Tom Delay got booked, and his mug shot came out making him look a bit too good. He donned his best suit, pinned his House of Representatives security pin on his lapel, and smiled for the camera. The media, which has already been taking a lot of pleasure in his misery, did not let this little bit of fancy photography go un-noticed.
Emily Messner blogged on washingtonpost.com,
Here it is, Tom Delay's booking photo. I don't think I've ever seen a better mug shot. It looks like it was taken on the campaign trail, doesn't it? You can practically hear him: Hi, I'm Tom DeLay. I am just THRILLED to be here. Could NOT be happier! Boy howdy, what a nice bunch of folks you are.
The New York Times also payed the photo a few compliments,
The booking photo of Mr. DeLay, whose surrender was carefully choreographed, showed him smiling; his Congressional pin visible on his suit lapel, and did not include booking numbers that many associate with a mug shot. His allies on Capitol Hill joked that the picture was suitable for the Congressional Directory. "I just may use that photographer for my family Christmas photo," Kevin Madden, a spokesman for Mr. DeLay, said in Washington.
The Seattle Times devoted a whole article to it,
The photo projects the confidence DeLay exhibits in all of his scuffles. For anyone who didn't get it, DeLay's lead attorney, Dick DeGuerin, articulated the message it was intended to send. "If you saw Congressman DeLay's mug shot, he was smiling," DeGuerin said. "He's eager and he's ready to go."
The fact is that he does look quite good in the picture, and more importantly he does not look like a man who has committed a crime. That is precisely the reason that the media has taken such a fascination to this mug shot, and it has been the subject-matter of quite a few articles.
Everyone wants to know what is making him look so happy—after all he has just been indicted. The general consensus is that it would be a political mistake to look otherwise—after all an unattractive/morbid mug shot would become a most convenient propaganda poster for democrats. Trust the media to rain on his photo parade and unspin the mystery behind his dazzling smile.
Christie Rizk @ October 22, 2005 - 12:17pm
He's a phony through and through - it's not surprising that he'd also want to spin a mug shot into something good. At least he didn't bring his personal make-up artist along, like Michael Jackson.
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