DeLay Gets QueerEyed in Time for the Pen

October 20, 2005 1:32 PM

[Mugshot filter] The Hammer is tanned, rested, and ready... to kick some partisan-hack a**! But seriously folks, has Tom DeLay ever looked better in his life? Book 'im, Danno -- and don't muss that fabulous hair!
posted by digaman (61 comments total)

I was sort of hoping for another white Bronco kind of deal.
posted by billysumday at 1:34 PM on October 20, 2005

DeLay thread already in progress here.
posted by Vidiot at 1:35 PM on October 20, 2005

Or some Nick Nolte action. WTF, guy's wearing a suit and tie.
posted by wakko at 1:35 PM on October 20, 2005

Noise.
posted by soyjoy at 1:35 PM on October 20, 2005

What kind of mugshot is that? Looks like a blown-up ID photo to me-- no numbers, no profile shot. I call shenanigans.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:39 PM on October 20, 2005

I think they should perform eight or ten body cavity searches just to make sure he's not smuggling in any hooch.
posted by fenriq at 1:39 PM on October 20, 2005

Look at the eyes, he's about to soil himself.
posted by fire&wings at 1:41 PM on October 20, 2005

I'm suprised they leaked the picture at all.

It's not really a big deal they didn't give him a number card, everyone knows who he is.
posted by delmoi at 1:43 PM on October 20, 2005

You're not allowed to smile in a mugshot, don't ask me why...

Shenanigans!
posted by LordSludge at 1:43 PM on October 20, 2005

My point, if I did indeed have one, is that the mugshot is DeLay doing what Republicans do best... packaging.
posted by digaman at 1:44 PM on October 20, 2005

You're not allowed to smile in a mugshot, don't ask me why...

Probably for the same reason you're not allowed to smile in a passport photo anymore. Smiling distorts the lines of the face and makes a positive identification more difficult.

My point, if I did indeed have one, is that the mugshot is DeLay doing what Republicans do best... packaging.

I'm sorry, digaman; I'm loving the DeLaydenfreude as much as you are, but this just isn't a real mugshot.
posted by Faint of Butt at 1:46 PM on October 20, 2005

Probably for the same reason you're not allowed to smile in a passport photo anymore. Smiling distorts the lines of the face and makes a positive identification more difficult.

I believe the ultimate reason for that is computerized facial recognition software needs to know your unsmiling face.
posted by Rumple at 1:48 PM on October 20, 2005

DeLay is one of the most arrogant abusers of power I've ever seen. If they'd let 'im, I'm sure he'd do this.

That said, I don't think he has a choice about his mug shot being released. Are they not public record?
posted by teece at 1:49 PM on October 20, 2005

the mugshot is DeLay doing what Republicans do best... packaging.

So, Democrats are above packaging?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 1:50 PM on October 20, 2005

ZenMasterThis: No, they just suck at it.
posted by LordSludge at 1:52 PM on October 20, 2005

Funny, it seems none of the major news sources refer to the photo as a mugshot. They all say "he had his photo taken". What a ballon knot.
posted by Mr_Zero at 1:52 PM on October 20, 2005

balloon knot
posted by Mr_Zero at 1:53 PM on October 20, 2005

It is the real mugshot. I think what you meant is that it's not a real MetaFilter post.
posted by soyjoy at 1:54 PM on October 20, 2005

I despise the guy, but he gets points for doing this right.
posted by 2sheets at 1:56 PM on October 20, 2005

Probably for the same reason you're not allowed to smile in a passport photo anymore. Smiling distorts the lines of the face and makes a positive identification more difficult.

How new is that rule? I renewed my passport just a couple of years ago, and I'm grinning like a fool in my picture.
posted by scody at 2:00 PM on October 20, 2005

CNN runs with photo, explains that lack of numbers is new county procedure.
posted by NationalKato at 2:04 PM on October 20, 2005

He has the same eyes as Laura Bush, some weird upside thing happening. Small state, I guess.
posted by The Jesse Helms at 2:06 PM on October 20, 2005

He looks a little like Ackbar.



Hmm...
posted by Chuckles at 2:06 PM on October 20, 2005

How new is that rule? I renewed my passport just a couple of years ago, and I'm grinning like a fool in my picture.

