Barack Fingers The Problem

My goodness, Barack giving Hillary the finger!  Soooo Presidential.  Oh, well, maybe Mr. Multi-culti thinks it is a Hawaiian Good Luck sign.  The LA Times blog has the short version with a still; it's at about 1:10 on this extended version hosted by Matt Yglesias and promoted for the Jay-Z shout out at about 2:20.

A commenter at the LA Times helps the old fogies with the code-breaking:

The reaction of the crowd cannot be explained by anything other than the gesture of the raised middle finger "scratching" Obama's cheek. That gesture is one of a series, including the Jay-Z shoulder dust-off and the "got to scrape that sh*t right off your shoes" gesture, not to mention the Best of Reverend Wright "ridin' dirty" hand motion presented in the guise of a knife twist and quickly performed twice, with cheers from the crowd and smirks from Obama.

Obama bends over and does something right after the "Dirt off your shoulders" gesture, which I now understand is the "shit off your shoes" shout out to the Rolling Stones.

Man oh man, Barack is just so cool!  Geez, he gave Hillary the finger - that has to nail down the Beavis and Butthead crowd.  Hope and change or you can go, well, hope yourself.

Whatever - Will Smith gave Tommie Lee Jones the face-scratch finger in "Men In Black", and it didn't hurt his career.  Of course, it was a movie.  And it was obvious and funny, and meant to be obvious and funny and people laughed, just like they did in the Barack video.  And later they got cool guns and blew things up, just like Barack will do if the Iranians attack Israel.  'Cause he's cool, too. 

ERRATA:  Waddya mean, my sentence saying Barack will blow things up if the Iranians attack Israel is a bit hazy as to just who he will blow up?  Is there any doubt?  Tom Coburn!

EAGERLY AWAITING:  I am like a kid at Christmas (sorry, Barack, Ramadan) waiting for the "Geez, there goes the Freak Show again, all worked up about a little bit of disrespect among friends, and just when we were about resume our long march on the high road of problems and policies" postings from the usual suspects.  Bring it on!

Personally, I think a debate about whether aspiring candidates should publicly give each other the finger will be fascinating.  But folks who can't wait for "Is Obama's health care plan actually universal, Part CXXIV" would surely be disappointed.

MORE:  The ChiTrib fingers the problem as well.  It's a new kind of politics, all right.  Let's move ahead of the curve here - when Barack apologizes/explains/rationalizes, we know he needs to provide a balancing sacrificial righty, a la Wright/granma and Ayers/Coburn.  Dick Cheney has to be the favorite, right, even though his instructions to Pat Leahy were in the relative privacy of the Senate backrooms?  Any others?

SWITCHING FROM BIER TO WHINE:  Jiminy, no Matt Drudge yet (1 PM EST)?  What kind of a sorry noise machine is this?

Comments

[Danube of Thought]

Well, I suppose I am the last man standing who thinks the gesture was not the Hawaiian peace sign, and that the crowd reaction was prompted by the remark that Hillary was "in her element."

In honor of the Sweet Virginia stuff, I'm gonna go see "Shine a Light" in Imax this afternoon.

[Ranger]

A good Republican 527 should do up an add with that clip and:

Hey, Hil and all your supporters... Don't let the door hit you in the as......

[Danube of Thought]

Good God--if you follow the "Rolling Stones" link, you get the most bollixed-up version of the lyrics you could possibly imagine. What's up with that?

[Appalled]

DoT:

So, is this "Fingergate"? Or "UpYourQuiddak"?

[michaelt]

An enormously thoughtful gesture, it was....

[Danube of Thought]

Don't we know it'll be Fingergate overnight? Yours is the first use I've seen, Appalled, but I have a hunch you'll see many an imitator if the story has any legs.

[MayBee]

ha! Appalled!

[PeterUK]

Of course Barack Hussein Obama was giving Hillary the finger,he was simply indicating his support for free proctology for all.

[hit and run]

TM, call your office!

Fingers aren't the only "middle" going on today...

I think you shoulda gotten at least a hat tip

[Don]

Oh come on you idiot, how did you miss this one?:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_bylg-Jjz8

[clarice]

Whew--I must say I hesitated before reading something from Hit on a post with the word "finger" in it.

