It's just a Silly Hat Picture, Barry.
Get over yourself.
By Moe Lane Posted in 2008 | Silly Hat Pictures | Thin-Skinned Much? | Whining for Media Attention — Comments (56) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
OK, let me explain to people what this is. This is a Silly Hat Picture. A Silly Hat Picture is one of the little ways that the world deals with the fact that global hegemony is in the unlikely hands of the United States of America, which is possibly the first world empire to not only be not a world empire at all, but one dedicated to the proposition that no other country can be one, either. This actually annoys people, as it makes it harder to blame us for everything that goes wrong (they still do, but we notoriously don't care much). So they take no little comfort in a: giving us tremendous smack-downs in international soccer; b: yelling at us in the General Assembly; and c: dressing visiting American dignitaries funny. They know that we generally don't have a clue, you understand - and that we aren't going to say anything even when we do. Remember this?
(Obama Silly Hat Picture via AP)
That's what it is. What it is not is this (Via Gateway Pundit):
"On the very day that Sen. Clinton is giving a speech about restoring respect for America in the world, her campaign has engaged in the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we've seen from either party in this election. This is part of a disturbing pattern that led her county chairs to resign in Iowa, her campaign chairman to resign in New Hampshire, and it's exactly the kind of divisive politics that turns away Americans of all parties and diminishes respect for America in the world."
Whiny little so-and-sos, aren't they?
Read on.
Now, you might be saying to yourself, "This is a minor little story" - and you'd be right; or at least, you'd be right up to the point where the Obama campaign reacted to a Silly Hat Picture in much the same way that you'd expect them to react to a flaming cross appearing on their lawn. While it is mean-spirited of the Clinton campaign - if they were the ones who put it out, mind you; God forbid I should make accusations, or anything [rolling eyes] - to publish undignified photos of her primary opponent, if the actual point was to highlight the prickly defensiveness of the Obama campaign, then they succeeded admirably. It's becoming increasingly clear that Barack's people don't react well to any suggestion that their candidate is not at least a demigod; and if they don't get started working on that pretty quickly, well, we're going to have a really fun couple of months over here while the knives come out.
Moe Lane
PS: Please note that I am doing the Democratic Party the elementary courtesy of assuming that their members are not significantly racist enough to particularly care if Barack Obama dressed in traditional Somali garb. I do this highly aware of the fact that this courtesy would be not reciprocated; and I suggest that anybody wishing to argue that this was a racist attack by the Clinton campaign should contemplate what that says about the 10+ million Democrats that have already voted for her. Because whoever this was actually aimed at, I can tell you this: it wasn't aimed at the GOP.
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It's just a Silly Hat Picture, Barry. 56 Comments (0 topical, 56 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
This picture is a non issue....let's focus on substantative issues....i.e. how O'Bama and Clinton plan to pay for all their plans to "help" our country.
To the two candidates involved, it's worth another exchange of salvos.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
Tax the rich .......... and the oil companies. Too bad half the population has a below average IQ. Hopefully, they vote in much smaller numbers than the upper half of the IQ range.
clearly, the Barackheads need to lighten up.
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
If Obama thought this would be a bad thing to have depicted in his presidential campaign, perhaps he should have had second thoughts about wearing it in 2006.
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
There are pretty much two kinds of silly hat photos: The first kind is the kind that makes the wearer inoffensively absurd. Imagine Hillary, for example, visiting Holland Michigan and putting on one of those silly handkerchiefs with the pigtails (hey! throw on some wooden shoes as well! Then eat some ethnic food from an ethnicity that has never heard of spices or herbs! Yum!) and you've got yourself a silly little inoffensive photo op. It's like going to that place in Philly and eating a "cheez wit". At the end of the day, this is worth rolling one's eyes... but not speaking up because you know that there are pictures of your candidate out there wearing lederhosen... or worse, shudder, a picture of him in a *KILT*. So you shut up and don't make *TOO* much of an issue of the dumb picture.
The other kind is the kind that makes the wearer look inoffensibly absurd but somehow manages to let you put your finger exactly on what your problem with him or her is. Sort of a "Dean Scream" of a hat. The absolute best example of this kind of hat? The helmet worn by Mike Dukakis.
A lot of times pictures are in the silly hat picture grey area. Kerry had a lot of these. Remember the one where he was wearing a clean room outfit? Good times. You always have plausible deniability when passing these pictures around because, hey, they look a lot like a run-of-the-mill silly hat picture... but, in truth, they're a Dukakis Helmet picture.
