Oil Blowout: Obama’s 1000 Mile Stare

Official White House Photo by Pete Souza

If the Administration has been quick to contest the significance of appearing aggressive when it comes to the oil crisis, it is indisputable that Obama — even through the White White lens — has come off looking passive and distant.

Tomorrow, the BAG takes a closer look at the White House’s crisis-related visual PR  over the month of June.  In the meantime, though, I wanted to offer you this White House “photo of the day” from June 1st offering Obama listening to his energy and climate change assistant.

Beyond Carol Browner’s blurry presence —  reflective, perhaps, of the blurriness of the tone and message emanating from Pennsylvania Avenue — what is most concerning, and what the public and the media seem to have picked up on much more than the White House has, is that 1000 mile stare.

(caption: President Barack Obama listens to Carol Browner, assistant to the President for energy and climate change, during a meeting with senior advisors in the Oval Office, June 3, 2010.)