[Tom Maguire]

Wow, hit, my secret plan comes together. Hmm, was my plan so secret I never mentioned it? I figured every mention of McCain's middle name sort of emphasized that we couldn't use the Ultimate Fear Bomb.

[Cecil Turner]

Oh come on you idiot, how did you miss this one?

My, that was pithy. And is (a very strained) tu quoque really the standard for hopey-changiness now?

SWITCHING FROM BIER TO WHINE

Is that "bier" as in "im Himmel gibt's kein"? Or as in "A stand on which a corpse or a coffin containing a corpse is placed before burial"? Because in contrast to earlier gaffes, I think this one may well sound the death knell for the Obamatons. It's simply too cute for the MSM bytemeisters to ignore, and I seriously doubt it'll wear well with the electorate (particularly independents).

[Don]

au contraire jackass, I'm just pointing out that the increasingly shrill maguire has his panties in a knot that Obama gives a dubious finger (that's generous-I so little give a shit I won't waste time watching the video), and then asked what's the Repub parallel, referencing Cheney's "fuck you" and ignoring Bush shooting the bird directly to the camera.

maguire's an idiot. The point stands.

[Jane]

Yet you follow him around like a toad.

[Don]

Not really sweety-I check in here from time to time lately to see what the few, the pathetic, the 28% that think Bush isn't an idiot are chattering about, but I never stay long.

[Don]

"and I seriously doubt it'll wear well with the electorate"

yeah, and you're one of the brainiacs who thought the American public was going to rally around old Tom Delay to keep Terry Schiavo suffering. Political genius are ye.

[Tom Maguire]

"A stand on which a corpse or a coffin containing a corpse is placed before burial"

I was thinking I have come to bury Obama, not to praise him.

Geez, Don, so much anger. No place for that in hopeful and everchanging ObamaNation. Have a great weekend hoping, and changing.

[Don]

I'm bitter you moron.

You're too stupid to even me use as a straight man.

[Danube of Thought]

Don, I'm rallying around John McCain. And he's going to beat this poor elitist Obama like a rented mule come November, and you can sit aroung thinking up new obscenities to show us what a dolt you are.

[Franko]

My theory is that Barack is trying desperately to lose to Hilary, because
he knows if he goes up against McCain he will get trounced and he'll never get another shot at the presidency. He wants to live to see another day, but can't make it obvious, so he's doing stuff that's outrageous but he can later claim was misinterpreted.

Unfortunately for him the voters refuse to swing over to Hilary! Ha!

Let's see what else he tries to pull before the convention!

[boris]

too stupid to even me use as a straight man

Don we now our ...

[Cecil Turner]

Heh. Don's starting to read like a primer on fallacies. Obviously a nerve got hit there somewhere, eh?

[Don]

Cryptic and idiotic as usual Turner.

If I can see farther than anyone here, it's only because I'm knee deep in fools.

[michaelt]

The Democratic Convention started already?

[Danube of Thought]

No wonder the fool doesn't hang around here long. Dopes who split their infinitives quickly discover that overmatched feeling.

[Don]

"My theory is that Barack is trying desperately to lose to Hilary, because
he knows if he goes up against McCain he will get trounced and he'll never get another shot at the presidency."

Here's what I'm talking about. I believe this guy is serious.

Sorry-but the above thought (barely) is just stupid.

ANY ONE ELSE ENDORSE IT?

[Cecil Turner]

Go watch the video . . . at least it's amusing, and it's obvious you need a chuckle.

(And if you really need me to point out the logical flaws in [paraphrased] "Bush did it, too" or "you guys are all fools," you really ought not to use the term "idiot.")

[Don]

Dear Devoid of Thought,

Root pity in thy heart, that when it grows
Thy pity may deserve to pitied be
(Shakespeare, Sonnet 142).

I so love to (directly) tell you to (seriously) shut up.

[Don]

Turner, I don't need you to point out logical flaws.

I do need you to cut my lawn and do some weeding. Call me.

[Enlightened]

Uh Oh - Obamasylum is missing another idiot....looks like they let out the Don to clean up another poopy Messiah diaper.