Is this photo a Dukakis helmet picture? I don't know. It's not a very good picture. At first, I wondered if Obama had one of those greasy, pencil-thin mustaches and that would have been death for his campaign, if you ask me... but, no. It's just bad lighting... and bad framing! What's up with his legs??? He looks like he's doing a Dorf impersonation!
Anyway, my analysis of this photo is that it's not going to end up as a Dukakis shot... But maybe if it were better framed and had better lighting it might be.
Man is free at the moment he wishes to be. --Voltaire
I always thought the Clintons were beyond contempt, but this act probably "takes the cake".
She can kiss that Veep slot goodbye!
http://osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2008/02/you-knew-john-mccain-was-winning....
With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see right.
VPs rarely get the big chair.
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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
I agree. Neither would Obama offer it to her. He would contradict his whole "change" rhetoric.
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I was brought up to believe that how I saw myself was more important than how others saw me. (Anwar al-Sadat, President of Egypt, 1970-1981)
Hillary in an expando pants suit. As a matter of fact an oversized pear would look better in a pants suit.
Truly, the Hillaryites who have proven sans doubt that they can't run a campaign, their profession, should avoid someone else's clothes.
Now if he shows up at the Convention dressed like that-----!
"a man's admiration for absolute government is proportinate to the contempt he feels for those around him". Tocqueville
It's becoming increasingly clear that Barack's people don't react well to any suggestion that their candidate is not at least a demigod; and if they don't get started working on that pretty quickly, well, we're going to have a really fun couple of months over here while the knives come out.
Well said, Moseph.
Think of what it must be doing to BHO himself to be surrounded by such people.
Should he take the nomination, the debates should be fun. By that point he'll be so believing in his own godhood that he'll be a deer in McCain's headlights, so unprepared for an actual grilling.
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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
Who are these people? Clinton, the lesbian communist Black Panther & Huey Newton defender. Mcain, one of the Keating Five,a cowardly "hero",who won't defend our borders. What? WHAT are we THINKING?
Who is REALLY behind Obama? What is Obama's true agenda? When will he and his wife be exposed for the muslim loving, black racists that they are?
Why do we have candidates selected FOR us by the MSM, CFR and TLC...Republican and Democrat?
ARE WE AS IGNORANT AND PARALYZED AS WE APPEAR TO BE? CAN WE SAVE OUR COUNTRY FROM THE INTERNATIONAL TOTALITARIAN FASCIST SYSTEM THAT IS REDUCING US TO A THIRD WORLD NATION?
I, for one, believe it is COME TO JESUS TIME!
See Obama's church www.tucc.com
I figured him for a RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul!RonPaul! supporter.
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President and fight. We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."-John McCain
McCain/Rudy 08-kill the terrorists and punch the hippies.
is a 62 year old grandma, according to the email she sent us at The HinzSight Report.
And you are right, she is....
A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have - Thomas Jefferson
They just keep coming, and we keep blamming them. Something about your head in a brick wall....
"Do not yield. Do not flinch. Stand up. Stand up with our President and fight. We're Americans. We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."-John McCain
McCain/Rudy 08-kill the terrorists and punch the hippies.
Your term "black racists" brings up an interesting point.
For years, the intelligencia has been telling us simpletons that black people CAN'T be racists, because racism requires power, and since black people been systematically denied power in our racist society, they ipso-facto can't be racist. This means that black people can get away with behavior that would make the liberal press wet itself if conducted by a white person(vis the Don Imus debacle).
So, what happens to that theory if/when we have a black president? It's going to be pretty hard to claim that black people don't have enough power to be racists when there's a black man in the Oval Office.
Whatever the outcome of this election, the conventional wisdom about race relations in this country is going to change forever; if I were Al Sharpton, I'd be praying for a devastating Obama loss, because the job of professional race-baiter is going to get a lot harder if Obama wins.
Personally, I've always felt that this particular argument was a steaming pile - saying that a bigot can't possibly be a racist because his skin is black is like saying that Clark Kent can't possibly be Superman because Clark Kent wears glasses. Jerks come in all colors.
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"You can't save the Earth unless you're willing to make other people sacrifice" - Scott Adams (speaking through Dogbert)
OK. I get the fact that blacks vote for Democrats at an 80% rate or more. I don't get why, if they vote for Barrack 80/20 over Hillary, why that isn't racist. Would it not be called racist if whites voted for Hillary 80/20?
