Andrew Malcolm does a blog on politics for the Los Angeles Times. It is called “Top of the Ticket.”
I need someone to do a reality check for me.
In the last hour Malcolm posted what is either a pretty nifty prank or an astoundingly dumb column suggesting that today in Pennsylvania Barack Obama gave Hilary Clinton the finger during a speech. Now I think Malcolm may be joking as a way of satirizing last night’s nit-picking, issue-free debate. I have seen Obama scratch his cheek this way countless times.
But what do you think?
I think that if he is serious, and that if he really believes he sees Obama flipping the bird, Malcolm may truly be coming undone. And the LA Times may have posted the single strangest column thus far in the election season. Am I hopelessly old-fashioned or am I right to think that it is beyond weird for the LA Times to use any of their space for nuttiness like this?
Check out Malcolm’s post and the Youtube video below. Somebody please tell me if you think Malcolm is joking or if you think he did give the middle finger.
MEDIA AND MAYHEM 
add this to your post. tonnes of frames clearly show two fingers:
and spread it!
…..I have seen Obama scratch his cheek this way countless times….
When and where? I presume you have some video material to show us when did he scratch his cheek this way. Afterall you say he did this on countless times… So please…. Show us these “countless times”… They shouldn’t be hard for you to find them.
I personally have never seen him scratching himself this way nor I can’t say I have ever seen any other man doing this. On top of this it seems that at least the lady in the red blouse in the background obviously recognized the gesture.
However, if this is just another -> being critical of Obama = racist -> then… we have a problem.
Frederik, US citizen from Europe (currently Independent)
Fair enough, Frederik. I am certain I have seen it because I remember that, for whatever reason, I thought it looked kind of elegant. I have no idea why in the world I would have gotten that impression, but I did.
I will watch for video, but as someone whose teaching and research involves capturing and using and showing a lot of video, it turns out to be harder that you might think to capture specific moments.
But I promise to keep my eyes open and post the first example I see that I can.
You know something: I have thought enough about selective perception to know that the people claiming to see it are fully sincere. They do see it. I don’t. In fact, I really think I am right.
Hey, whatever else you think of this whole thing, it reveals an enormous amount about perception.
After spring break I am going to share it with my students and get their take.
Thanks for taking the time to comment.
I didn’t see Obama flip the finger. He was just scratching his cheek!
I did see him give Hillary a “dig” because she gave him a “dig.” What was that about? He seems to be still licking his wounds from the silly ABC debate. That was a namby-pamby response, Barack.
Wait till they start throwing hard balls, if you become the candidate. Save your middle finger for the GOP attack machine.
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Is this guy (Malcolm)a total Idiot? Or a just plain Moron