[Enlightened]

Scoot on back to the fever swamp would ya - they're in desperate need of empty cranial caps.

[Danube of Thought]

"Shakespeare used only one [split infinitive], and it is a special case as it is clearly a syntactical inversion for the sake of rhyme." It also fell into disfavor roughly a century thereafter.

What's your excuse, simpleton?

[bgates]

Boris, that was wonderful.

I never stay long.
No reason we should be the only ones to experience that Don magic.

[PeterUK]

"You're too stupid to even me use as a straight man."

Straight men no good to you then Don?

[Maggie]

There's video available from the side angle, and Obama is unmistakeably scratching with two fingers. People making an issue of this are going to look like fools.

[Barney Frank]

Apparently Don lacks sufficient funds to utilize the preferred Democratic methods of stress reduction as popularized by Elliot Spitzer and/or Timothy Leary.

[PeterUK]

"If I can see farther than anyone here, it's only because I'm knee deep in fools".

Where are you Don? Sounds like the DNC,KOS or moveon.

[Don]

Why do you guys think I'm stressed? It's fun to abuse you because the opposition is so weak.

Now I've got this Devoid of Cat trying to pin outmoded grammar rules on me. Here's from your link, Retard of Thought:

"Present reference texts of usage deem simple split infinitives unobjectionable in many situations."

So you're invited to promptly piss off.

P.S. Maggie, don't think these people are concerned with the truth.

[Don]

"Straight men no good to you then Don?"

Feeble. But I give you points for at least trying to show a little wit.

[Cecil Turner]

I don't need you to point out logical flaws.

Ah, not so cryptic after all, eh? Let's review the bidding, shall we?

Shorter version:
1. Never happened (I didn't watch it, so . . .);
2. Bush did it too;
3. You guys are all idiots;
4. I'm so outta here.

Obama is unmistakeably scratching with two fingers. People making an issue of this are going to look like fools.

Right. Try that ChiTrib link at 1:23 and run that by me again.

[PeterUK]

"There's video available from the side angle, and Obama is unmistakeably scratching with two fingers".

Try it,if you can do it,you might get a date with Putin.
Index,second or both fingers,third finger most unnatural.Perhaps little finger,but on its own or with all fingers.

[PeterUK]

"But I give you points for at least trying to show a little wit."

Yes you are a little wit are you not Don.

[Enlightened]

Times up - the shit-o-meter is full of Don.

Wahhhh. And he has nowhere else to go but back to Diarrheaville of ShitKosdummieland.

TM will just need to air out the tank for a few seconds, brainless turDons have no substance worth wasting a full flush on.

[Danube of Thought]

Don, how do you like your boy's chances come November? Feel it all slipping away, do you? Wasn't it only yesterday, right after Iowa, that you had that giddy feeling of...of...well, of hope, of change? Weren't you one of the ones we'd been waiting for?

The taste in your juvenile mouths must be quite bitter these days. Oh, it's going to be brutal, mark that statement well.

But try to learn from it, and to grow.

[Rick Ballard]

My problem is that if BHO is actually flipping her off then I share a sentiment with him. In fact, I'm a little envious of him having done so on national TV.

Can we really fault him? I mean, who wouldn't...?

[GMax]

A little NITwit ( there I fixed it for ya!)

[PeterUK]

Mr Ballard,
"My problem is that if BHO is actually flipping her off then I share a sentiment with him. In fact, I'm a little envious of him having done so on national TV."

Could be he was making the sign to ward off the evil eye.

[Danube of Thought]

I believe poor Don has gone back to waiting for himself. Gonna be a while, but surely at some point he'll present himself to himself, and then there'll be one hell of a happy rally, with lots of college kids and everything...

[Enlightened]

Right - smells better already.

[Tom Maguire]

Obama is unmistakeably scratching with two fingers. People making an issue of this are going to look like fools.

I saw a very clear version which I thought I had linked to - IIRC, it was from CBS.

Folks will see what they want to see. It may have been a two-fingered gesture for part of the motion, but there was enough happening for him to get a god laugh from the crowd, and for him to look over that way and smirk.

Oh, well - the live Obamaniacs saw it, but the Obamaniacs watching on tape can't get that same thrill. Better get to a live event next time!

