Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Howard Kaloogian: His Photogate

But you're a dirty little liar with a message of obsession to come
~ Dirty Little Things, Velvet Revolver
Howard Kaloogian is running in the special election to replace the disgraced Congressman Duke Cunningham in the California 50th District special election. Apparently, he wants to prove his qualifications by being an even a bigger liar than dear old Duke. He put this photo on his web site - (shown here as edited by Josh Marshall. Top photo is Kaloogian's.)


The caption discribes it as a "photo of dowtown Baghdad while we were in Iraq." He claims it is proof that "Iraq (including Baghdad) is much more calm and stable than what many people believe it to be."

Little Problem. It ain't Baghdad. Ain't even Iraq. Kaloogian and his crew didn't even take it.

Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo provides point-by-point proof that the photo is of suburban Istanbul, Turkey. It appears to come from a commercial Turkish photographer and is part of a portfolio that includes these shots. As con-games go, this was a pretty good try. It took some serious sleuthing by jem6x a regular guy who comments on Daily Kos to sniff out the truth.

Update: I had to rejigger things a little. Dear Howard has taken the picture off his site - as if that will make it disappear.

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