Bush-Abramoff Photo Op

Today the Kickapoo tribal leader from Texas, Chief Raul Garza, released the first photo with President Bush and Jack Abramoff in the same room to The New York Times. Abramoff was seeking a contract with Garza and his Casino, and set up the opportunity for Garza to attend a meeting at the White House for state legislators on May 9, 2001 supporting the Bush tax cut. Abramoff appears in the background as the President is shaking Garza’s hand.

Apparently, there are additional photographs, which have yet to be released that suggest some contact between Bush and Abramoff. However, since there is no proof former lobbyist Jack Abramoff had any influence in policy making for the Bush Administration, the presumption of innocence is justified. Any intelligent person must recognize the fact that the President of the United States will have his picture taken thousands of times with various individuals whom have no connection with him. However, a conspiracy theorist would presume that since there are photos that have Bush and Abramoff in the same room they must have had dealings with one another. That line of thought is completely ridiculous in the context of today’s open society that includes the tabloid saturation of virtually all mass media content. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but what they are saying is in the eye of the beholder absent any definitive proof.

Click on the title of this blog entry to see the photograph for yourself and the source article.