I do admit that it will take a special kind of newsman to ask about this - I mean, where does one start?

[Rick Ballard]

Mr Uk,

The ward (as I learned it from Italian friends) is index and little finger extended toward the ground. Kind of a 'horns down' to send the devil home. I don't think a ward works on the malocchio of a basilisk anyway.

I keep checking BHO's hands to see if his fingers have started to web - so far he seems to have avoided the full impact of RW's spells. Do you think that RW turned MO into a shrew or is that just her normal state?

[PeterUK]

Mr Ballard,
Might be different in Kenya,some local variant.

Poor Don wasn't very Hopey Changey was he? Still clinging to his bitterness.

[MayBee]

and for him to look over that way and smirk.

I'm going with this: He didn't mean to do it, but realized he did, and that's why he smirked and started sputtering and repeating himself.

[Forbes]

Donny-boy needs to get his own blog--he's got a whole day's worth of side-splitting material to share. (And spend his own money for bandwidth.)

[Maggie]

The Chi Trib video isn't the one I saw. This was from much further to Obama's right side. It starts in long lens and then zooms in. The scratch comes around 20 minutes in. It's definitely two fingers. There's a still shot over on Balloon Juice.

[PeterUK]

"The scratch comes around 20 minutes in. It's definitely two fingers. There's a still shot over on Balloon Juice."

So Barack Hussein Obama was giving Hillary Rodham Clinton the V sign.Being half Kenyan he will know how deadly an insult that is.

[Enlightened]

Sadly it appears Obama has about as much experience flipping the bird as he does with the capital gains tax.

It's true then - Obama is not our garden variety leftard - the majority of them mastered flipping someone off by age two.

[Tom Maguire]

I'm going with this: He didn't mean to do it, but realized he did, and that's why he smirked and started sputtering and repeating himself.

Freud rolls in his grave.

[Seth Russell]

Those accusing Obama of giving Hillary a much deserved finger should do their homework. Barack frequently touches his face with that finger at different points in his delivery ... i just saw him on CNN touch his forehead with that finger when talking of McCain. It is just part of his body language. It may well be a "tell" but it is not "the finger".

[PeterUK]

So TM Barack Hussein Obama,was in actuality, seeing his mother in Hillary Rodham Clinton?
Even Bill isn't that weird.

[Cecil Turner]

Here's the CBS version (0:39) And here's one from Ustream (20:54) that some Obots are claiming shows two fingers (and appears to be the source of the balloon juice shot--which is at the bottom of the "scratch" as opposed to the top--here's another shot). I maintain that the clearest picture is from the ChiTrib version cited above, and it's clearly not "two fingers" . . . (unless you allow that the index finger is clearly bent in a fairly classic version of the ol' "read my finger" as I "scratch" salute). I also don't see how it could be unintentional, as it's not a natural gesture, and fits entirely too well with the narrative and dramatic pause. The ChiTrib version also shows the crowd reaction the best, and they obviously got it (well, most of 'em . . . a couple had to be clued in).

[PeterUK]

"Barack frequently touches his face with that finger at different points in his delivery".

Like he has different switches for different people?

[MarkO]

I missed most of this today, but I did watch every link I could to the Great Obama. These are hardly secret signs nor are they so subtle as to be poker tells. First, he rubs his cheek with his middle finger. I used to do that in 7th grade. I know how. Then he honors his Christian Connection by imitating the “riding dirty” move. Finally, he dusts of the unwanted like a good pimp in a bad video. He looked like one of the cool kids making his speech for student body president. I am certain I heard titters.

In making these adolescent gestures, he shows himself to be the callow, empty, sophomoric, smart-ass many of us recognized immediately. Don apparently doesn’t get it. He obviously was not one of the cool kids in high school.

I much prefer a man who can insult by demanding that one perform an anatomically impossible act over this little toff.

[Enlightened]

OK - I'll buy it. Obama frequently touches his face - and here's why:

Signs of Deception:
Body Language of Lies:
• Physical expression will be limited and stiff, with few arm and hand movements. Hand, arm and leg movement are toward their own body the liar takes up less space.

• A person who is lying to you will avoid making eye contact.