In Canada and the UK, in the last year or so. Not sure if/when it was brought into the US. :)
posted by antifuse at 2:09 PM on October 20, 2005

Ashcroft has the same eyes.
posted by badger_flammable at 2:11 PM on October 20, 2005

scody:

With so many people taking passport photos, the degree to which the rule is enforced depends a lot on the person taking the picture, and the circumstances.

It is a rule, but in most cases I doub't anyone would hold up your passport application over the photo, especially if there is a line or it's been mailed in.

If you're lucky. :-)


The US visa photo crowd tend to take the rules pretty seriously too. Even if there is a line, they'll make sure the computer gets the right shot :)
posted by -harlequin- at 2:14 PM on October 20, 2005

posted by ericb at 2:38 PM on October 20, 2005

A much better photo released today:


from Think Progress
posted by caddis at 2:39 PM on October 20, 2005

(except for ericb's)
posted by caddis at 2:49 PM on October 20, 2005

"the mugshot is DeLay doing what Republicans do best... packaging."

Well true, yes think about this for a second. The republicans are the voices and actions of huge private corporate interests. One thing that huge corporate interests must do well is marketing. The republicans sell.package.market to an America that, above all, rewards good commercials. We consume, it is our job.

Ironic how Clinton was accused by the right of "spin" and being "slick". Through the boos and hisses, somebody took some really fucking good notes.

In America it seems as though we don't value substance.... we reward appearance. It is not what you say, its how you look saying it.
posted by hatchetjack at 3:09 PM on October 20, 2005

posted by timothyarcher at 3:17 PM on October 20, 2005

Shouldn't that read "Chicken Warrior?"
posted by caddis at 3:21 PM on October 20, 2005

Noise.
posted by dhoyt at 3:36 PM on October 20, 2005

posted by Faint of Butt you're not allowed to smile in a passport photo anymore

Huh? I recently renewed my passport and I'm grinnin' from ear to ear in my photo, and I can't see how the State Department would ever enforce no-smiling photo policy. "Is that a smirk? Hmm, no, it's more of a grin. Well no, actually, I'd call that a smile. Rejected!"

Here's the official word from the State Department:

Your photographs must be:
* 2x2 inches in size
* Identical
* Taken within the past 6 months, showing current appearance
* Color
* Full face, front view with a plain white or off-white background
* Between 1 inch and 1 3/8 inches from the bottom of the chin to the top of the head
* Taken in normal street attire
-- Uniforms should not be worn in photographs except religious attire that is worn daily.
-- Do not wear a hat or headgear that obscures the hair or hairline.
-- If you normally wear prescription glasses, a hearing device, wig or similar articles, they should be worn for your picture.
-- Dark glasses or nonprescription glasses with tinted lenses are not acceptable unless you need them for medical reasons. A medical certificate may be required.

posted by fandango_matt at 3:42 PM on October 20, 2005

As far as police mugshots are concerned, the objective of the mugshot is recording and documentation. My understanding is the police photographer does not say "Smile!"--he or she tells the subject to face the camera and then quickly-snaps-the-shutter before the subject has time to prepare. The result is a photograph of someone who isn't smiling, isn't posed, and isn't fully aware they're being studied--which is exactly how you probably appear 95% of the time, so the technique of not saying "Smile!" is a good trick to achieve that result.
posted by fandango_matt at 4:13 PM on October 20, 2005

Does anyone else find DeLay's lawyer outward hostility to the district attorney a little... weird? Why would he be putting up such a huge fuss if his client is blameless? Wouldn't he be confident, not cocky?
posted by wakko at 4:14 PM on October 20, 2005

posted by WolfDaddy at 4:16 PM on October 20, 2005

You can smile in mugshots if you so choose, check the gallery of celebrity mugshots on Smoking Gun. Quite a few smilers there.

As far as passport pictures go, I've got a smirky little grin going on in my passport picture. I haven't been arrested
yet.


"Probably for the same reason you're not allowed to smile in a passport photo anymore. Smiling distorts the lines of the face and makes a positive identification more difficult."

As far as identification purposes, I've seen passport photos that look nothing like the person it was issued to.
It makes more sense to simply have the person smile if
there is a question of identity due to a smiling passport
picture.
Holy smoke, passports are valid for 10 yrs, no one is going to look exactly like their photo the entire 10 yrs.