The "Third Worst Person in the World" and aiming higher.
HT to Captain Ed...
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CongressCritter™: Never have so few felt like they were owed so much by so many for so little.
I'll add this one:
Silent Cal was all too happy to don on a different hat.
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I was brought up to believe that how I saw myself was more important than how others saw me. (Anwar al-Sadat, President of Egypt, 1970-1981)
BHO is not comfortable in his skin. And worse, he knows it and is sensitive about it. Not a good thing to have in politics. How many silly costumes have we seen President Bush in? Tons. Why hasn't it hurt him at all? He usually looks like he's joking around and having fun in them - not taking himself seriously.
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Two thirds of the world is covered by water,
the other third is covered by Champ Bailey.
People who think they're embarrassing themselves usually look like they're embarrassing themselves. Bush could look relaxed in heels and an evening gown.
Come to think of it, this is probably why the "Giuliani in drag" photos never went anywhere... guy looked like he was having a blast.
"In my youth, it was said that what was too silly to be said may be sung. In modern economics it may be put into mathematics." -- Ronald Coase
pictures also don't promote the Barak-as-Messiah message. Messiah's rarely make fun of themselves. We're going to be seeing the overreaction of the Obama camp every time someone besmerches the image of The Man.
...scimitar and curly-toed slippers.
--furious
"I find your lack of faith disturbing." -- Darth Vader
...ever!
OT/OL: How do y'all post photographs directly into comments?
--furious
"I find your lack of faith disturbing." -- Darth Vader
The most effective one, anyway. If only we could get Barack into a tank and a helmet. Those ears would look real cute holding the helmet up.
The "Third Worst Person in the World" and aiming higher.
That's an interesting point to me. My perception is that we'd have a lot less turmoil without all the concern evidenced by the left that the rest of the world doesn't (publicly) agree with us on various issues.
I know there are real issues where world opinion is important, but there are some issues about which it's invoked where it isn't even relevant.
Here's to more national insouciance regarding international relations.
The "Third Worst Person in the World" and aiming higher.
Now if Rush will read your post.
(Capt. Ed's going to Hot Air next month. Perhaps you'll want a Hot Air 'Sites we like' now.)
and I think that's all Obama was doing in the photo. This is not the Dukakis moment I expect to happen later this year.
"Are we now in a place in which every thing that someone does that is Obama related is viewed through a prism of racism? I I suppose that it's too much to think that maybe someone just does something stupid. What if there were a picture of HRC in a burka? Would it be sexist to circulate it? Would the press even suggest that it was -- or would it attack the Clinton campaign if it suggested it was sexist? Everyone really needs to take a big, deep breath here and get real about what things mean and what they don't mean. Or better still, why does the Obama campaign - a campaign whose candidate considers himself "post-racial" immediately play the race card? I'd like to see someone in the press ask that question."
Via Marc Ambinder
http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2008/02/more_on_the_photo_t...
It is not a story because the picture makes Obama look silly. It is a story because it makes him look like a Muslim and plays into prejudice.
Personally, I think this is a big deal.
Think about it this way. Don Imus makes an off-the-hand remark during a comedy routine and is roundly condemned. In the case of Obama, someone is 'consciously' making an effort to discredit and malign him based on race and religion. This is something he should be upset about. This is something everyone should be upset about.
Even if Hillary's campaign is not behind the smear tactic, the fact that she didn't condemn it says something about her integrity.
You're acting as though the photograph is fake. It's not.
For crying out loud, the Obamanauts are crazy. It's like he's Allah and Muhammed in one. You can't show a picture of him, and his name is not to be pronounced.
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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
I'm simply just stating my position.
This does not make me an Obamanut or even a supporter. Nor does it mean I think the picture is fake.
It simply means that I find racism and religious denegration despicable and that is exactly what the intention of sending this picture around in emails was intending to convey.
They're the ones that you should be mad at.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
I did disagree with posts here that maintain this picture is not a big deal (clearly I think it is). However, the bulk of my outrage was aimed at the Hillary campaign.
I believe Drudge when he says her campaign was behind it.
He is perfectly willing to dress in traditional Somali garb while in that foreign country, yet he refuses to wear the American flag lapel pin while in his own country. That says it all for me. That is not someone I want as my President.
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"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
Well, OK, that's bad blogger form, but I just wanted to say a higher number than Neil...
