Teh silly season premiere: this is NOT a bird flip
A few folks think Barack Obama was not so-subtly flipping off the opponent he’s criticizing during a speech. So I post the link at full-browser size so you can decide for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/v/DygBj4Zw6No&hl=en
I see the index finger moving in tandem, scratching his face. You?
I believe each of the candidates deserve criticism for some things they’ve done as legislators. If someone finds Obama unappealing for whatever reason, that’s cool, too. But claiming to catch him doing things that the camera isn’t showing is not making any logical case against his nomination. Some might even consider it projecting one’s own capacities on another.
I’m sorry, but I just find it silly. After all, he’s verbally criticizing his opponent in very direct terms. Refute that, if you wish to, and that’s perfectly reasonable, but please, don’t insult me or anyone by saying our eyes are lying.
That adds nothing.
Update: I looked at two different videos of the event, I realized afterward. The large screen link I posted shows a different angle than the one posted at The Swamp (the first link). Unfortunately, since The Swamp’s is a flash video, I don’t know how to enlarge it for a closer look. There, it’s not as clear the index finger is touching his face, though it’s moving in tandem.
After reviewing it several times, I note that he touched his face with his little finger at 0:22 and then made the other touch at 1:22. Comparing them, it seems on both touches, he’s focused on his notes which makes the touches seem like he’s not really consciously doing either. Observing his face, there’s no indication, no smirk, smile or anything to suggest he’s making a conscious gesture.
At least with The Swamp video, I can see why some are interpreting it as an affront. I still maintain there’s nothing that proves that interpretation. So if the truth is in the eye of the beholder, his face touch means whatever you behold then.
I don’t intend to waste time defending my interpretation. But to me, since I’ve never seen Obama resort to such juvenile games despite constant scrutiny, I remain unconvinced that the touch means anything at all. In a sense, it reminds me of the Whitewater land deal or the Vince Foster suicide, or some of Bill’s words that were taken out of context during the runup to the South Carolina primary: excessive scrutiny and broad interpretative judgments without convincing proof. And a distraction from the issues and events that actually matter to the country.
April 18th, 2008 at 4:07 am
[…] More from Memeorandum: Redstate (at least suggests it might have been a scratch.), American Street (Looking to be the only voice of sanity so far), The Democratic Daily (Still Frames… Holy crap! they have still frames?!?!?!), Top of the Ticket (*sigh*), NO QUARTER (Through the amazing power of mind control, SusanUnPC is able to tell you what two women sitting in the audience are talking about), The Confluence (My hope in humanity is eroding) and Corrente (and there it goes… all gone) […]
April 18th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
He was simply scratching his face with two fingers.
Here’s a still from a video that was shot from Obama’s right side at the NC event
http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/9839/79695420le6.jpg
The entire video is found at: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/355941 and the still is captured from minute 20:56
And here’s a pic of another series of stills from what I believe was ABC video of the event
http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll11/moreperfectunion/TwoFingersABC.jpg
The man scratches his face all the time (kind of bugs me, actually) and this time he did it with his middle and index fingers. End of story.