Another Staged Photo!!!!!!!!!

Wingnuts are hyperventilating this morning over another (alleged) staged photo. "Yeah, whatever," I hear you say. "Last time the guy boosted the contrast, which any decent photographer would do," I hear you continue. "Too bad he got carried away and added more smoke, making the bombed buildings look a little more bombed." Well, this time, somebody put a sign on a car! Oh, shit! Ray Robinson, uber blogger unt photography expert, got the goods on this dog. He's noticed that another picture of the same car taken on the same day doesn't have the sign! [Applause.] Now, see, I'm a photographer and, unlike Malkin and Power Whine, I know what I'm talking about. I even guessed that that Pulitzer-winning photo of a Baghdad street execution was taken from approximately 50 yards away with a telephoto lens (I was off by 5 yards). In this case, yes, the sign was probably added to "inflame Islamic passions." Or, you know, as a memorial--something many New Orleans residents did after Katrina, to, uh, memorialize their ruined homes. (Can anybody read the verses on the sign?)

There are two possibilities:

1. There were two photographers, and somebody put a sign on the car during the interim between which the two photographs were taken
2. A photographer showed up and somebody said, "Hey, dude, lemme put a sign on that car!"

Hm. Let's see.... Oh, yeah, the photographers are credited in the photos' captions. What do they say? Oh, yeah, the photo with the sign was taken by the Greek-sounding Lefteris Pitarakis of AP. The second was taken by non-Hizbullah-sounding Eric Gaillard of Reuters. As the intrepid Ray Robinson notes:

So this photographer had to know this was a set up most likely by Hizbollah and took the photo for the symbolism it would invoke. And AP was happy to publish this propaganda for hizbollah.

Well, um, no, Ray. Not only is there no evidence for that, but there's no evidence for that. Oh, yeah, and there's no evidence that Pitarakis--the photographer with the obviously Lebanese name!--is connected with Hizbullah. One last note from this photographer: The first picture looks like an unstaged snapshot. That's what happens when people aren't posing and you catch them off-guard. That's why the guy in the background to the right is looking at the camera and the guy nearest the camera, leaning on the car, isn't. Any decent photographer would've included the people and the sign. It's a good picture.

The second picture is probably posed (we'd know for sure if he was looking at the lens). If you can't tell that, you are so clueless that even Neal Boortz would be amazed you make more than minimum wage.

Ray, you're what the DSM IV terms a "fucktard." Learn to think. Oh, right, you're conservablogger. Never mind.