Kill the terrorists
Protect the borders
Punch the hippies -- Frank J
Moderation in temper is always a virtue; but moderation in principle is always a vice. ~Thomas Paine
I know this won't be a popular sentiment around here, but I've always felt that (in the format of the SAT)
wearing a pin : being a patriot :: having a "support the troops" bumpersticker : sending care packages and writing letters
I could care less what people wear, I care what they do. I fear that wearing flag pins actually might cheapen reverence for our country. So, without getting into the issue of what the candidates DO that is or is not patriotic, I appreciate Obama's principle that wearing the flag is not evidence of patriotism.
"In my youth, it was said that what was too silly to be said may be sung. In modern economics it may be put into mathematics." -- Ronald Coase
Whether someone wears an American flag lapel pin has nothing to do with patriotism in my book. To me it seems that some politicians/political types wave around the American Flag so as to say, "How dare you question me while I am holding an American Flag? You must hate America, or not be as patriotic as me, or something."
Obama said he started wearing it after 9/11. A lot of people did similar things, such as flying the flag outside one's house, or on their car. Most people don't do these same things anymore - it is a part of returning to normal after grieving. If you decided to put a flag outside your house after Sept 11, and don't anymore, that does not mean there is something wrong with you.
The only thing I want to point out is that they don't actually have analogies on the SAT anymore.
That and here is a non-silly hat picture of Obama.
looking at recent comments, the second most recent is "ISLAM IS FACISM: ISLAM IS TERRORISM" and the most recent is "I agree" by me on an unrelated post...that is not what I was agreeing with despite appearances
This photo, in and of itself, doesn't add up to much. It occurred to me, however, that in combination with some other items, someone could make some serious political hay out of it. Consider:
1. Photo of BHO with the turban
2. Photo of BHO NOT placing his hand over his heart during the pledge of allegience.
3. Audio of Mrs. BHO stating that until recently, she has never been proud of her country.
4. Short discussion of BHO NOT wearing the American flag lapel pin.
5. Short discussion regarding BHO's church's separatists views and the award it presented to Louis F.
It reminds me of the old addage: "Once is an anomoly, twice is a coincidence, three times is a pattern".
"There is not in all America a more dangerous trait than the deification of mere smartness unaccompanied by any sense of moral responsibility." Teddy Roosevelt 1903
"No compromise with the main purpose, no peace till victory, no pact with unrepentant wrong." - Winston Churchill
hideous!!
it's Aminal and Janis from Dr. Teeth's Electric Mayhem.
only less presidential.
"In my youth, it was said that what was too silly to be said may be sung. In modern economics it may be put into mathematics." -- Ronald Coase
It is a silly hat picture. I believe Drudge when he reports he got it from someone in the Hillary campaign. So why did someone in the Hillary campaign send Drudge an Obama picture? Well, the obvious answer is they at least thought it would discredit or undermine Obama within the Democratic party. Which is really despicable and Hillary need to be called on the carpet for it, and somebody in the Obama camp has to do it. And yet, in the end, it is still just a silly hat. Which works out in the true Shakespearian sense, since we wind up with a pox on both their houses.
I believe Drudge when he reports he got it from someone in the Hillary campaign.
I don't necessarily believe him. This happens a lot, an anonymous attack, purportedly from one of the Dems, against the other. It usually appears somewhere like Drudge.
I wonder if this is not some new mode of attack on Dems, to attack one of them and say it is coming from the other. Same thing happened with the madrassa thing, remember? Drudge is not exactly unbiased, would it be a stretch for him to play along with this?
Even if not, with these whisper campaigns it is easy for the source to be shrouded, and then some Republican operative says, "Yeah I heard that too, it is coming from the Hillary camp." Then all of a sudden everyone says Hillary is attacking Obama, when it originated with some independent right-of-center group.
I think this makes at least as much sense as that Hillary keeps doing this, keeps getting attacked for attacking Obama, and never learns that it does not work. And in order for it to be true, you do not have to assume that the Democratic Party is a bunch of racists (which it is not). All you have to assume is that there are people in politics willing to spread false smears and blame someone else for it, which clearly is true.
The silly hat bugs the Obamanauts for one reason: They fear that that enough Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents are prejudiced against a man with the middle name Hussein, pictured wearing a turban, that showing off this picture will cost them the election.
That's the only possible explanation that makes senes. If they thought only Republicans had such prejudiced people then it wouldn't matter. The picture wouldn't lose them votes.
No, they're afraid this picture will drive open wider that wedge of 'race' and religious prejudice that has marked the whole Democratic primary process.
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