Bush Ignores Cheney at First Meeting with Speaker Elect Pelosi

This image from the White House website shows Congressman Hoyer, Speaker Elect Pelosi, and the President. Notice someone missing?


Take a look at the same meeting from another angle that is missing from the White House website (notice the portly fellow with the chagrin on the right):

The New York Times was quick to notice too:

It was no doubt inadvertent, but it was hard not to find some symbolism in the moment Thursday in the Oval Office when President Bush seemed to forget that Vice President Dick Cheney was in the room.

Representatives Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader who is soon to become the first female speaker of the House, and Steny H. Hoyer, the Democratic whip, had come to the White House for lunch. As the two Democrats, Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney sat in front of a fireplace, the president spoke about the importance of working together to get things done.

“Both of us recognize — all three of us,” Mr. Bush said, apparently referring to himself, Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Hoyer, “recognize that when you win, you have a responsibility to do the best you can for the country.”

The omission of Mr. Cheney, the embodiment of the administration’s approach to national security, raised an intriguing question. As Mr. Bush grapples with the loss of his Republican majority in Congress, how far will he go to reinvent himself, and who — or what philosophies — is he willing to jettison along the way?