February 24, 2009

Saint Barack.

Former law student said:
[T]his is my gift to Ann's right-wing commenters: A portrait of the Obamessiah.

75 comments:

Joe M. said...

Hah.

Good job AP copy editors: "President Barack Obama pause as he speaks ..."

Joe M. said...

yahoo. whatever.

From Inwood said...

The Adoration of The MSM

TosaGuy said...

I clicked on the link and saw that that baboon's red ass was the most emailed photo of the day.

garage mahal said...

No fair.

Methadras said...

Perpetual fawning in the new age of hope & change & bullshit. The suit looks emptier than ever. It's largess only diminished by the occupant who currently resides in it.

Curtiss said...

Fiscal Responsibility Summit?

Was that the Sermon on the Mount or was it Obama and the Money Changers?

MadisonMan said...

How is this different from the photos from the Senate that have the halo-form over the speaker? This image doesn't quite have it, but it's always being used.

It shows a distinct lack of innovation on the part of the photographer. I would say trite and bland.

traditionalguy said...

The air seems to be comong out of the "First Black to...... Etc." balloon and no one will blow it up again. Now we must fall in love with his beauty. He looks Mavhalous Darling. And after all he won. Sarah Palin has more beauty and more guts and more common sense. How long before we get to vote again?

Wince said...

Call me when he shits ice cream.

Roberto said...

Methadras said..."Perpetual fawning in the new age of hope & change & bullshit. The suit looks emptier than ever. It's largess only diminished by the occupant who currently resides in it."

Yeah, why can't he be really successful like YOU?

Crying about each and everything Obama does or does not do isn't going to change the fact that he is our President and if you really consider yourself an American you should at least give him a chance to do what he can to help the country...especially considering the fact that he's only held the office for about 32 days.

YOU gave Bush eight years of support...and what has that gotten you or anybody else in America?

Quit whining...it makes you look smaller than you already are.

Roberto said...

Traditiona Dolt - "How long before we get to vote again?"

Uh, that would be about 4 years, then another 4 after he wins a second term.

Take any government courses in school?

Roberto said...

Curtis - "Obama and the Money Changers?"

Here we go...

Palladian said...

Lol. That's great, subtle satire.

Curtiss said...

Michael: YOU gave Bush eight years of support...and what has that gotten you or anybody else in America?

Obama.

Quit whining...it makes you look smaller than you already are.

Jason (the commenter) said...

"Saint" would not be a word I'd use to describe a President I like. Saints get martyred.

Besides, how has Obama suffered? Had a long wait in the latte line?

Face it, they aren't going to make a The Passion of Barack Obama movie. He hasn't had any of that for a long time.

traditionalguy said...

Michael... Good shot. Glad to see your passion about our President. Have you thought about joining the Army and fighting for the Commander in Chief?

Joan said...

MadisonMan, give me a break. Having a huge circle up on the ceiling is a far cry from having the golden halo encircling your head, like, say, here. (BTW, St. Isaac's icons are totally gorgeous IRL, I highly recommend them.)

I can't decide whether it's intended as worship or satire. As satire it's pretty great. As worship it's nausea-inducing.

Henry said...

He's not the messiah. If he were the messiah he'd be looking at us and making shapes with his hands. The downcast eyes and profile mark him as just one of the saints.

Someone to the left is the messiah. Maybe it's Joe Biden.

Automatic_Wing said...

He needs to chase the bottled water salesmen out of the temple before reaching messiah status.

George M. Spencer said...

The Apotheosis of Washington

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Does that make conservatives iconoclasts?

Kirby Olson said...

Shouldn't the nimbus read, "God DAMN America!"

Jason (the commenter) said...

Some people see a halo, I see a bulls eye for better shoe deployment.

KCFleming said...

More haint than saint.

The Navigator said...

Of course, the man has been cited as most likely to be the next Padre Pio.

DO said...

This is nearly identical to one taken of GWB in 2003.

http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/images/blbushhalo.htm

Further Googling reveals the Bush version was taken by Charles Dharapak of the AP.

http://www.google.com/search?q=Charles+Dharapak+bush+halo+photo&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

The Obama version is also from an AP photog. I think they're having a little fun.

Roberto said...

traditionalguy - Obama's going to make sure we don't have to send out sons and daughters (or ourselves) into combat to fight illegal wars. We'll be out of Iraq and Afghanistan by the end of his first term.

Roberto said...

Joan - "I can't decide whether it's intended as worship or satire. As satire it's pretty great. As worship it's nausea-inducing."

No...this is nausea-inducing...

http://www.google.com/search?q=Charles+Dharapak+bush+halo+photo&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

Buford Gooch said...

