November 30, 2005
PANTS BY MC ESCHER
[Building on a post from The Man of GOP and the City, which you should read (it's short & mostly visual) to get the full effect.]
MoveOn.org has a new ad out, which includes a shot of "American troops stuck in Iraq".
Trouble is, they used a picture of British troops in the video, one of whom is wearing shorts (which are not part of the American uniform).
Normally I'd just say "buncha dumbasses" and ignore it, but as we all know, it's not the lie, it's the cover-up that'll bring you down.
In the sidebar picture, they show Mr. Shorts wearing pants.
But not just ANY pants - the same exact pants as the guy standing next to him.
This presents some problems, since they're not standing at the same angle, but they hoped no one would notice.
Sorry guys, it's just not your day.
Links to some VERY big pictures follow, so it might take a while on dial-up, but I wanted you to have the full effect.
First, a screenshot of the MO.O site, so you can see the pictures side-by-side (and as proof that it actually happened, in case they take it down - remember: ALWAYS GET A SCREENSHOT).
Second, greatly enlarged side-by-side comparison of the fake pic (left) and the real pic (right). In the fake pic, notice that the camoflage pattern - right down to the wrinkles and reflection of the sunlight - is EXACTLY the same on both pairs (with allowances for distortion due to photoshopping).
Yet if you look at their feet, you'll see that they're standing at different angles. Which makes for a VERY strange effect for the left soldier: although his right foot is slightly behind him, and you should see the butt-crack of his pants (as you do in the shorts pic), you actually see the front of his pants, which made me think of Escher's "Belvedere" and thus the title of this post.
Anyway, I suggest that MO.O remove the ad, apologize for misleading the American people, and fire the guy who came up with the idea for posting the fake picture.
UPDATE: Tiny thumbnails of very large pictures:
First:
Second:
» Sublime Rage links with: Just the Facts Ladies
» Myopic Zeal links with: MoveOn.org’s Pants Problem
» IMAO links with: A Review of Cindy Sheehan's New Book
» Sister Toldjah links with: MoveOn.org pulls anti-war ad
» No Oil for Pacifists links with: Raising on a Busted Flush
» IMAO links with: Glenn Reynolds at the Airport
Excerpt: I have no qualms about people who wish to criticize Bush, the GOP, the war in Iraq, or anything else going on in the world. But when they choose
Weblog: Sublime Rage
Tracked: November 30, 2005 10:28 AM
Excerpt: If you haven’t seen the kerfuffle over MoveOn.org’s use of British soldiers in their American Troops Stuck in Iraq ad, and the subsequent attempt to photoshop pants on the poor chap, check it out here, here. A US Army Captain responds: T...
Weblog: Myopic Zeal
Tracked: November 30, 2005 10:44 AM
Excerpt: (A Precision Guided Humor Assignment) Before I dive into the review, a note about Amazon.com. When I first posted the...
Weblog: IMAO
Tracked: November 30, 2005 03:15 PM
Excerpt: Probably over the embarassing fact that they apparently think everyone else is so stupid that they wouldn’t catch that the pictures of the soldiers they have in the ad on their webpage that has been altered to make them look like American soldie...
Weblog: Sister Toldjah
Tracked: November 30, 2005 07:48 PM
Excerpt: Were similar fakery found in a spot from, say, the Swifties, the press would launch a fortnight of finger-wagging, faulting Karl Rove. I'd call it Nixonian--'cpt Tricky Dick knew more about the military and magnetic tape than any lefty.
Weblog: No Oil for Pacifists
Tracked: November 30, 2005 08:45 PM
Excerpt: (A Filthy Lie) This week's Filthy Lie Assignment was to answer the question: What was Evil Glenn's connection to the...
Weblog: IMAO
Tracked: December 2, 2005 06:53 PM
Are you trying to say someone with a political agenda is trying to decieve me? I don't believe it!
Ha! Too funny. At least they tried. ;)
Why you! How dare you get a Malkinlance to something you posted on your own website!
I looked and looked but I could see no butt cracks.
You teasing me?
Why demand an apology from idiots? It's not like that will make them any less idiotic.
Machelle - Well... a cloth-covered butt crack...
Bugz - True, but I'm trying to be kind by suggesting the course a responsible adult would take after being caught exercising bad judgment.
Not that I expect them to go that direction :-)
http://www.actionforum.com/forum/scores.html?comment_id=270466
lets see what they do.
Kinda off-topic, but I LOVE M.C. Escher's drawings! :-)
Naughty MoveOn.org. You would think that they would have learned a lesson from Air America that you can't fool the public anymore!
And?
Seems to me this is small taters compared to the cherrypicked WMD evidence, the Scooter Libby/Karl Rove lies, and the biggest lie--"Mission Accomplished."
Paul - Granted, it's very small. I just found it ironically amusing that MO.O would doctor a photograph on a web page designed to accuse Bush of misleading people.
It was mostly petty schadenfreude on my part.
As for the rest of your comment... I'll just say that I disagree with your evaluation of Bush's job performance and leave it at that.
Shocking!
Only evil libs could do such a dastardly thing:
http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/145/1296/640/whatever-med.jpg
Dude, did you know you've been linked to by PJM / OSM?
http://www.osm.org/site/story/20051130moveonfraud?currow=9
Congrats!
Cool!
And the Philly Inquirer Blog:
http://blogs.philly.com/blinq/2005/11/moving_right_al.html
Still waiting on the Puppy Blender.
Meanwhile, it looks like MO.O has pulled the doctored photo.
See? THIS is why I always say GET A SCREENSHOT!
I feel SO incredibly smug now :-)
Yeah, well just don't look in your shorts - I'm told that for you it's a view that will deflate any pride.
:) :)
I'm so proud of you grandpappy!
What's really funny to me is that they took the guy that is in line behind the shorts guy and put his pants on the shorts guy... check it out... that's REALLY weak - even I could do better than that... FYI - I understand they've taken that image down now
Wow! Now getting caught with your pants up around your knee's is a novel occurence. Only the folks who had no problem championing a President with his pants around his ankles would see no ethical problem with "tweaking" the photos.
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