Bad Astronomy

The eyes of Cheney

There has been a buzz around the liberal blogosphere about a picture of Vice President Dick Cheney fishing. No, not because he shot someone while he was out on the boat, or tortured a fish, or outted a currently working covert wriggler. No, it’s because what some folks think they see reflected in his glasses.

I first saw this on Crooks and Liars, but had no clue what they were talking about. However, it’s been posted on a lot of other places, making the situation more clear. The full picture is on the left, and here’s a blow up of his glasses:

What’s causing the stir? Some people think that they see a naked woman reflected in his glasses.

Now, I am no fan of Mr. Cheney – the word “treason” pops into my head whenever I see him – but I am really good at pareidolia, and this story is ridiculous.

First off, the reflection clearly shows his hand holding the fishing rod. Even before I knew the picture was of him fishing I could figure that out. In lower-res versions it’s hard to see what it is, but it’s still obviously not a woman.

Second, don’t you think the photographer might have noticed had there been some undressed babe lounging in the boat?

Third, how old is Cheney? 300 years? A bazillion? What would he be doing with a naked woman on his boat?

Fourth, and the clincher, is the lack of human blood dribbling from Cheney’s mouth; it’s well known that he cannot resist feasting on the organs and lifeblood of naked virgins (which I suppose answers Number 3).

Sheesh. That last one alone should make this whole thing go away.

Seriously, what people are seeing is not a true reflection in Cheney’s glasses, they’re seeing a reflection of their own prejudices there. There are many reasons to dislike our sitting Vice President – probably the exact same number of reasons to indict him. But this should be based on the facts, and not on hysteria.

At least no one says the woman is Mary. I’m sure Cheney would run for President if that happened.