(updated)
Is there anything Barack Obama can do that Andrew Malcolm of the L.A. Times won't find fault with? Here he's apparently chastising the president for lack of dignity on a visit to troops in Afghanistan, contrasting this photo...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3lg7vUPqV9xrrGvhjL4kcBot_WeUSsVEP6OG4XMvSTflmZrfhmrkzL4tOKgoApuRNx9fyazoVdYOeoQMA6nnThwUAfp5RaTEmqKIe1pId4BnO3zYd9gQCAKIoRGhvJKgDsPU/s320/6a00d8341c630a53ef0133ec51eff6970b-600wi.jpg)
...with this one from the Bush presidency:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMehL0hWzJticby2paCg04bXE9Rvp5NlLjwm6GkKRKCKDkBcqbb3r1gC6KVvLQmYXq7knwAmDXKf1XfXFOBNIamEroTnJEws602B8zQgV7APkEHcC-zA0CcMOfDi6pRs0uIzQ/s320/6a00d8341c630a53ef01310ff80d40970c-600wi.jpg)
Well, Andrew, I notice you didn't choose this Bush rub-the-bald-guy's-head-for-good-luck photo:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8KsesdP4Pcf0YcGtrS4jmK6-0kbKN_eVb3MMeJ7Xnv2wIG2f-xnrH4RJS0kfz8Tzq18-j6nmhFyKb1L7xukMonlgRGg8AUQHDKHvYFOD4DAxNdMXmOzeokRMy4K_Oz7t-_1k/s320/bushbaldy.jpg)
Or these two Dancin' Bush photos:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMWQxlEQlvuYoYN8NLSa1BnmXIUAewkf7uE2NjXkO0VIwE_nZaEMI_HidVp-tXK6Ba14CE-qzoCkSOyRujLi8MhZp5eApBYVthZRCLRn_323sWFNopcWO57RH70EXRgwSDlUs/s200/president_bush.jpg)
Or, of course, the photo of Bush waving a plastic prop turkey at the troops:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5aCi4K6kPMcgnfJ2pjp-jm2VBqbunIOGpgaBWUZKIwwS7PKoBL-N6POWI87lWjwla4yJhzdKntPpNsYj2DwxyLbcYsXRMWegz20h4oddyxBgJ5xNqLFt1vC5X0zU-02o-BDU/s320/image585925g.jpg)
It's all a matter of selection, Andrew, isn't it?
****
AND: As cautiousman notes in comments:
Look closely at the picture of Bush that Malcolm did use - he appears to be rubbing the head of the African-American soldier he's looking at, in front of him.
Comparison FAIL?
Indeed. Bush, in fact, had a bizarre fondness for rubbing, kissing, and otherwise bonding with bald heads:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhpw2VuYzZJaSE-nK_GMlCtbeNTKVSY1UFfC3Od-aRtkos6DwNBOO1bbDXnxKEAmHr858dqwSzadnPvYOmBCAWm1XPGD2LXPo5JpHbiAa7q4R1wzd1MhZ6jxGs0zaVBDypsBg/s200/0001.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVatpqPXfRFqW7wiCGMNs7w5-wo81oldfkHN6xK4N2qdRlTQWTVSn31gmFeBOZR0DADhjFGFBfJYD-D40_HjnvLSat0RKGwgLQbBq23eTlfOnLJXoCD-ERioWA0Q7Cw2ZMhn8/s200/bush-kiss-head.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZ788Ffu-0tLscJbTpXuNtBlNkSEH-UnnTKjk2Ra7F6dcwTOy9TWzCueJ6nF_lWDX4vxThFW6hzyQGw7YZM1Oz-5VmoD4x5R3ZnEK8uhY_GeYaLo4iKNy6wQUrmNSgZ4b3Dc/s200/majorreabush7xr.jpg)
More photo evidence here.
*****
AND: In comments, Tom Hilton makes the point that what Malcolm seems to be addressing is the troops' relative enthusiasm. I may have misread the item (but if so, so did the headline writer -- the subhead is "The styles of Barack Obama and George W. Bush in photos"). But a lot of the troops in the Bush photo look bored or distracted, and thrilling to Bush's presence was hardly a universal reaction on the part of photographed troops:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi38B9zF-AUGYpejOPP09cSuYqu8w45u4g1bcgGiAJpTd8eQTpyZpaNuZlJBjFrfZu5_9Nua9g4Ke5-AcDkuJX5vTCYhsQQYFtm3MF1JSIOqazskBmgK8RUiSUFJbKxHBLqClg/s320/BushTroopsSpeaches.jpg)
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