Department Of Photo-Opps

We live in a time when we are constantly asking ourselves, "did that just happen?" There's a sense of us drawing together, that the rich and the poor among us are one people and both are causalities of war. These moments are now made public as media events, first on television and later, the dross having been separated from the gold, turned into a feature length film.

Still it's diffiicult, if not impossible, to believe what we are seeing, even though we're seeing it in the print and broadcast media. The White House, which now provides the custodial function on behalf of its taxpayers of having to clean up its own messes, has formed for better or worse a Department of Photo-Opps designed to present the appearance of leadership as a heartfelt, sincere sponteneity that will appeal to god-fearing citizens who put their love of the country first. And so the President exits the Wite House, after marching across the street in lock-step with his entourage, and stands in front of St. Johns Episcopal Church, holding a Bible for all of us to see. When asked by a reporter, "Is that your Bible?" the President replies, truthfully in this case, "It's a Bible."

Honesty is the best policy as Machiavelli delicately positioned it. We are less than surprised to learn then that the nation now has a non-political military for the first time in its history, though the old generals whose names are now being blacked out on the public work projects that bear their names would be shocked to death. This sacred and clear separation of the state & its military enables Secretary of State Mike Pompeo--patriot, world leader, a completely original thinker--to have his own Photo-Opp moment, in which he characterizes The Hague's investigation of US war crimes in Afghanistan as a, "kangeroo court."

Such moments have a cinematic quality somewhere between a soundbite and a made-for-tv reality show. While viewership is shrinking, and corporate broadcast executives are concerned, political leadership steadfastly relies on the Photo-Opp as an effective messaging technique, beamed to those with limited attention spans.