Another thing is that passport photos are the responsibility of applicant, I've never been to a Passport Agency that took the photos themselves. Perhaps you are confusing it with the Department of Motor Vehicles.
posted by bat at 4:17 PM on October 20, 2005

I think folks are thinking about the "no smiling" (i.e. "Facial expression must be neutral (not frowning nor smiling) with the mouth closed.") regulation for Canadian passports that got a lot of press two years ago. As well, Germany has instituted a similar policy last month.
posted by ericb at 4:23 PM on October 20, 2005

dhoyt, it had been days since I'd given any thought to how much of an unrelenting prick you can be. Thanks for reminding everyone.
posted by mkultra at 4:25 PM on October 20, 2005

And -- as Rumple points out above -- the "no smiling" is related to biometrics:

"[Germany's] Interior Minister Otto Schily ordered passport authorities to only accept pictures taken from the front showing the 'most neutral facial expression possible,' starting on November 1.

Facial recognition systems match key features on the holder’s face and work best when the face has a neutral expression with the mouth closed."

posted by ericb at 4:28 PM on October 20, 2005

posted by fandango_matt at 5:00 PM on October 20, 2005

I seem to have misspoken. It appears that American passport regulations may well allow the subject of the photograph to smile. I confess that I was extrapolating from the policies of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, with which I am intimately familiar, and which insist that the subject of the photograph on a work card or permanent resident card not smile. I apologize for any confusion my earlier comment may have caused.
posted by Faint of Butt at 5:06 PM on October 20, 2005

but this just isn't a real mugshot

no. it's not.

noise

shut up.
/dr. quinn
posted by 3.2.3 at 5:59 PM on October 20, 2005

Noise.
posted by dhoyt at 3:36 PM PST on October 20

Then post in MeTa, stupid.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 7:16 PM on October 20, 2005

As I expected when I posted this, DeLay's mugshot is already being spun by his attorney as part of The Message:

DeLay Smile May Foil Democrat Campaign Ads

By LAURIE KELLMAN
The Associated Press
Thursday, October 20, 2005; 9:20 PM

WASHINGTON -- Why is Tom DeLay smiling? After all, he's been indicted. Forced out of his job as House majority leader. And called into court for fingerprinting and a mugshot like a common criminal.

Answer: A photo of DeLay grinning from ear to ear doesn't pack quite the punch in a Democratic attack ad as one that looks more like the mugshot of, say, actor Hugh Grant.
[...]
posted by digaman at 7:22 PM on October 20, 2005

I'd say he's never looked more at home in his life than he does in front of that police mugshot camera. Call it an augury if you will.
posted by clevershark at 7:31 PM on October 20, 2005

i think if it's used correctly (say, plastered over with text like "why is this man smiling? could it be the millions of dollars of lobbyist money that he's used for his own personal benefit?"), delay's smugshot could easily be a net backfire. imagine that shit on a billboard during the election? or a tv ad?

dhoyt, your comment is an excellent object lesson on the right wing's achilles heel -- base hypocrisy. how much would you howl were someone to make the same comment about jenleigh or dios? especially in such unwarranted fashion. don't call something "noise" when what you really mean is you personally disagree with it.

p.s. -- tom delay hates your ass, just like he hates the rest of us. if you think otherwise, you're a sucker.
posted by Hat Maui at 7:44 PM on October 20, 2005

how much would you howl were someone to make the same comment about jenleigh or dios?

View my comments on any thread by either user. Not a howl to be heard.

don't call something "noise" when what you really mean is you personally disagree with it.

I don't 'agree' with a mugshot?

Wha?

What I don't agree with is the roundtable of Politics-Lite™ into which digaman & others seek to convert MetaFilter. This is fluff. You know it. I know it. To cry 'hypocrisy', as though the concept favors either political party, is a total joke. There's no way to distract from a long, long list of mainstream-US-politics-agendafilter, so don't bother trying. We've been down this road before and I thought we'd settled it.
posted by dhoyt at 9:39 PM on October 20, 2005

I don't 'agree' with a mugshot?

was it just me or didn't you call all of digaman's posts noise?

and you're telling me it's not worth discussing that the fucking majority leader of the house of representatives of the u.s. congress got booked like a common criminal? what, exactly, is the problem with this post?

as far as what we "settled," i remember agreeing to be more civil towards you. i feel i'm holding up my end.
posted by Hat Maui at 12:16 AM on October 21, 2005

Since dhoyt's comment echoed mine, I'd just like to clarify that while I persist in believing this post is redundant noise (and makes Mefi look exactly like the adolescent leftie circle-jerk that dios et al. claim it is), I would not support such a claim for digaman's posts in general. Thank you.
posted by soyjoy at 6:58 AM on October 21, 2005

and you're telling me it's not worth discussing that the fucking majority leader of the house of representatives of the u.s. congress got booked like a common criminal?

