"In the most famous picture from his trip to Baghdad, President
Bush had
himself artfully photographed to look like he was serving turkey to the
troops. The image was emblazoned on front pages throughout the country -
and
now appears to be an entirely false depiction.

According to the Washington Post, Bush was actually holding "a
decoration,
not a serving plate." In other words, he was holding a prop, not
real food,
and thus only pretending for the cameras to be serving up the holiday
meal.

The Post notes that "the foray has opened new credibility questions
for a
White House that has dealt with issues" like this in the past. In
fact, the
flap marks the second such distortion in as many days about his trip to
Baghdad. Just yesterday it was revealed that the White House's tall tale
of
Air Force One crossing paths with a British Airways plane was entirely
false.

The deceptive picture also harkens back to the controversy surrounding
the
President's "Mission Accomplished" banner. On May 1, he stood
on the deck of
the U.S.S. Lincoln in front of the giant sign and declared that
"major
combat operations have ended." Since that time, more troops have
been killed
or wounded than before he made that statement, prompting more questions
about his photo-op.

When asked why he chose to stand in front of the "Mission
Accomplished"
banner at a press conference six months later, Bush "disavowed the
background banner," saying the White House staff had nothing to do
with
producing it. But then Navy and administration officials admitted the
President had been dishonest, saying that "the White House actually
made
it." White House spokesman Scott McClellan specifically said,
"We took care
of the production of it. We have people to do those things."

Of course, Bush's penchant for taking misleading and dishonest photos
has
not been confined to Iraq. In July of 2002, the President visited a
low-income housing development in Atlanta to tout his commitment to
funding
it. He then proposed a budget that eliminated its funding. Similarly, the
President visited a Boys and Girls Club in January of 2003 to tout the
organization's efforts. He said the club "has got a grand history of
helping children."
Just four days after his photo-op, he proposed to cut 15% out of funding
for the Boys and Girls Club."

-- The Daily Mislead, online.