W Asks Condi For Potty Break

W potty break note
Yesterday Reuters and Yahoo News both posted the above photo:

U.S. President George W. Bush writes a note to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice during a Security Council meeting at the 2005 World Summit and 60th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York September 14, 2005.

Still skeptical about its veracity, I consulted Snopes.com. Although it lists an “undetermined” status, it did so begrudgingly:

We don’t doubt the authenticity of the photograph, as Rick Wilking is an established photographer with 12 years’ experience shooting news photos in Washington (including various White House assignments) who recently covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans (leaving that city only, according to Editor & Publisher, “after his laptop and two cameras were stolen from his car parked near the convention center”). As well, Reuters carried other pictures of the same scene from the United Nations, including one that appears to have captured the back of President Bush’s head. We’ve left this as “undetermined” for now to allow for the possibility that the President was merely responding to or adding comments to a note written by someone else.

By the way, my earlier post title was “W Has To Make A #1,” but it was pointed out to me that I have no way of knowing whether a #1 or a #2 was necessary, or whether perhaps something more catastrophic like a shart precipitated the request.

OK, fine, so this entire post was made just so that I could use the word “shart.” Happy? ;-p

Update: Reuters confirms the authenticity of the photo:

[Gary] Hershorn, Reuters’ news editor for pictures for the Americas, says he’s responsible for zooming in on the note and deciding to transmit the photo to Reuters clients. He says Wilking didn’t know what the note said when he shot the picture.

Woo hoo!