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Power, pop, and probings from ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper

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A Picture Tells A Thousand Words

September 21, 2006 10:52 AM

Tapper1_7

Hugo Chavez -- yesterday calling President Bush "the devil" and saying he left behind an aroma of "sulfur" at the UN General Assembly podium -- holds up a book by Noam Chomsky, "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance."

Behind Chavez sits UN General Assembly president Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain.

She seemed to really enjoy Chavez's speech, huh?

Tapper2_7

According to HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, Venezuela is cracking down on freedom of expression and judicial independence, and the Chavez government is persecuting its political opponents.

Yuk, yuk.

jt

UPDATE in response to skeptical posts below.

The following appeared in a story about Chavez in the Los Angeles Times:

"Some simply found his speech entertaining.

'He's quite a character,' said Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa of Bahrain, the normally somber president of the General Assembly, who said she couldn't help laughing even though she was seated on the dais."

So there.

September 21, 2006 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (3)

User Comments

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She certainly was overjoyed. That was not a good thing to show the world. You would expect more control. To me, it's shameful. It's not a funny thing what he did. I think I see why people in our country ridicule the UN at times.

Posted by: annie | Sep 21, 2006 5:21:52 PM

DKNY - agreed. Plus doesn't it look like she's wearing a headphone or something?

Posted by: cordelia525 | Sep 21, 2006 2:14:44 PM

Jake: You should know better than to read anything into a still photo of that sort. Even if it was not doctored, it is impossible to tell what she is reacting to or even how she is reacting. She may have sneezed, she may have laughed at something she heard that morning, she may have been reaching to scratch her foot. We really have no idea.

Posted by: DKNY | Sep 21, 2006 1:49:16 PM

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