Monday, July 30, 2007

Mutual Contempt

This week the appearance of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is facially coded while he is giving a testimony in front of the Senate Juciciary Committee, on July 24, 2007.

Briefly, the clip is in regard to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and his questionable actions regarding his visit to the hospital to get an authorization signed by General Ashcroft for the National Security Agency's domestic surveillance program. Ashcroft was under sedation and in pain after his surgery at the time of Gonzales' visit. The clip shows various types of testimony including Gonzales responding to inquiries from Senator Specter of Pennsylvania and Senator Feinstein of California.

Here is the video clip:



This first frame is showing consternation and avoidance when Gonzales is mentioning that the reason for the visit to the hospital was supposedly not regarding the terrorist surveillance program that the President announced to the American people. His eyes are closed, and his eyebrows are both raised and pinched together in a sign of fear and melancholy.

Here, in the second piture, we can see the vivid reaction of Senator Arlen Specter. Gonzales has just finished giving his reason for why he went to the hospital to visit Ashcroft. Senator Specter is showing anger and mild disgust, a combination that amounts of scorn.

The third picture is of Gonzales explaining that there are not any rules to whether or not General Ashcroft can decide if he's well enough to make a decision. When interupted by Senator Specter, Gonzales not only shuts his eyes but also reveals contempt around his mouth - reciprocating the emotional response Specter has to his testimony.



The next part is where Gonzales states that the reason for the visit was not regarding the terrorist surveillance program. Note how his outer eyebrows rise, a sign in this case of fear and sadness:
These next frames are of Gonzales explaining his purpose in visiting Ashcroft at the hospital. While subtle and more visible if seen in video format on a split-second basis, the movement of note here is that the right side of his face pulls wider in an expression of fear:

Gonzales reacts here with feigned surprise when Senator Dianne Feinstein asks, "You don't know?" in an almost sarcastically surprised tone to Gonzaeles's statement that he will have to get back to her regarding how many U.S. Attorneys he approved to be fired.




Lastly, we can clearly see by looking at Senator Feinstein's face, that her mouth is showing disgust along with disappointment in response to Gonzales' claims. In other words, she's disillusioned.

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