And from the "They all look alike" department: (This is SO depressing)

[woo me with science]

NBC’s Brian Williams apologizes after Obama-Ford mix-up
.....
During NBC’s broadcast, Williams noticed Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on the House floor and identified him to the viewing audience. Unfortunately, it was actually Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn).
.....
Williams isn’t alone. Rewind to last’s year’s State of the Union. Another reporter asked Obama’s office why he hugged the president. Again, it was Ford.

People mix them up plenty, even though the Capitol Rotunda separates the two men on most workdays. And “they don’t look that much alike,” one Senate staffer said. That they get confused at all is “pretty amazing,” one House aide lamented.
......
If Ford is successful in getting himself elected to the Senate this fall, the mix-ups may deepen.



http://thehill.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/UndertheDome/020706.html

[MADem]

1. Jesus H. Christ on a bicycle!!!!!

What have we learned, here?

Brian Williams thinks all young, slim black politicians look alike!!

Brian Williams doesn't know his HOUSE from his SENATE!!!!

Brian Williams IS an IDIOT!!!!

Even if he were visually challenged in the "spot that African American" department, you cannot mistake the House from the Senate, unless you are a clueless bastard who has never ever been in the damn rooms. They are totally different, in size and appointments.

He's an anchor, all right--only problem is, he should be holding a yacht fast to a sea floor, not giving us the news of the day. What a dunce.

[bryant69]

4. I don't know

I maen we should be charitable - we all have our weaknesses. I mean I can't tell brain-dead anchors apart. THey all look vaguely plastic, don't they? How do you distinguish them?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[cally]

2. I think you have to be an idiot to be a broadcaster these days

No wonder Williams was promoted. :argh:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. Harold Ford and Barack Obama look alike?

Who knew?

:eyes:

Reminds me of a time that my department chair (at a long-ago university job) said that she couldn't tell my two Japanese assistants apart. They were the same height, but one had classic woodblock print features and the other looked part Ainu. One wore her hair in a Dutch bob, while the other had a typical 1980s spiral perm. One of them had a non-descript voice, while the other had a distinctive high-pitched little girl voice.

But my department chair couldn't tell them apart. :eyes:

[tanyev]

5. Funny, most news reporters have no problem identifying

who is who among each year's new crop of virtually identical young, blonde starlets. And that's not even newsworthy.

[Clark2008]

6. Hmmmm... interesting.

Obama



Ford


Other than they're both lighter-skin black men... uh... whatever. :eyes:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

7. Wait a minute!

I don't want to defend Williams too much...but to me, they do look kind of alike. Enough to be brothers. Young, slender, long face, similar complexion. Hair is cut rather differently. Strong features. The one feature that really sets them apart is Ford's bags under his eyes. Is he older?

Now, about the lady anchors, I can't tell ANY of them apart. Once they get a wrinkle, they disappear from view!

[Clark2008]

9. Yeah, I can see how they could be brothers, but I can

also tell them apart.

I think the point might be that Williams is a NEWSMAN and should know who is who since he covered that beat forever.

[TahitiNut]

10. Obama's ears and jaw are far more prominent.

Even their hairstyles differ, apart from being somewhat close-cropped. :shrug:

[TallahasseeGrannie]

11. I wonder how their height differs?

And Williams really should be able to pick them out. that's why he gets the big bucks.

[Clark2008]

12. Obama is definitely taller and a tad thinner

Ford is a shorter man. I've met Ford in person several times (I'm a Tennessean working on his campaign) and I'm a tiny person. He doesn't overpower me, so he can't be all that tall.

Obama looks VERY tall, at least on television.

[TahitiNut]

13. Height differences only become obvious with a point of reference.

Usually, that 'point of reference' is one's own height when the individual is close enough to make the relativism apparent. From above or from a distance, the relativism isn't really apparent. Often, what people think is height is often just build/proportions.

[TahitiNut]

8. Perhaps, like a sportscaster, Brian needs a 'spotter' from the other team?

:rofl:

I'm just an old white guy - one of those widely 'known' for all kinds of moral disabilities - but I've never had any difficulty whatsoever distinguishing between different people of color. Obama and Ford are just as distinct as Lieberman and Hatch, imho, if not more so. To fail in making such a distinction in the context of House vs. Senate is inexplicable to me. It seems to betray an overwhelmingly monochromatic life experience.