Althouse: "White House 9/11 evoker resigns."

May 9, 2009

"White House 9/11 evoker resigns."

The headline in Iran.

The asinine photograph:

41 comments:

rhhardin said...: It's not easy to take pictures when you're steering a fighter with your knees.; 5/9/09, 7:23 PM
Peter V. Bella said...: It took this long? Guy should have been fired the next day.; 5/9/09, 7:25 PM
JAL said...: Yeah. If they truly wanted to "update" the photos for PR purposes (??) why not do it *right*. Shooting out of a fighter plane window (while piloting said plane at only 1000' over a densely populated area) and including either a shadow or a portion of the fighter plane (lower right corner) in the picture is $328,000+ worth of amateur photography.

They didn't get our money's worth.

So - who all was IN the big plane?; 5/9/09, 7:30 PM
Cedarford said...: Actual AF-1 sometimes flies with an escort of fighter planes. That happened during the Cold War and for a year or so after 9/11. Does in international airspace..

Much of the flap was just the "traumatized, perpetual Victims" of NYC, (home of the Terrorist Rights lawyers)...acting out.

Of course, the guy who authorized it, but then demanded that cops and Gov't officials keep it "ultrasecret" - deserves to have his head roll.

But the bluer than blue NYC whiners need to get over themselves. Lots of other people made of sterner stuff, it seems, have been bombed from planes or had planes crash into them without this unseemly NYC panic and perpetual victimhood whine-fest.; 5/9/09, 7:33 PM
Bissage said...: The up-side of this fiasco is that I have been permanently disabused of the notion that Jersey City is chock-full of anti-aircraft batteries.; 5/9/09, 7:50 PM
chuck b. said...: Chip Ahoy could have made that picture for them for a lot less money.

And there would be special effects.; 5/9/09, 7:50 PM
rhhardin said...: Here's a picture of Tennis Ball One snapped this afternoon over an Ohio lawn, by an escort above and a little behind.; 5/9/09, 8:00 PM
Trooper York said...: Rh you freak me out man.; 5/9/09, 8:03 PM
Palladian said...: That's a poorly composed photograph. Positioning Liberty Island below the plane in that manner makes it look like the plane is a shitting bird and that the island is the pile of shit. Also the color is murky and excepting the Statue of Liberty, the scenery is a depressingly industrial swath of New Jersey. And the garbage barges or whatever they are in the harbor don't add any majesty to the photograph. The supergenius Obama kidz couldn't remove those with their mad Photoshop skillz? And what is the white streak in the upper right of the photograph, near the nose of the plane? It looks like reflection from shooting through a window.

This is what we got for $357,012? Classic.; 5/9/09, 8:20 PM
rhhardin said...: In defense of the incompetents, they're not allowed to photoshop anything.; 5/9/09, 8:26 PM
Jennifer Fligiel, DVM said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/9/09, 8:52 PM
Chris Althouse Cohen said...: Palladian: I was about to post pretty much the exact same thing. You could pay some guy $50 to produce a picture with all the same stuff and with better composition in PhotoShop.; 5/9/09, 8:53 PM
Henry said...: Why does Air Force One sport U.N. Blue?; 5/9/09, 9:08 PM
CharlesVegas said...: rhhardin: That photo was photoshopped. It has the distinctive tags "JFIF", "Ducky", and "Adobe" in the header.

They apparently used Photoshop to remove the EXIF information from the file, lest we see that the photo was taken as a souvenir by the pilot with his $150 point-and-shoot.; 5/9/09, 9:09 PM
CharlesVegas said...: Well, I don't mean *that* photo. I mean the one officially released by the White House

http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/photos/AF1_photo1.jpg; 5/9/09, 9:12 PM
Anonymous said...: Palladian said...That's a poorly composed photograph.

Positioning Liberty Island below the plane in that manner makes it look like the plane is a shitting bird and that the island is the pile of shit.

This is what we got for $357,012? Classic.

Yeah, but the view of New Jersey is incredibly breathtaking. LOL.; 5/9/09, 9:13 PM
Palladian said...: Gack! Charles, the "official" version of the picture looks worse! And that is window reflection on the right.

Embarrassing.; 5/9/09, 9:18 PM
save_the_rustbelt said...: The photo is gorgeous.

The bureaucrats are asinine.; 5/9/09, 9:22 PM
Chennaul said...: I find the picture to be over-centered if there is such a term and then what is with the shadowing in the lower right hand quadrant?

[Follow the link left by Charles to see it.]; 5/9/09, 9:26 PM
CharlesVegas said...: White House photo linkified; 5/9/09, 9:30 PM
Palladian said...: OK, I thought I'd take a crack at it. I fiddled with the photograph in Photoshop for 5 minutes. The result is awfully crude and obviously a rush but it looks 1000 times better than the crap they released.

