Yes, this photo of Obama ostensibly eyeing a young woman (apparently a 17-year-old delegate from Brazil--where are her parents?!) at the G-8 Summit is the hottest Google search item. And of course the question of what Obama was thinking is a leading Fox News story.
So it goes, even as the leaders try to address such minor topics as climate change and world hunger.
God knows Sarkozy, that ol' chien, seems to be leering--quelle surprise, eh? Obama could plausibly be looking elsewhere. Still not quite to the level of, say, Mark Sanford or John Ensign, I think. I confess I'd have looked, if only for the definite "wow" factor the young woman was likely going for.
I was also struck by an odd coincidences, in that as this story popped over the transom I was lifting bits out of Bruce Gordon's grand new bio of John Calvin for a piece on Calvin's 500th birthday, which is today. Gordon tries to dispel some of the myths of Calvin as "an unyielding, moralistic and stone-faced tyrant who rejected all the pleasures of life." And he writes that in his correspondence Calvin "could let drop a line that indicated an eye for beautiful buildings and a well-dressed woman."
Well, Jean Cauvin was French, you know.
Anyway, maybe a shot of Barack with Benedict--should be coming soon--will displace the Girl from Impanema. But don't bet on it.
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I'm new here. Is beliefnet just a brand? What connection if any do you have to religion? I thought the picture was funny at first, but now i see that it's not meant as a joke to you folks.
I encourage David Gibson to do fact check on this photo and story. When you look at the actual video of the event you will see that Obama was not oogling the 17 year old but trying to negotiate steps with another person who is cropped from this photo. As far as Fox, trust them as much as you trust the original Fox in Luke 13:32.
Also cropped from your photo is that the step below the one shown is twice as steep as the one shown. Obama apparently was taken by surprise by the depth of the second step (which almost reaches up to the young lady's knee, so he is looking at the treacherous step and then turns to help a middle aged woman (his aide I assume)to negotiate it. Look at where Sarkozy is looking. Obama's face is not turned that far back. His eyes would have had to have been skewed wildly to the right. And too bad someone chose to crop that last step. Along with the lies printed in the right wing hate media, the doctored photo was enough to fool the weak minded folks that follow them or who just believe everything that comes down the pike. A more complete photo and the video is available at http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/one-more-take-on-that-photo/
I ask for a follow up post from the original blogger. Is this the discourse we can expect from Catholic commentators? We post misleading photos. People go nuts putting in their two cents.
Meanwhile, our economic system is unsustainable and causing damage to planetary carrying capacity, and prophets are needed to say so.
Our security system is a threat with weapons on the loose that could destroy millions while altering the ecological balance.
Our equity system is such that there are few winners and many losers in the fight for daily bread, and we need disciples to teach what they've been taught to pray and live, "Give us this day our daily bread. Give to all of us. Make sure the hungry are fed. And give to the stuffed a hunger for justice."
Our faith systems are concerned with determining ticket destinations for the deceased- smoking or non-smoking- a clear diversion from Christ's focus of praying that God's Kingdom and will be done right down here, on earth, as in heaven.
So we get a ridiculous post on a distorted photo instead of inviting national, global and faith leaders to deal with our common crisis points of prosperity, security, equity, and genuine meaning of faith.
I ask David to repent with me on moving away from silly stuff to serious stuff. The planet is in the balance.
David,
It's no secret that I'm no fan of Obama. That said, clean up your act buddy. Your posts have begun to slide below the level of reporting in the National Enquirer. So many have become so poor that I've not dignified them with participation. A guy with your intelligence and literary skills can, and should, do much better. This post was a new low.
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