I can't figure out if Michael is a child, a dimwit, or someone pretending to be one or the other.

Roberto said...

Buford Gooch said..."I can't figure out if Michael is a child, a dimwit, or someone pretending to be one or the other."

Well, why do you care...Buuuuuford?

Are you a fan?

KCFleming said...

He's a chimwit, i.e. both.

Actually I understand Michael is really 'Gene' and is a small college psychology(!) teacher. Dunno the details and don't care. But it's likely his experiment for a forthcoming paper of great importance to psychology textbooks everywhere.

Buford Gooch said...

Ah, a child. Mocking someone's screen name settles it.

hdhouse said...

I just saw this on the AP wire:

Obama asks George W. Bush to come back to Washington and lead us out of the fiscal mess!

Scared you!

Hey uber-recht....our guy won. Your guy lost. Live with it.

Roberto said...

Oh, Buuuuuford.

Are you related to Jim Gooch?

Roberto said...

"Obama asks George W. Bush to come back to Washington and lead us out of the fiscal mess!"

Well, he did lead the way in...

Buford Gooch said...

Are Michael and Titus the same person? Performance art at its worst.

Roberto said...

Buuuuuuuuuuuuford, I mean it.

Are you related to Jim Gooch?

*And no, I don't wish being Titus on anyone.

Buford Gooch said...

Michael, are you such a dimwit as to not recognize a screen name (a nom de comment as it were)?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

The ACLU v Saint Barack ..

Don’t hold your breath.

rhhardin said...

He still has to perform three miracles which are not card tricks.

Joe said...

The Bush version is a better picture. The photographer of the Obama version used too much depth of field which makes Obama's head merge into the background. The Bush version also has better lighting on the face.

Eli Blake said...

I believe you'll hear some substance tonight. For starters, he's not going to do the same kinds of accounting tricks to mask the size of the deficit that we've seen in the past (i.e. counting the present but declining surplus in Social Security payments, or not counting the Iraq war 'supplemental appropriations' as part of the yearly deficit.)

You will also hear some specifics about what Government can and will do to help the system (including the private credit markets) get back on its feet. And no, he's not going to nationalize Citigroup.

Roberto said...

Buuuuuuuuuuuuford...sure, but there are some who actually use their real names...and I know someone named Jim Gooch.

What's your real name, where do you live, and what's your SS number?

KCFleming said...

Michael,
How'd you get around the institutional review board's requests for informed consent in this little experiment?

Roberto said...

I realize Obama's speech isn't for a few hours, but just to save time, and give people a head start...would most here like to start in on the high pitched whine relating literally everything he says, proposes or intimates...right now?

That way you don't even have to listen to the actual speech or interrupt your drinking.

Roberto said...

Pogo said..."Michael,
How'd you get around the institutional review board's requests for informed consent in this little experiment?"

That depends on which "little experiment" you're referring to.

Clarification please.

ricpic said...

The Inevitable

He shoots, he scores!
He moves his lips, he lies!
And the crowd roars, the crowd roars...
If only not to hear the growing silence that belies
The faith placed wrongly in its foe.
Suddenly with shuddering groan the floor gives way beneath our feet
And there is no place left for us to go
But down down down our destiny to meet.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

He still has to perform three miracles which are not card tricks.

For Obama just filling a cabinet counts as a miracle.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

That way you don't even have to listen to the actual speech or interrupt your drinking.

As my luck would have it, I'm still in the office... If there is any booze around here, is probably locked up.

Palladian said...

As far as photographs of politicians and metaphysical light go, I've always had a fondness for this one.

Roberto said...

Lem said..."For Obama just filling a cabinet counts as a miracle."

I'd consider it a miracle if you've ever actually read a newspaper or a frigging book.

What in the world do you base this this insane anti-Obama drivel on?

The man has been President for all of 35 days and inherited one of the most horrible economic situations in our nation's history...and you talk as if he's had plenty of time to handle matters.

Were you in a fucking coma for the past eight years?? Do you have a job? A house? A family?

Roberto said...

Palladian said..."As far as photographs of politicians and metaphysical light go, I've always had a fondness for this one."

That is a pretty funny shot.

Stop action can be humbling.

Roberto said...

Lem - You don't have a key to the liquor cabinet?

Penny said...

And all we need is the next shot to the cracking wine glass, Palladian.

Is it memorex?

Palladian said...

Hahaha. This one reminds me of the Woody Allen short film "Å’dipus Wrecks" from the otherwise execrable movie "New York Stories".

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Lem - You don't have a key to the liquor cabinet?

