White House confirms Bush-Abramoff photo

[Roon]

WASHINGTON - The White House on Sunday acknowledged the authenticity of the first photograph made public that shows President Bush and embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, while stressing it does not mean the two had a personal relationship.

The photo, published by The New York Times and Time magazine, shows Bush shaking hands with an Abramoff client, chairman Raul Garza of the Kickapoo Indian tribe in Texas. Abramoff’s bearded face appears in the background, small and slightly blurry.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/11310507/

[JeffR]

1. "small and slightly blurry"

Just like the Preznit...

[tmooses]

4. That could be the title of *'s autobiography.

n/t.

[JeffR]

5. And they'd be the only words in it

The rest would be pictures, or kids activity stuff like "Connect the dots and foil a terrorist plot".

[Canuckistanian]

16. More specifically, his brain... n/t

[TomInTib]

2. "small and slightly blurry". I'll bet ol' Jack wishes he had kept it ...

that way.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. "Oh, um, well, he was there, I guess...

But he sort of snuck in. He was really supposed to stay outside and park cars or something. Yeah, that's it..."

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. He does that all the time

sitting around in the background grinning like an idiot. He knows he's not supposed to get in the pictures.

[Fridays Child]

6. B*sh may not know everyone in the "tens of thousands" of photos...

...he's been in but I'll bet he's made a point of becoming well acquainted with every single Pioneer in those pictures.

By the way, is it just me or does the preznit get all purse-lipped and blinky when he's telling a whopper? I saw him do it recently during his Abramoff denial and when he was giving the details of the thwarted LA attack (shoe bombs to open cockpit doors, indeed). But the worst and most obvious example was when he said it was "absurd" to suggest that the administration knew about or had anything to do with 9-11. When I saw that, I knew that he was lying through his teeth. The Bush administration knows everything there is to know about 9-11 and no one will ever convince me otherwise.

I am scared of, and for, my country.

[stevedeshazer]

13. He blinks like crazy when he's lying.

Which, of course, means he blinks an awful lot.

[leQ]

24. you picked up on that too huh n/t

[Rose Siding]

7. “We now know that Mr. Abramoff attended this meeting”

Does the WH destoy old sign-in records? Is there no way for them to be searched for details?

[onehandle]

8. "acknowledged the authenticity" of a photograph

Bullshit terminology from the Imperial Presidency.

All facts are not facts unless we approve them.

They can't react to anything without seeming like they are hiding something.

Which they Always are. Snakes.

[rodeodance]

9. "while stressing it does not mean the two had a personal relationship"

well, no one said this means you have to hold hands,or.......

[Auntie Bush]

11. Does,'t show a personal relationship but does show they had a business

relationship. Why else was he even in the room if he wasn't involved in the deal? He certainly wasn't just hanging out watching the president. I'll bet he arranged for the meeting and that was why he was there.

[RazzleDazzle]

15. Of course -- it was with the chief of a TX Indian Tribe !!!

Bush, Rove, Abramoff, the Chief. Sure weren't no durn bar mitzvah!

[HuffleClaw]

12. "acknowledged the authenticity"

nice spin, it sure suggests that the white house has the last word as to whether these photos are 'authentic'.

[roseBudd]

14. rate it up, the story is being freeped

[truthisfreedom]

18. done. rate it, folks! it's down to 2.5!

[proud2BlibKansan]

17. But but but Cheney shot a guy yesterday!

[chat_noir]

19. Grover Norquist was there, too

The picture was taken by a White House photographer.

The president's spokesman, Scott McClellan, said Friday that the presence of the lobbyist and Garza at the meeting, which was organized to thank a group of state legislators who supported the president's 2001 tax cut program, did not suggest that Abramoff had any special influence at the White House. Bush has said he cannot recall having met Abramoff, though the White House has not disputed accounts that Abramoff came to the White House on a number of occasions.

McClellan said that Abramoff's name had not appeared on the invitation list of the May 2001 meeting and that it was unclear how the lobbyist had entered the White House grounds. A spokesman for Abramoff had no comment on the photograph or on his contacts with Garza.

It is not clear how Abramoff might have gotten Garza included in the president's meeting. White House records show the meeting was also attended by Grover Norquist, a friend of Abramoff's who is a leading conservative strategist and president of the group Americans for Tax Reform, which was helping to rally support for Bush's tax cuts, the issue that was the reason for the meeting. A spokesman for Norquist declined comment on Norquist's involvement in the meeting.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/12/MNGCVH79HT1.DTL


Unclear how Abramoff had entered the White House grounds??????? C'mon, Scotty, you have to do better than that!

[file83]

20. White House confirms - I hammer it home:

http://www.file83.com/lieslieslies.wmv
(or flash:) http://www.youtube.com/?v=u-IAbo-Lal4

[chat_noir]

21. thanks for the video clips!!

[chat_noir]

22. NYT

[sam sarrha]

23. looks like Bu$h has his hand in that mans pocket....