Reading The Pictures: Craig, Wingnuts Quack Like A Duck -- For A Change

Surely, you're familiar with that power-tripping phrase: "Are you going to believe me, or your own eyes?"

This Administration has consistently avoided judgement by defying expected norms of reaction and standard emotional cause-and-effect.

... What that means is, if a guy does wrong and that wrong catches up to him, we are neurologically wired to expect a certain type of behavioral response. That reaction -- be it oral and tonal, or facial and gestural -- could be anything within a familiar spectrum, ranging from contrition or shame on one end to defensiveness or defiance on the other. The completely subversive thing about this Administration, however, is that, with as much damage as they've done, one would barely recognize it because the physical and emotional indicators the key players display bears so little sign of impertinence toward laws, ethics, and moral standards, or much hiccup, at all, at the level of personal conscience.

That's why it's such a relief to me to see Senator Craig in these mug shots.

Craig's expression, playing out below or just short of the camera eye, appears to say "I'm not here. ... And because I don't see you, I'm expecting (in my little bubble) you won't see me." In the profile, his gaze appears downward. Accordingly, we (as creatures each equipped with a set of emotional antennae) are trained to consider -- through instinctive, psychological pattern recognition -- a set vocabulary of corresponding emotions. Likely in the expressive mix -- and easier to recognize if you happened to listen to "Larry on tape" yesterday -- are qualities of shame, denial and rationalization.

Extreme narcissists, like sociopaths, however, just don't come with that kind of emotional programming. So while the world, based on their direct actions, could be on its way down in flames, what you are likely to see, even if judgement day is closing in on them, is a completely incongruous disconnect between the actor, his actions and his reactions.

Unfortunately for the country, the fact that you can get a mug like the one DeLay provided for his perp portrait, or ones like this or these, in the face of blatant wrongdoing and rampant abuse of power, sends a psychological signal, at a deep cognitive level, that nothing seems so wrong.

For more of the visual, visit BAGnewsNotes.com.

(image 1: Harris County Sheriff's Office/Handout/Reuters. October 20, 2005. Via YahooNews. image 2: Metropolitan Airports Commission Police Department/Handout/Reuters)

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Comments

[MikeMidCity]

This is all so 1950's. It is not a crime to be gay, but people like Craig make it socially unacceptable.

First of all in the interview Craig, well lets call him Larry, Larry said he uses that bathroom all the time. There must have been complaints to the police about solicitation in THAT bathroom. Otherwise why would the cops send in their "Tucker Carlson" to bait the old executive queens.

Second of all Larry said he picked up a pice of paper off the floor. As has been pointed out in other post, who does this? So Larry is going to do what with this paper? Use it? Fold it up and put it in his suit pocket?

So at some point the cops busted the male prostitute who worked that bathroom and make him give up his code. If need be they could and would produce him in court to testify to this. Who knows he may have even I.D.ed Larry in court as a regular.

Larry is whatever he is, who knows? But he darn sure got busted. He pled guilty to a lesser charge and swore to the volatility of the statement he signed. Did he purger himself?

Being gay isn't a crime, but solicitation of sex for hire is in most of the country. Larry knew that, that's why he pled guilty and hoped it would just go away.

[Veleria29]

Sen. Craig's crime in my opinion was being a hypocrit. He and most of his republican party are hypocrits. Instantly blasting anyone who does something they think is morally wrong and a sin while the ones who break laws every day are given a free pass. Bush and Cheney and the entire Bush administration have broken laws taking this country to war in Iraq and millions are killed. where is the outrage here.
I will agree that if what Craig did was illigal then he should have been fined. He should find some other way to enjoy the lifestyle of his choice and stop berateing others who have committed the same sin in his eyes.
As long as the person living the lifestyle which it has been alledged that Craig leads does so without being a hypocrit I have no problem. the repugs have used their holier than thou for years to get votes. It is about time the republican party is knocked off it's high so-called morality horse. If I were Craig I would not resign. Let those without sin cast the first stone and this has occured I believe by Mitt Rommeny.

[squareyellowpaper]

I don't know which I find more appealing: the slightly downcast, glazed over look or the Tom Delay political smile.

I don't know which I find less apealing: betraying your office and being convicted of being involved in corruption or soliciting sex in a public rest room.