I’m not that high up the totem pole

Penny said...

Michael is right about Obama only having 35 days of experience. Well that, plus the experience garnered while running for office.

No matter what you think of the man, he sure makes a very pretty posterboy.

Roberto said...

Palladian - "Hahaha. This one reminds me of the Woody Allen short film "Å’dipus Wrecks" from the otherwise execrable movie "New York Stories"."

Strangely enough...I agree.

Now go kill yourself.

ricpic said...

What is that, Palladian? the great yenta in the sky?

Roberto said...

Penny said..."Michael is right about Obama only having 35 days of experience. Well that, plus the experience garnered while running for office."

Now see, you misstate the facts to denigrate our new President.

I never said he only had "35 days of experience," I said he's only been the Prez for 35 days.

If you're like many here, you supported G.W. for eight long, miserable years...why not give Obama a chance before trashing him?

Palladian said...

"That is a pretty funny shot.

Stop action can be humbling."

I always wonder whether these sorts of compositions are intentional or not. In the case of the Obama and the Bush halo pictures, the answer is obviously yes, but the Gore one probably not. I think what happens is that most press photographers shoot in bursts (or on a film camera with motorwind) or rapid, continuous successions of pictures. Of course many of these won't be good, you just hope that in quantity you end up with one or two photographs of quality. Usually the bad shots (like people with their mouth open or their eyes closed) never get published, but sometimes they publish them on purpose because it makes the subject look weird. News photographers have always practiced this subtle (and not-so-subtle) editorializing. Sometimes it works and sometimes it just seems mean spirited. I think a lot of seasoned Hollywood people know to refrain from blinking and to keep their mouths closed when walking down red carpets.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

That looks like Toosie.. about a decade later.

Palladian said...

"Strangely enough...I agree.

Now go kill yourself."

See, I thought you were almost beginning to behave like something vaguely resembling a human being. I was wrong. You're a psychopath, G***. You've really started to make me appreciate Titus in contrast. Hell, even downtownlad seems like a reasonable, well-adjusted, witty commenter compared to you.

cryptical said...

If you're like many here, you supported G.W. for eight long, miserable years...why not give Obama a chance before trashing him?

I think Obama is owed as much support from the right as President Bush got from the left. Sound fair?

Palladian said...

"What is that, Palladian? the great yenta in the sky?"

Yes! The short film is about Woody Allen's mother disappearing during her participation in a magic act and reappearing as a giant head hovering over New York City, following the Woody Allen character around and making him (even more) miserable. Mae Questel, the original voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl, played the mother.

Will said...

Palladian said:
Usually the bad shots (like people with their mouth open or their eyes closed) never get published, but sometimes they publish them on purpose because it makes the subject look weird. News photographers have always practiced this subtle (and not-so-subtle) editorializing
For instance, try this google image search: "john mccain tongue."
John and Cindy
John and Barack
John working the crowd.
A similar for "barack obama tongue" shows a couple of political cartoons and more pictures of McCain, but no pictures of Obama making funny faces.

Palladian said...

"A similar for "barack obama tongue" shows a couple of political cartoons and more pictures of McCain, but no pictures of Obama making funny faces."

Well of course not! If any bad pictures of Obama are ever taken (and it's debatable whether that's even possible) they're immediately deleted by the offending photographer, who then usually gouges out one of his own eyes for defaming the dignity of The Obama.

former law student said...

Mae Questel, the original voice of Betty Boop and Olive Oyl

Mae also played the senile cat wrapping aunt in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Penny said...

Michael, of course I will give our new president a chance.

He is like so many others of us...thrust into a humbling situation because we dared to shoot off our pie hole at just the "right" time. Or is that...JUST the right time? Or maybe even Just-In-Time?

The only difference between you, me and Obama is that he has chosen to LEAD.

I will never take that for granted.

Anonymous said...

"why not give Obama a chance before trashing him?"

How about giving him the same chance that your ilk gave George W Bush?

Chip Ahoy said...

We saw this yesterday in a cache of some 350 photographs, this being one in a series of some 10 or 15. Guesss what, FLS, it's not your gift to give, it's AP's usual fawning of which we've become quite familiar, although I do appreciate your refraining from the usual 'wing nut' epithet.

Andrew said...

Unfortunate Barack Obama.
http://law-us.blogspot.com/

Penny said...

Hillbilly, it seems the ilk have shed their antlers.

holdfast said...

You know, I admit to being a Bush supporter early on, but he completely lost me in '05. Two months ago, I would have said that nobody could handle the economy and the budget as badly as Bush, but the last 37 days have proven me oh so tragically wrong.