BagNews Archives About Staff BagNews is a progressive site dedicated to visual politics and the analysis of news images.
Thursday, September 02, 2010

Twitter

@bagnewsnotes »
Advertisement



November 27, 2009

Big Cheney, Little Joe


Biden NYT Mag.jpg
As compared to Cheney, this NYT Mag photo of a distant and unplugged Biden besides a lonely and indistinct Iraq map makes the dour-looking Joe, and the Administration by association, look mostly missionless and emasculated.
(Taryn Simon for the NYT Magazine)

14 Comments Leave a comment

  • 11/27/2009 07:20am

    pcalvin said:

    A case of style over content?

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/27/2009 08:44am

    tardigrades@yahoo.com said:

    …. or perhaps, more accessible? “Come talk to me.”
    And/or… because he is sitting on a trunk and the map of Iraq… this is all that is left. Cleaned out. Start over.

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/27/2009 09:15am

    sherry said:

    those empty outlets
    are really disturbing me
    what’s that all about?

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/27/2009 10:02am

    matthew_frederick said:

    i read this pic in a similar fashion to tardigrades. i see a lack of ostentation, direct and transparent.

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/27/2009 10:25am

    bigbalagan said:

    One thing I read right away is the “bleeding” of the color of the map into the whole wall—like, we tried to put a border around it but it’s spread to the whole wall/room/region…

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/27/2009 12:15pm

    Blue Shark said:

    It is what it is…
    …A hell of a mess that was there when the new tenants moved in.
    …I quite like it.
    …This new crew can stop the madness any day they choose. Lets hope they choose soon.

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/27/2009 12:27pm

    CF2K said:

    “We can fix this.”

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/27/2009 10:14pm

    DennisQ said:

    After Cheney, Joe Biden could be the second most powerful vice-president in history
    Was Joe Biden offered the job of Secretary of State? It seems to be a closer fit to his interests. Maybe Obama was afraid that the talkative Biden would complicate matters of state. While visiting India, Biden famously remarked about all the Indians who run Seven Eleven’s in Wilmington.
    The picture is misleading. Biden’s not sitting by his lonesome looking for something to keep him occupied. And if he is, what did he expect? The vice president is hardly ever the go-to guy on anything. Cheney’s strength came from Bush’s weakness. If Bush had been as hands-on as Obama, we would hardly even notice his vice president.

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/28/2009 03:47am

    yg said:

    can you believe evan bayh was considered for vp pick? [shudder]
    something about the image reminds me of a “break glass in case of emergency” utilitarian quality.
    why does cheney’s name have to be bigger? before the bush era, it was gore who had been acclaimed as the vice president who had carried the most responsibilities and duties. believable considered how famously undisciplined clinton was.
    despite all of his foreign policy cred, biden was flat wrong on georgia. it wasn’t russia who fired the first shot.
    biden admitted in a recent interview that health care wasn’t his strength. [gasp] uh, shouldn’t you bone up on it then?
    he’s better when discussing the economy. on TDS he talked about how stimulus money has gone to build rural & urban health clinics, windmills and transmission lines. as he was saying this, i pictured the campaign commercials filming all the projects stim money has built. visuals of things accomplished will help us alot during the midterms

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/28/2009 06:08am

    Books Alive said:

    While visiting India, Biden famously remarked about all the Indians who run Seven Eleven’s in Wilmington.
    The remark that made the news 3 years ago was when Biden was on the campaign trail in Manchester, NH.

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/28/2009 06:14am

    Books Alive said:

    Video did not transfer, sorry. There are several at this link.

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/28/2009 04:47pm

    doranb said:

    Cropped tighter, it could have backed up the “second-most-powerful VP” message. Instead all the negative space and beige colors just emphasize how overly powerful Cheney was, and may still be.

    Reply to this comment

  • 11/28/2009 05:16pm

    Kit (Keep It Trill) said:

    I think your assessment of the photo hit the bulls-eye.

    Reply to this comment

Leave a Comment Please be nice.

Big Cheney, Little JoePhoto for your reference
Click to zoom

Basic HTML is allowed.