EVEN I -- A DEMOCRAT -- AM APPALLED THAT A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE WOULD GIVE THE FINGER!



Shocking. Simply shocking.

(I'm told here that this incident took place "at an Austin production facility during the later months of Bush's term as Texas governor.")

...Oh, I'm sorry -- you're looking for the video of Barack Obama scratching his face first with his pinky, then with either his middle finger or his middle and index finger, clearly because he (a) has a mild itch or (b) semi-consciously uses scratching to send the body-language signal "Rattled? Not me, Jack." That video is here. As I type, this is the lead blog story in America, according to Memeorandum. Kevin Hayden, recognizing the video's status as the new Zapruder film, links to another angle on the incident (blown up to full screen size) here.

There's nothing untoward going on here. The bloggers who say they think he's giving the finger are lying to you or lying to themselves. Our political culture is appalling, and the blogosphere is now obviously part of the problem, not part of the solution. If this is the best we can do, we're no better than Gibson and Stephanopoulos or (insert media enemy of your choice).

By the way, this is how you give the finger at a public appearance, if you're a (Republican) politician. (Story in the penultimate paragraph here.)

*****

UPDATE: I reproduce a rather definitive debunking photo here.