Grace Under ... Well, Never Mind

[[P H O T O S]] * Because I’ve been so busy lately, I haven’t had the time I would like to blog. Thus, I missed posting these comparison images earlier. In the first set, of course, we find George W. Bush stumbling down the stairs of Air Force One, as he returns to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on July 31.


In this second set, another Republican, former President Gerald R. Ford--never known for his graceful entries and exits (a fact oft lampooned by Chevy Chase during the brief Ford administration)--almost does a header as he descends a different flight of stairs.


In Ford’s case, the former football player’s awkwardness became a metaphor for his falling public approval ratings and, ultimately, his failure in 1976 to win election to the White House (he’d originally been brought in by Richard M. Nixon to replace scandalized Vice President Spiro T. Agnew). Would anyone like to elaborate on what Dubya’s falling suggests? Or will simple “incompetence” suffice?

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Speaking of metaphors, read Slate’s story about how Bush is shrinking. In more ways than one, you say?