Bush In The Hospital … And He's Getting Worse

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Is it just me, or are George Bush’s hospital portraits with wounded soldiers growing progressively more weird and mechanical?

The shot above (part of a group of three) was taken in a visit to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda on Thursday.  If these were the most positive pics the White House got (over two days, no less — according to the White House captions), I’d be afraid to see the rejects.

In this shot, Bush isn’t making eye contact with the camera, the soldier or the Dad.  Also, Cpl. Ryan T. Dion’s father, Thomas Dion, is pressed into the corner, seemingly intimidated or afraid.

If this shot carries the whiff of fear, the second shot of the three in the White House photo gallery, involving Cpl. Manuel Provencio and his family, is more characterized by suspicion.  Just look at that sad expression on Cpl. Provencio’s face, and Bush’s hesitancy to really embrace his mother.

Besides your thoughts about the current pics, take a look at these hospital visits from past White House photo galleries and tell me if you think they’ve grown progressively stilted.

in reverse chronological order, here are galleries of visits to the National Naval Medical Center, including August 2006 (link); three shots from December 2005 (link); and this “super perky” set from July 2005 (link).  There are also three earlier visits to Walter Reed, in December (link), April (link) and January 2003 (link).  (I can’t vouch for it 100%, but I think these links include the total number of hospital visits with wounded Iraqi vets visually catalogued on the White House site.)

Gee, can’t imagine why Walter Reed fell off the list.  Also, wonder why Laura barely ever goes.

(image: Joyce Boghosian/White House. May 24, 2007, in Bethesda, Md. whitehouse.gov)