At this time in our country where political deceit, corruption and scandals have become an everyday occurrence, I am left with more questions than answers....and not just for these politicians, but for myself. Have my own morals and ethics been compromised as I become more hardened as we have faced the reality of this type of news.

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

...Extreme narcissists, like sociopaths, however, just don't come with that kind of emotional programming. So while the world, based on their direct actions, could be on its way down in flames, what you are likely to see, even if judgement day is closing in on them, is a completely incongruous disconnect between the actor, his actions and his reactions.

It's so true they put it on a T-Shirt - http://www.northernsun.com/n/s/1296.html

[cylindar]

Craig is a very very very sick dude! But the GOP seems to like those kinda guys. It does not get much sleazier than trying to solicit sex in a public toilet. If He does not step down as a Senator, you can be assured that the people of Idaho will revile and hate this scumbag so much that he will be forced to quit. They just don't go for that kinda you now what out there.

[SidneyStillInLove]

The pic on the left says " I don't give a hoot, I'm running on fumes"

The pic on the right is thinking of a convincing back story in case this gets out to the public.

Both pics are a little scary

[unhipcat]

Raise your hand if you go around picking up paper lying on the floor next to a toilet in a stall at an airport public restroom.
And if you do, kindly keep that hand away from me.

[KansasKowboy]

That is the most annoying, maddening and frustrating thing about these GOP perps.
They have no shame for all the destruction, raping, pillaging, plundering and murdering they have done. That is why it is so important to punish all in the administration and its enablers for the war crimes and other crimes that they have commited. It is the only way we can heal or country and get it back on the right track. If we are lucky.

[hilow64]

You need to be on CNN with Dr.Drew and his never ending "the other category that's not often mentioned,­men-who-ha­ve-sex-wit­h other-men-­but-aren't­-gay"crapo­sity he's been spewing for the last three days.

[poopdeck]

Senator Craig is against gay marriage. Pfui!!!! Hey, wait a minute. So are all presidential wannabes, Democratic and Republican, except Dennis Kuchinic

[ImpeachmentNOW]

.
I finally understand why the Gross-Old-Perverts, like Craig, got so unset about Bill Clinton's BJ - they are repulsed by heterosexual behavior. To them, anything other than a disgusting men's room tryst is "abnormal", "deviant" sexual behavior.

I sincerely hope Craig drags his "non-gay" ordeal out through the 08 elections. Let him join the Repugs under investigation for criminal behavior in the spotlight. The latter include: Sen. Ted Stevens (R. Alaska), Rep. John T. Doolittle (R. Calif.), Rep. Gary G. Miller (R. Calif.), Rep. Jerry Lewis (R. Calif.), Rep. Rick Renzi (R. Az.) and additional Abramoff cohorts yet to be named. Then, of course, there are Repug Sen. David Vitter and his diapers and whores, Repug ex-Rep. Mark Foley and his boys, and let's not forget Repug ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham and Repug ex-Rep Bob Nye, who are both serving time in jail!!!!

Even the RWNJs (right-win­g-nut-jobs­) like OxyContin Rush won't be able to hide just how disgraceful the Gross Old Pervert party has become.
.

[frankifrost]

Check out the monomaniacal mugshot of Deloser.
He's the poster child for MR.SARDONICUS--
CLASSIC MOVIE VILLIAN with a physically permanent, frozen smile who is completely disconnected from his lack of emotions.

[realitytrumpsbull]

GOP showcase, turn to the front, turn to the side....

[banjomike]

Craig pulled the 'I'm not gay' line with the cop, just as he did in his press conference and as he did when he did his pre-emptory conference in '82 when he was threatened with being outed then.

I actually think he's not gay- he's a repressed pervert who gets more thrills from his perversion than any sexual act. It's a power trip with him, not lust.

[truthmongerer]

I like your posting. I'm not quite sure how it became so politicized or religious, especially the responses, but I think the basic premise of providing words to what people already process on a sub-conscious level through visual stimuli is important and valuable. I wish you had a made a greater distinction between narcissism and sociopathy, though. The incongruence in reaction/response to an action is noticeable, though. While it's narcissitic at best and likely sociopathic, we can't determine that irrefutably with the given information. I think you're doing great work in explaining from a psychological view why we process nonverbal communication to the same limited set of conclusions but if it interested you, you might consider expanding that concept.