I only ask for 20,000 of my 2008 tax payment be returned as compensation for my patriotic image manipulation.; 5/9/09, 9:45 PM
Methadras said...: Mr. Barely's ability to induce panic has now transcended his mere ideology. Now his minions will start falling on their swords not because they thought they've made a mistake but because they have now lost their upward mobility and would rather take their chances in the private sector. Bravo, President Incompetent. Your leadership skills are underwhelming.; 5/9/09, 9:46 PM
Palladian said...: I couldn't do anything to make New Jersey look better.; 5/9/09, 9:46 PM
Methadras said...: Palladian, that is a very good job. A nice, sharp contrast to a third of a million dollars worth of PR.; 5/9/09, 9:47 PM
Automatic_Wing said...: Definitely not up to the one of the Air Force's best efforts. I know you don't get a prize-winner every time out but I would expect something better from a professional photographer.

There was a professional photographer involved, wasn't there?; 5/9/09, 9:59 PM
Palladian said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/9/09, 10:01 PM
Palladian said...: OK, I worked on the photo some more and I think I was finally able produce an attractive image of Air Force One. It took a lot of digital manipulation, but I think the result more than justifies the effort.; 5/9/09, 10:03 PM
Fen said...: For me, the incident is just another reminder that this administration has forgotten 9-11.; 5/9/09, 10:06 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/9/09, 10:16 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Great Photoshop, Palladian!

I couldn't be serious about this if I tried.

I already Photoshopped Pelosi and her plane, and Gore with his plane, suffering the Gore Effect™ off to Stockholm to receive his Nobel on Global Climate Change™ having already picked up an Oscar for his film on Global Warming™. I never found Bush funny enough to Photoshop with planes, besides, he already has his own phalanx of satirists.

I've convinced myself there must be more than just one photo. This is just a bone tossed to us dogs to have our rip then shut up. A pacifier, if you like. It would be stupid to take just one photo and more stupid to think otherwise. I'd pay for the photo of NYers fleeing their offices with the shadow of a plane. Now there's a Photoshop idea.; 5/9/09, 10:31 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: I could take this jittery anim and change the book title to So You Want to Be a Photographer.; 5/9/09, 10:36 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: jet pilot; 5/9/09, 10:38 PM
Jim Howard said...: It is possible that the purpose of the fly-by was to obtain images of AF-1 being escorted by a Redtail F-16 of the Alabama National Guard in order to promote an upcoming movie about the WWII Tuskeegee airmen.

This would explain why only photo was released of the no doubt dozens or hundreds of images taken during the flight.; 5/10/09, 12:04 AM
Swifty Quick said...: Dudes, do we want the real thing or do we want a phony-assed photoshopped version of reality?; 5/10/09, 12:09 AM
Fen said...: I'm thinking its because the other pics are much closer to the city and lower in altitude. They weren't released b/c of the obvious msg they evoke - Obama's administration has forgotten about9-11.; 5/10/09, 12:21 AM
blake said...: As President, I will put the Althouse commentariat in charge of official photos. To show our dedication to environmentalism, Photoshop will be used rather than any actual travel being done.

(Hey, there are worse platforms.); 5/10/09, 3:13 AM
Peter V. Bella said...: "Dudes, do we want the real thing or do we want a phony-assed photoshopped version of reality?"

Does anyone care? What was so important about spending so much money and creating so much panic for a stupid photo?

How far is this history making and legacy building bullshit going to go?; 5/10/09, 5:57 AM
Fen said...: Its Camelot II.

Which makes me wonder just how screwed up the JFK administration was.; 5/10/09, 7:28 AM
Kylos said...: Palladian, that glare looked atmospheric to me. The upper left of the image is rather hazy. I've seen similar effects from rainbows.; 5/10/09, 8:19 AM
Frodo Potter said...: Palladian, great image of AF1 by Mt. Rushmore!

Jim Howard, the tale of the Tuskegee Airmen should be told early and often, but two questions: First, why would they need this picture near NYC? In fact, why not take a picture like Palladian’s Photoshop, near Mt. Rushmore? Second, and more importantly, shouldn’t George Lucas be paying for it?

There was a great film about the Tuskegee Airmen made in 1995, with Laurence Fishbourne, Andre Braugher, and Cuba Gooding, Jr. I don’t think much of George Lucas as a director, but I will probably see “Red Tails.”; 5/10/09, 9:08 AM
The Drill SGT said...: JAL said...
Yeah. If they truly wanted to "update" the photos for PR purposes (??) I have heard that "update" term.

Why update squat?

The VC25A has been in service with the same color scheme for 20 years.

Lady Liberty? for a hundred more years.

If they had file photos, no update would ever be needed; 5/10/09, 9:19 AM