Will 'the smirk' come to haunt Romney? [when the media need to bury you, their pit is bottomless]

Telegraph - UK ^ | September 13, 2012 | Damian Thompson

[Cincinatus' Wife]

That's quite some smirk on Mitt Romney's face as he walks away from the podium in Jacksonville, Florida, having just woven in criticism of Barack Obama to his reaction to the murders in Benghazi. The photograph was taken by Charles Dharapak of the Associated Press, and I suspect it's going to be one of the most significant images of the campaign. Maybe Mr Romney was just unlucky, but on the other hand… are you surprised? Honestly?

[jersey117]

What smirk? These people are nuts. The desperation of the media knows no bounds. How low can they go? We shall see. Romney should start taking on the media like Newt did during the primaries. Turn it back on them and make them look like the unprofessional, incompetent fools that they are.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

[bcsco]

Yesterday I defined Obama’s short outing before the press, before taking off for a fundraiser in Las Vegas, as “deadpan”. It was an obligatory statement devoid of emotion or sincerity. Platitudes, because America expected “something”. In reality, we’re the little people he can’t get away from patronizing.

[Psalm 144]

Want to see a smirk?

Look at the face of the author.

********************

No kidding. Like the progeny from Chucky the doll getting with a demented leprechaun.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

So friggin what?...

[Drill Thrawl]

Interesting. The "media" have not had their panties in a twist about smirks since the horrible bad old days of Chimpy McHalliburton BushCo.

Let's start keeping our eyes out for stories on the homeless issue and military deaths in AfRagistan.

[Paine in the Neck]

The leftist faux-press used the ‘smirk issue’ against Bush for 8 yrs (google bush smirk to remind yourselves). They figure they can make hay with it again.

[Political Junkie Too]

Are they trying to recycle the Bush smirk stories from the last decade?

-PJ

[Cincinatus' Wife]

They think they can box Romney in - “shut him down,” with this kind of journalistic (I use that word laughingly) aggression.

[arrogantsob]

Yeah, Bush’s “smirk” really hurt him didn’t it? This keeps getting better and better.

Wait till the Enemamedia starts complaining that Romney’s bowel movements are too regular.

[Maceman]

I'll take a smirk over a self-satisfied nose in the air any day.

[Psalm 144]

That is one of the most revealing photos in history. Ugly and ridiculous, but revealing.

[BlatherNaut]

I suspect it's going to be one of the most significant images of the campaign.

Ha! The Empty Chair is one of the most significant images of the campaign, because it symbolizes Obama's emptiness and failure.

No comparison between the Empty Chair and what is obviously a social smile on Romney's face as he steps away from the podium. Only a loon would label it a smirk and then try to make political hay out of such an innocuous expression.

[longtermmemmory]

how many times did the MSM frame a halo around obama’s head.

[jersey117]

Oh right - Has the media even weighed in on the Vegas trip where he was smiling before his adoring drones screaming four more years? You would think that in the aftermath of the crisis he might stay behind and have an all hands meeting or something. He chose to do a cover his a$$ interview with 60 Minutes. Same thing with the hurricane. He waited more than a week to visit New Orelans and the media couldn't even come up with a meaningless critical quip - such as a smirk. Nothing..... f'n crickets. I'm at the point where I rarely even have Fox News on. It's talk radio and the internet most of the time.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Are they trying to recycle the Bush smirk stories from the last decade?

George W.'s Smirk: A Chatterbox Investigation"........But since personality is also to some extent genetically based and, moreover, can be passed environmentally from one generation to the next--particularly when father and son share not only the same home but also a few institutional influences (e.g., Andover and Yale)--it is conceivable that the shared smirk signifies a shared ... arrogance."

[Joe Klein on the "Bush Smirk:"] ..."It would be easy to mistake such elaborate body language for arrogance, as more than a few observers have, whereas the true meaning of the tic may be the exact opposite. It may just signify relief--that he has successfully managed to jump another public hurdle without embarrassing himself. Or it may mean nothing at all."....

[cruise_missile]

Our ambassador is raped and murdered and Obama goes to Vegas.
Romney gets blamed. The MSM is evil. Fox should be hammering this.

[BlatherNaut]

Activiaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

[x]

That is not a smirk! It is a strained smile.

I think you're right. It's not a smirk, smug and self-satisfied. It's also not a happy or joyful smile.

It's hard to tell since you can't see more than half his face but I'd say it's the expression the face relaxes into after you've had to do something a little difficult and have got it behind you.

You don't want to look exhausted or numbed, especially if you're a politician with the camera's on you, so your face relaxes into a little smile.

Maybe this is more like a smirk:

This Romney thing is hard to fathom: a barely perceptible micro-expression somehow taken as revealing something deep about the man, but people do tend to read a lot into politicians depending on whether they support or oppose them. If someone is ready to believe a President of the other party has killed dozens of people here at home who could cause him trouble, the "arrogant, smirking" thing shouldn't come as a surprise. And "the Bush smirk" did work against Bush. Maybe not in the reelection campaign, but certainly by the end of his term.

[1035rep]

Why so panicky liberals? hahahahaha!