• Hands touching their face, throat & mouth. Touching or scratching the nose or behind their ear. Not likely to touch his chest/heart with an open hand
http://www.blifaloo.com/info/lies.php

[PeterUK]

The first face scratch is with his little finger,the flip is with his middle finger.Why the change?

[Enlightened]

"Why the change?"

Cuz he was being deceptive silly.

[PeterUK]

The question was a touch rhetorical Enlightened.Obama is a great hand guy,he uses them like a trained actor,which of course he is.You have an Anthony Charles Lynton Bliar on your hands,best scuttle him quick, otherwise he will have the fillings out of your teeth.

[Don]

Jesus Haploid Christ Turner, it's like you're analyzing the Zapruder film.

Take a pill or something.

[PeterUK]

Of course they are analyzing Don,that long skinny digit of Obama's is going to be on the nuclear button.People want to know if it has a life of its own.You don't want "Thing" running around in the White House do you?

[GMax]

Isn't Maggie the one that was here awhile back trying to spoof us all with her lifelong staunch Republican voting for Obama Shtick? Sue didnt you bust her someplace else sounding decidedly less staunch? Is my memory faulty?

Now another clue, she haunts Beetle Juice! And we all know how many good conservatives hang out there! Why even the site owner is a strong conservative we are told. Why does he sound a lot like Kos with a few more manners?

[Enlightened]

Bravo. Looks like the Deaniac sent the trolls their talking points - gotta get those superD's dammit!

[Cecil Turner]

Jesus Haploid Christ Turner, it's like you're analyzing the Zapruder film.

Maybe I'm just concerned with the truth? I also think it's telling that the Obots are out in force, proffering after-the-fact pictures as evidence, and telling us to ignore our lyin' eyes.

[MayBee]

Don is the change I've been waiting for.

[MayBee]

Oh! Is maggie the *me, shuddering* girl?

[s.b.]

He doesn't do it once. He does it at least three times at three different events.

There may be a fourth event where he uses two fingers to try to put out covers for his inexcusable actions.

What are the chances that at three separate speeches he has to scratch his face with his middle finger while criticising Hillary.

It is 100% undeniable, and this should be getting more coverage.

The supposed Fox footage from the SWAMP blog is the most blatent. 100% he gives her the finger and the croud reacts.

Unfortuatley the footage on MSNBC is different and ther eis less crowd reaction and its more subtle. The one on ABC news also has less crowd reaction and is from a bad angle. The fox footage from the story is linked to a you tube hand heldof someone watching tv its bad.

Point is HE DOES IT THREE TIMES. Its all different speeches.

Wow!

[Sue]

Gmax,

Your memory is intact. Maggie shuddered her way into our little world and shuddered her way out, back to her life as a progressive liberal.

[s.b.]

Short version its three differnt speeches. The CHI Trib one is the most obvious.

What are the odds that Obama needs to scratch his face with his middle finger at the exact same moment in three seperate events exactly when he is criticising Hillary?

None. get the word out its different speeches, hence the version on MSNBC and CNN that looks more disputable.

[PeterUK]

I would like to amend the trained actor point somewhat.The hand movements of Barack Hussein Obama are like those of a trained magician or card sharp,there are no accidental movements.

[DebinNC]

Obama's shoulder "brush off" was purposeful too, modeled on a similar gesture used by rapper Jay-Z.

"Obama really is a Jay-Z fan, too. When asked which hip hop artists he likes in a recent interview, he said, "lately I've been listening to a lot of Jay-Z -- this new American Gangster album."

[Seth Russell]

What are the odds that Obama needs to scratch his face with his middle finger at the exact same moment in three seperate events exactly when he is criticising Hillary?

Daaa ... it's body language, not an itch. Do your homework ... go watch other speeches where Barack is directing his comments personally against his opponent in the same candid jocular mood ... i will bet that you will see him touch his face with his finger in some manner. It's a mannerism.

Now can we get back to something substantive, children.

[Cecil Turner]

Short version its three differnt speeches. The CHI Trib one is the most obvious.

In the three versions I've seen, the video color match was off slightly and the angle focused on different people in the background, but they were all the same speech (and you can tell a couple of the background people are the same when they do something distinctive). If there's another venue, I'd love to see it, but so far I haven't.

