Heckuva Photo Op, Janet!

On one hand, of course, it’s your standard government response photo op given something really bad having gone down offshore.  On the other hand, though, it’s hard not to look at this scene and pose of Janet Napolitano with thinking of the iconic and image-shattering photos of Dubya doing his Katrina fly over.

In this case, however, the photo — taken by a Coast Guard photographer (heh, heh) is actually pretty clever.  With the Administration “all over” the oil spill in the Gulf (especially from a PR standpoint, Obama headed there tomorrow), the resonance between this photo and the infamous Bush version actually serves, by way of comparison, to emphasize — along with all the other Administration buzzing around — that this team actually is “on top of it.”

Of course, the gender difference is interesting too. With Brownie and the boys making such a mess of things “last time,” maybe there’s added distinction having a woman in charge this go round.

(Coast Guard caption:  Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano surveys the oil sheen in the Gulf of Mexico, Friday, April 30, 2010 aboard a Coast Guard HC-144A Ocean Sentry aircraft. Efforts to stop the flow of oil and minimize the impact to environmental and economic resources has been underway since the incident occurred April 20, 2010.)