama-hunker-weekend-preparation-ahead-crucial-debate.html?ito=feeds-newsxml) I _love_ that he’s using [SNO-EE](http://www.rhymezone.com/r/rhyme.cgi?Word=Snow) brand detergent. > [@](#): > > verb: conceal one’s true motives from, especially by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/12 "2012-10-15T15:39:41Z")
Reminds me of Nixon in wing tip shoes walking the beach. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/13 "2012-10-15T16:51:26Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/14 "2012-10-15T17:13:10Z")
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”. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/15 "2012-10-15T17:34:43Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > 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. 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.](http://www.tribtoday.com/page/content.detail/id/577819/Ryan--We-have-a-plan.html?nav=5021) _ **Canton Repository** _: […after a brief stop at a Youngstown soup kitchen, where he, his wife and children thanked volunteers and washed dishes…](http://www.cantonrep.com/newsnow/x493669858/GOP-VP-candidate-Ryan-visits-Youngstown-State) _ **WKBN** _: [VP Candidate Stops and Helps at Soup Kitchen](http://www.wkbn.com/content/news/local/story/VP-Candidate-Stops-and-Helps-at-Soup-Kitchen/SVYlU4t9vU6KWOIFYXXQ2g.cspx?p=Comments) ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/16 "2012-10-15T19:24:29Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > 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. 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](http://zero-drop.com/?p=1149) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/17 "2012-10-15T20:49:07Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/18 "2012-10-15T21:48:31Z")
Well apparently Ryan’s intrusion [was not particularly welcomed](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/15/charity-president-unhappy-about-paul-ryan-soup-kitchen-photo-op/): > [@](#): > > The head of a northeast Ohio charity says that the Romney campaign last week “ramrodded their way” into the group’s Youngstown soup kitchen so that GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan could get his picture taken washing dishes in the dining hall. > > Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, said that he was not contacted by the Romney campaign ahead of the Saturday morning visit by Ryan, who stopped by the soup kitchen after a town hall at Youngstown State University. > > “We’re a faith-based organization; we are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Antal said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “It’s strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there, and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.” > > He added: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.” > [@](#): > > He noted that the soup kitchen relies on funding from private individuals who might reconsider their support if it appears that the charity is favoring one political candidate over another. > > “I can’t afford to lose funding from these private individuals,” he said. “If this was the Democrats, I’d have the same exact problem.” > > He added that the incident had caused him “all kinds of grief” and that regardless of whether Ryan had intended to serve food to patrons or wash dishes, he would not have allowed the visit to take place. > > “Had they asked for permission, it wouldn’t have been granted. … But I certainly wouldn’t have let him wash clean pans, and then take a picture,” Antal said. ---
**Author:** ![Nazarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nazarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nazarene)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/19 "2012-10-16T01:20:03Z")
[Charity president unhappy about Paul Ryan soup kitchen ‘photo op’](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/election-2012/wp/2012/10/15/charity-president-unhappy-about-paul-ryan-soup-kitchen-photo-op/?print=1) > [@](#): > > The head of a northeast Ohio charity says that the Romney campaign last week “ramrodded their way” into the group’s Youngstown soup kitchen so that GOP vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan could get his picture taken washing dishes in the dining hall. > > Brian J. Antal, president of the Mahoning County St. Vincent De Paul Society, said that he was not contacted by the Romney campaign ahead of the Saturday morning visit by Ryan, who stopped by the soup kitchen after a town hall at Youngstown State University. > > “We’re a faith-based organization; we are apolitical because the majority of our funding is from private donations,” Antal said in a phone interview Monday afternoon. “It’s strictly in our bylaws not to do it. They showed up there, and they did not have permission. They got one of the volunteers to open up the doors.” > > He added: “The photo-op they did wasn’t even accurate. He did nothing. He just came in here to get his picture taken at the dining hall.” > > Ryan had stopped by the soup kitchen for about 15 minutes on his way to the airport after his Saturday morning town hall in Youngstown. By the time he arrived, the food had already been served, the patrons had left, and the hall had been cleaned. > > Upon entering the soup kitchen, Ryan, his wife and three young children greeted and thanked several volunteers, then donned white aprons and offered to clean some dishes. Photographers snapped photos and TV cameras shot footage of Ryan and his family washing pots and pans that did not appear to be dirty > [@](#): > > Antal, a self-described independent voter, said that he “can’t fault my volunteers” for letting the campaign in but said that the campaign “didn’t go through the proper channels.” > > He noted that the soup kitchen relies on funding from private individuals who might reconsider their support if it appears that the charity is favoring one political candidate over another. > > “I can’t afford to lose funding from these private individuals,” he said. “If this was the Democrats, I’d have the same exact problem.” > > He added that the incident had caused him “all kinds of grief” and that regardless of whether Ryan had intended to serve food to patrons or wash dishes, he would not have allowed the visit to take place. > > “Had they asked for permission, it wouldn’t have been granted. … But I certainly wouldn’t have let him wash clean pans, and then take a picture,” Antal said. 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? ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752/20 "2012-10-16T01:56:58Z")
> [@Jesus of Nazareth](#): > > 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 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/photo-op-cleaning-clean-pans/637752.md?page=2)