[Enlightened]

"Daaa ... it's body language, not an itch. Do your homework"

I suggest you study up on body language and the act of constantly touching himself and his face.

Duh.

[Sue]

Now can we get back to something substantive, children.

Sure. It's hard though, considering he keeps giving us all these distractions to keep from discussing the substantive stuff.

[PeterUK]

If it is an involuntary mannerism,Obama is obviously not ready for the world stage.There are a lot of touchy people out there.

[DebinNC]

Link for Obama's shoulder brush-off move:

"That popular youth gesture grew out of "Dirt Off Your Shoulder," a hit song in 2003. As Wikipedia explains, it refers to "getting enemies off your chest by brushing your shoulders off." Blogger Spencer Ackerman, who regularly mixes political analysis with hip hop references, immediately heralded the move as "perhaps the coolest subliminal cultural reference in the history of American politics." A YouTube clip of the cultural moment, uploaded by the Obama Campaign, swiftly drew over 100,000 views on Thursday. And then the mashups started."

[Enlightened]

OT - Wow - Rove fired back at Dan Abrams re the Seigelman/Simpson 60 Minutes debacle - Full letter posted at Powerline - Abrams is such a hack.

[Sue]

Why exactly do dems have super delegates? I understood they had that system to prevent another pounding when the masses get caught up in Hope and Change. Now all I hear is the super delegates should vote like the masses. What's the point in them?

[GMax]

Well maybe Dems just like pain? Its such an exquisite feeling once the searing pain goes away? But expecting logic out of Democrats, you should know better than that by now. Why if logic were part of your repertoire, would you expect anything positive and nothing negative to come out of a meeting with Amadhatter for example?

[GMax]

Dan Abrams is a Duke trained lawyer, and he got exactly one thing right in the last several years. He smelled the rat right away on the Lacrosse players beat down, mostly I think cuz it was his alma mater. But he fits perfectly in with the Olbyonekenoby network.

[MarkO]

In re: "Dan Abrams is a Duke trained lawyer."

Nope. I am, he's not. He went to Columbia.

You know, Gem of the Ocean.

[Danube of Thought]

I'd say Rove's letter is something of a consummate beat-down. Somebody lemme know if ol' Dan says anything about it on the air--I can't bear to watch the clown.

And no Duke-trained lawyer would ever pull that crap.

[GMax]

Sorry you are right. He is simply riff raff undergrad alum. Burned 100K or so for the privilege too. A pity.

[MarkO]

DOT, I still love you.

I bet little Dan couldn't get in. His daddy helped him in NYC.

[MarkO]

Look at this. I didn't even Google it until I posted my snarky remark. How could we have guessed?

Floyd Abrams (b. July 9, 1936) is an American attorney. He is an expert on Constitutional Law, and many arguments in the briefs he has written before the United States Supreme Court have been adopted as United States Constitutional interpretative law as it relates to the First Amendment and free speech. He is the William J. Brennan Jr. Visiting Professor at the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University.

[alison]

it was two fingers --
are you changing your inaccurate headline?

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll11/moreperfectunion/TwoFingersABC.jpg

Bogus Story of the Day

[MarkO]

alison. Seek help.

[Enlightened]

"Bogus Story of the Day"

Leftards continue to claim Obama used a two finger salute while dissing Hillary Clinton, when in fact frame number two and three clearly show him flipping Hillary the bird and getting a rousing response from his audience.

Try some Dean Edels +3.00 cheater spectacles - it's a pretty clear picture.

[PeterUK]

"Leftards continue to claim Obama used a two finger salute while dissing Hillary Clinton, when in fact frame number two and three clearly show him flipping Hillary the bird and getting a rousing response from his audience."

The two fingered V for victory salute is done palms outward Done with knuckles outward in Britain and former British colonies,like Kenya,means "Fuck Off!".

[GMax]

Just thought it was time for the reminder of the duty us Texas Republicans pulled to keep Hill viable for awhile. Where is the love? Would you have had this much fun otherwise? Would ABC have had the guts to do the tough journalist if it was just the anointed and McCain? I personally seriously doubt that.