Drudge Report Incites "Kill A Mockingbird" Racial Fear Of Obama

This is the photo that Matt Drudge chose to illustrate a headline from a Reuters news story titled "Obama goes door-to-door to drum up votes in Ohio" that he linked to on the Drudge Report as of 7.45am EDT - Tuesday October 14, 2008.

But this photo does NOT appear anywhere in the linked story. It is only on the Drudge Report front page.

However - the reason WHY Drudge selected and used this particular image IS there. In colorful Black and White...

Comments

[Liberoservative]

Well, she is obviously happy to be meeting the next POTUS and have his KOTC...

Heck... I would probably have fainted

What is the point? He's an awesome man and he's smart and good looking and relates to all of us.... I would give my eye teeth to be able to see him and hopefully meet him....

I really dn't want to meet McPalin in any way

[uheardme]

The only people flipping out about this are white liberals. Stupid.

[InofTouch]

Apprently no one here has read the book and heaven sake they don't see the movie because of black and white movie

problem with image telling stories that there infinitive point of view and it all about the viewer not the teller....So what dose that say when you see that image.

[restoreamerica]

Guys:

You can see someone in the upper left of the frame holding a camera and the woman is looking back that way and smiling. This shot was posed for that camera (if it is real). Other poeple were also taking pictures. If Barack was "stealing" a kiss, she would not have been smiling.

I, however, agree that Drudge selected this picture to hopefully stir up old racial fears of less confident white males.

[Areyoume2]

i saw it and I noticed it, as well. I thought there'd be SOME connection somewhere - there was none, othe than to show Obama seeming stealing that kiss..

[RightWingMarine]

I tried to find this image and I found a few websites that state that the drudge retort had it on their site for a least a little bit it isn't there now and is not that prevalent a photo on the web. Ironically the only sites I could find that were actually hosting the image were leftist sites complaining that Republicans were using it as a racist image.

In any event it seems odd to see a presidential candidate kissing a woman. Kissing babies is more traditional. I can't remember seeing any presidential candidate or president kissing someone other than their spouse. Hugs and handshakes all around but not kisses. I don't believe this is indicitive of anything or that this peck was unwelcome, just unusual. In the end it won't effect who I plan to vote for this election.

Write in Ron Paul!

[mightbesane]

What I don't get is the reference to Harper Lee's fine coming of age tale. Yes, it took place in the South and the trial of a black man for 'raping' a white women was a thread that held the story together. But To Kill a Mockingbird was not about racism, it was about loss of innocence.

The American political observer lost his/her innocence long ago.

[mbh78213]

He kissed Jill Biden during the DNC. I thought the picture would be all over the place, but nothing came of it. This one probably won't be a big deal either.

[Yermammy]

You sure don't know republican'ts. Michelle Malkin (the crazy sniper chick in "Full Metal Jacket") has a whole page photoshopped of "obama hate pictures". She did 90% of them herself. Rethugs are haters like you have little capacity to believe! Quit being so naive. That's how repugnants win.

[vegas9999]

Who are the haters?? Poll workers from opposing sides in the presidential race apparently clashed in a physical altercation Friday at a Cuyahoga Falls nursing home when one accused the other of improperly marking a ballot.

George Manos, the 75-year-old Republican, told police that Edith Walker, the 73-year-old Democrat, jumped on his back and struck him in the head three to four times with her fists. Manos said two other elections workers had to pull Walker off his back, according to a report filed with Cuyahoga Falls police.

[Yermammy]

No, but you ARE a troll. One that fought for Telco immunity. And you somehow think, by being a frog, that you are slick. Your not. We watch you all the time, Michale :)

[faith]

We can learn a lesson from the europeans and the eastern block. Kiss on both cheeks and kiss everyone - men and women. If not, then shake hands or greet formally, everyone. Consistency is the issue. Formality is the issue. Probably would be good if Obama's protocol laison explained our simpler cultural mores to him. I am an Obama fan, but he really would do better just shaking hands than kissing strangers in the USA. Unfortunate photo and it would not have mattered had the person been purple, or male. We are just not a kissin' country unless its babies being kissed.

