By Michael Brendan Dougherty
Thursday, January 29, 2026
I try not to overreact, but there is something about this
that gets deep under my skin and unsettles me about my country.
Alex Pretti has no more or less dignity than any other
human being, looking exactly as he looked. And yet, a photo editor took time —
perhaps a decent bit of it — completely changing his skin tone, his beard, and
jaw. We have history textbooks that condemn the Stalin regime by showing how
the officials altered photos in order to alter the perception of history.
At least those officials could explain themselves — that
they were acting under real compulsion, the real threat of execution, exile, or
imprisonment by another apparatchik. What is the excuse of Americans in 2026?
Why do people volunteer to create this kind of propaganda? Would you want to
try to make a public reputation for virtue in a country whose sense-making
institutions act like this?
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