CHARM OFFENSIVE

CHARM OFFENSIVE Pictured at top are Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld during their years in the Nixon White House.

During Donald Rumsfeld's frequent public appearances in his early months in the Bush White House, his witty aphorisms and jaunty manner of speech led many journalists to declare him as leading a "charm offensive" on the public.

During Dick Cheney's tenure as vice president in the Bush White House, his public appearances have been limited. His also limited sense of humor is generally regarded as dry.

Pictured at center is a missile diagram. Component labels have been replaced with those characteristics normally seen as desirable in a public official.

Pictured at bottom is a B-52 bomber, used for high altitude, low accuracy delivery of bombs (also known as carpet bombing). During Rumsfeld and Cheney's tenure in the Nixon administration, B-52s were used to carpet bomb Laos and Cambodia in secret and without Congressional approval.

Through apposition of these images I hope to draw a clear historical connection between the pictured public officials and a pattern of military aggression. The words "charm" and "offensive" are intentionally split so that they may be read together (sarcastically) or separately (literally).