[Yermammy]

Or a frenchman, perhaps? Such a smooth talker. Humph.

[Aramingo]

When I was a kid, Petula Clark had a Network TV Special. In those days, that was a big deal. Anyway, Harry Belafonte was one of the guests. They performed a duet, and, at the end, Petula rested her head on Harry's shoulder. There were markets where the special wasn't even shown, so offensive was the image of a white woman touching a black man. It's nice to see that SOME Americans have moved past that kind of crap. On the other hand, it's sort of depressing to see it still pandered to, albeit in an attenuated state.

[winfie6]

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

[TimmySlagle]

"the reason WHY Drudge selected and used this particular image IS there. In colorful Black and White..."

Actually, the only people who seem to notice the race difference are Democrats. Which is somewhat ironic. The Party of racial harmony and nuance sees EVERYTHING in black and white.

And I don't think this is going to incite "Kill a Mockingbird" racial fear. Come on. This is 2008 America, not 1936 Alabama. Americans have grown quite accustomed to miscegenation. It is no longer White people who oppose it.

[itmaybetoolate]

No, the only people who understand that drudge is no friend of Obama and did not casually or randomly pick a picture to illustrate his story are progressives. Good use of "miscegenation," a particularly racially loaded term. I am sure that you, like drudge, chose randomly. And, of course, your subtle implication that people of color oppose "miscegenation." Well done!

[ekrub]

How silly that Republicans should expect a pass on shiz like this after the infamous "Call Me Harold" ad. I believe they're trying to insult our intelligence with their lame denials.

[Michale32086]

I don't get it??

How do you get there from here??

I see a Presidential candidate kissing a potential voter on the cheek..

What am I missing??

Michale.....

[TimmySlagle]

It's a political tactic.

By turning an innocent photo into a racial controversy, the opposition Party can be accused of being racist. It was used with the Harold Ford quite successfully in 2006.

I think most will agree that it's a stretch. After all; we already know that Barack used to kiss a white woman, every single night, when she tucked him into bed.

[Eoin45]

Oh come on Michale, even you're smarter than that. Drudge's underlying message is clear as a bell.

[philistine]

(* SIGH *)

I guess this kind of low, emotional appeal to the subconscious will never go away. It uses the same methods that advertising people use to sell us things, but in this case it tries to dissuade us. It is despicable in either instance, but ersatz news organizations like Drudge should somehow be labeled as propaganda, with some kind of watermark on the display that says "DISHONESTY" when this kind of agitprop occurs.

[Michale32086]

Do you find something objectionable about a presidential candidate kissing an American voter??

Michale.....

[philistine]

Did you read the article? The photo had no connection to the story. Now ask yourself: why would Matt Drudge (or his flunky) associate this particular picture with an article that it has no connection to? Tell me, oh great independent thinker.

[FR]

Enough with the fake "innocence."
The story behind the photo is certainly harmless: she probably asked for a kiss and is looking back at someone taking a picture of the two of them. And no I don't "have proof: it's a theory.

The resulting picture is awkward. It just happens to LOOK LIKE like a pushy (black) guy pawing a (white) woman. There, I've said it because you keep whining that you "don't see it." No of course that's not what happened, and Drudge isn't openly claiming it is. It's all about visual suggestion.

They just chose a awkward, slightly creepy picture so people can do what Palin has been asking them to do, and I quote: "connect the dots."

Now can we dispense with your pretend innocence ...

[MsDebate]

She probably asked for the kiss, sounds like a mole to me.

[Michale32086]

And your evidence to support this is.....what exactly??

Michale.....

[Pastorz]

I was there. She did not solicit the kiss, and she is not a mole. She is a Democratic supporter of Obama, a precinct captain in fact.