No message is the message

Posted on January 24, 2006 by Gene

Like many people, I just don’t understand the Bush administration when they’re up or when they’re down. Sometimes they seem to be just as dumb as a box of rocks. For instance, back when Enron was in the news, Bush insisted that he barely knew Ken Lay — a man who previously was known as “Kenny Boy” during his White House sleepovers. Like we didn’t all know that.
Naturally, when the Abramoff scandal started to break, the White House took the position that Bush “barely knew” Abramoff; an assertion that I think most of us found hilarious, considering that the man was a Bush Pioneer and raised huge sums for Bush’s election.
Now, the White House is actually saying that, yes, there are pictures of Bush with Abramoff… but they’re not going to release them. Smart move. Because nothing makes a scandal go away faster than refusing to show something that you’ve acknowledged existence of.
I ask you — which would have been the better course of action? Release a dozen photos showing Bush shaking hands with Abramoff in the presence of dozens of other people wanting to shake his hand, in receiving lines and at fundraisers? Or, keep all the photos secret and let the media and the American public imagine what they will. In my imagination, the pictures are of Dubya and Abramoff at the ranch, Bush pinning Jack to the hood of the pickup, pushing back his cowboy hat and intoning, “I wish I could quit you.”