That's not what the post is about. We've had about ten posts of that nature. This post is about:

Page title:
DeLay Gets QueerEyed in Time for the Pen | MetaFilter

The Hammer is tanned, rested, and ready... to kick some partisan-hack a**! But seriously folks, has Tom DeLay ever looked better in his life? Book 'im, Danno -- and don't muss that fabulous hair!

That's certainly the language of someone who wants to soberly, undramatically discuss the nature of our Majority Leader's crimes.

The post is fluff. You know it. I know it.

as far as what we "settled," i remember agreeing to be more civil towards you. i feel i'm holding up my end.

From your post several hours earlier:

tom delay hates your ass, just like he hates the rest of us. if you think otherwise, you're a sucker.

You've got not point, mate, and you're not civil. You're talking in circles, and calling others hypocrites. Hang it up. See you in the next thread.
posted by dhoyt at 8:40 AM on October 21, 2005

"The post is fluff. You know it. I know it."
posted by dhoyt at 8:40 AM PST on October 21 [!]



"Funny is good. Funny is good. But then do it by using comedy and humor, not police action and coffee remarks."
- Lt. Hauk.
posted by Smedleyman at 10:04 AM on October 21, 2005

It must be nice to be so special, so powerful, that you can tell the cops holding the arrest warrant when and where you'd like to be arrested, so you have a chance to grab a shower, a shave, a haircut, a new suit, and use the opportunity to press the flesh with potential voters.

That mugshot's going to be a fine point of irony if & when he goes to prison.

Of course, all that'll happen is that he'll get pardoned when Bush rotates out of office - it's futile.
posted by FormlessOne at 10:07 AM on October 21, 2005

Somewhere, Weinberger giggles.
posted by FormlessOne at 10:07 AM on October 21, 2005

I think I prefer this take on it: bad genetics, or botched plastic surgery?

Granted, if you go to the main page, you realize it could have been much, much worse. He could've had lip implants like the guy from Dead or Alive.
posted by Vervain at 10:53 AM on October 21, 2005

You've got not point, mate, and you're not civil

how is saying that tom delay is full of contempt for the common people he supposedly governs incivil?

i can cite numerous examples of his abuse of power, and if that's not contempt for people like you and i, then what is?

and i noticed you neglected to defend your incivil tarring of all digaman's posts as "noise." again, if another member had made the exact same comment about someone on your side, you'd have some strenuous objection to it. don't pretend that you wouldn't.

so, in your book, is it cool to take a potshot at all the posts of someone you disagree with, or not? were you in the wrong or in the right? you could claim that i'm derailing, but you're the one that linked to all digaman's posts as noise. so does your shit stink, or what, friend?
posted by Hat Maui at 11:40 AM on October 21, 2005

And really, there's only one man that can truly be called The Hammer.

(or this guy)
posted by Smedleyman at 4:30 PM on October 21, 2005

I despise the guy, but he gets points for doing this right.

I might have missed the sarcasm there, but I would be appalled if any politician I support or respect were arrested for a crime (even if he/she were innocent) , and showed up for his/her mugshot with a big jackass smile like that.

Translation: "I don't take any of this business seriously, and neither should you." If he were my father or son, I would be ashamed.
posted by mrgrimm at 7:36 PM on October 21, 2005

... Some days, as a prosecutor or a police officer, the knowledge that you will soon wipe the shit eating grin off the face of the jackass that you have just charged with a crime makes the whole thing all the more worthwhile.

Smile while you can, Bugman. The Abramoff investigation is just picking up steam...and that's not even the charges for which this picture was taken. This photo was taken for a series of other felonies. Hey moron -- you have been charged with a number of crimes, not invited to a kegger.

Smile while you can.
...
posted by amberglow at 7:46 PM on October 21, 2005

Slate, What's the Deal with DeLay's Mug Shot? and uncropped photo.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:32 PM on October 21, 2005