Reading the Pictures: Bush's Halo

I'm not sure if I would go as far as Left Coaster in claiming that the Bush PR team has been overestimated from the beginning, or that, suddenly, "the press is making Bush out to be a cartoon character."

Clearly though, the visual coverage of Bush has become decidedly less flattering, with more emphasis on awkwardness and self-promotion. Rick Wilking's recent photo of Bush's U.N. bathroom break note was the extreme case, but by far not the only one. As a more subtle example, here are a couple of shots
taken two weeks ago at a Medal of Honor ceremony for war hero Tibor Rubin.

In the first image, circulated by Reuters, the President is seen struggling with a clasp. In the second shot, which ran in the New York Times, we see a close up of the back of Bush's head....