Here’s the official photo released from the Air Force One photo-op/joyride (as cleaned up by the LA Times):

In the comments to the above-linked post at American Digest, commenter jaed said:

<tinfoil garmenttype=”hat”>
Is there anything in this picture to indicate it was taken a couple of weeks ago, rather than a year or two ago?
</tinfoil>

Ha Ha Ha Ha… wait…

I know Wisconsin is no New York, but around here, the trees are still flowering, and what ain’t flowering is still bare. Green & leafy forest, we don’t got.

New York also looks pretty barren in this on-the-ground image taken by a panicky citizen on 4-27:

But the official picture looks pretty lush…

So, I’m going Truther on Obama’s ass & saying yonder official photo wasn’t taken on April 27th, 2009.

Go ahead, debunk me.

I’m waiting.

UPDATE (5-12-09, 8:30AM): Curse you, Scott in OC, for feeding my paranoia by showing me this shot of Liberty Island taken 15 days prior:

Yes, it says 12-4-2009, but many parts of the world outside America put the date before the month, most cameras have both settings as an option, and current time travel technology only allows travel forward through time, not backwards.

Also, the guy’s Flickr page says (lower right) that the shot was taken April 12th. And you can bet your ass I got a screenshot in case the page gets “mysteriously disappeared”.

UPDATE 2 (5-12-09, 9:00AM): Ok, let’s crank it up a notch. In the above picture, notice the healthy crowds with the brightly colored jackets. Now look at the official Air Force One photo. There should be crowds standing directly in front of the Statue, and they should be visible as dots. There aren’t and they aren’t.

Liberty Island opens at 9am. The flyover began around 10am.

Off-topic – now I know what it’s like to be inside a Truther’s skull. It’s itchy and I’m tasting metal.

Somebody PLEASE debunk me already!

UPDATE 3 (5-12-09, 9:15AM): After searching Flickr with “liberty island April 2009“, it’s pretty obvious that those trees were nigh barren three days before the Air Force One photo op (that one pic with all the leaves is a souvenir postcard).

UPDATE 4 (5-12-09 11:00AM): For the guy who said “two weeks in spring makes a pretty big difference in the springtime“, here’s a typical April 24th from the above link:

UPDATE 5 (5-12-09 12:00PM): Seriously, where are all the damn people in the White House’s pic?

Here’s December 2008:

Lady Liberty faces southeast, so she gets the light in her eyes every morning, so morning it is. Judging by the angle of the shadow on the right, I’d say about 10am.

Lots of tourists there, on that cold, December morning.

Unfortunately, the White House pic was taken on a cloudy day, so there are no helpful shadows. But neither are there people.

UPDATE 6 (5-12-09 10:00PM): YAY! I AM DEBUNKED!

Thanks, Nathan. I feel sane again.

Close examination of a better quality photo shows both people on the ground and numerous semi-bare trees.

But…

Now the question becomes, why – on a plane where “with the exception of one combat photographer, a standard crew complement performed the mission. . . . There were no non-duty personnel or passengers on board.” – were 3 of the shades pulled down on the plane’s starboard side?