Reading The Pictures: TIME's Halperin Pictures Obama As Dirty Rat

As Obama moves to respond to the "kitchen sink," Mark Halperin at TIME launches a stunningly pejorative visual preemptive strike.

The photo-illustration above appears under the foreboding headline: HALPERIN'S TAKE: The Dangers Which Might Await Obama If He Makes Negative Attacks Central To His Campaign. (On TIME's home page, the lead reads: "Mulling Obama's Negative Strategy.")

So, what's wrong with the picture?

Well, here's the short list:

1. Obama not only deserves an equal place among the likes of Atwater, Shrum, Carville and Rove, but he deserves the central place.

2. Given that the source of the photo is a famous shot of the "Rat Pack," Obama reveals himself as a true rat.

3. By casting these political backstabbers as crooners, it soft-peddles their handiwork as entertainment, while at the same time, by linking Obama to Sammy Davis Jr.,
it stereotypes the lone politician in the group as just one more black guy with rhythm.

4. Notice how Halperin's illustration shows Obama looking down. In the original Rat Pack photo, however, Sammy Davis Jr. was looking directly into the camera. So, what gives? ... The body language suggests that Obama, going negative, has too much shame to look us in the eye. "Shame on you, Obama." ...Sound familiar?

Obama's Risk And Reward (The Page.)(-Update- for some reason, link is now dead)

For more leading -- and misleading -- political pictures, visit BAGnewsNotes.com.

(photo-illustration: The Page by Mark Halperin. March 6, 2008. Getty Images. thepage.time.com. Linked original image. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. Getty Images.)

Comments

[Teritt]

Look at some of TIME Magazine's picks for 'Man of the Year'.
Adolph Hitler
Ronald Reagan
George W Bush (was it 3 times?)
Bill Clinton & Ken Starr
Newt Gingrich
Richard Nixon

I do find it offensive, but probably not unexpected.

[furion]

Mark Halperin pisses me off. He has absolutely no business calling himiself a journalist.

[soulstressed]

And meanwhile, the Clintons spin us all into another Bush inspired 8 years, not including the Supreme Court will be a supreme disaster.

If I have to sit through another one of Wolf Biltzer's attempted covert blitzes of Senator Obama, I'll scream. Thank da Lord they have Jack Cafferty and a couple others on CNN that are at least covering any bias they may have. My point is this. I've just watched another segment of CNN Campaign Trail, where most of the piece was dedicated to shedding more light on something questionable that has been brought up concerning Senator Obama, i.e., Rezko, Wright. None of these stories have legs I might add. Anyway, I just sent this email to The Cafferty File website on CNN, regarding the ugly tone of the campaign at this point.

It's becoming increasingly clear that Hillary doesn't do math. Hillary does wrath. It's amazing to me is how most major news outlets are giving Senator Clinton a pass on major issues, while they are blasting Senator Obama on each and every thing they can. It makes it seem as if Obama is sneaky while Clinton is the Virgin Mary. In the meantime, the reality is simply that Obama speaks to everything that has been raised regarding his actions, while HIllary hides behind the infamous Clinton veil of secrecy. For instance, so much light has been shed on Rezko's case, while the Clinton's case in Cali involving Bill, Peter Paul, AND Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendall, slides under the wire. The case of Norman Hsu goes on quietly as well. Obama releases ALL of his earmarks, and his lambasted and questioned over an earmark for his wife's hospital, which was turned down btw, while Hillary simply refuses to release all her earmarks except the ones that passed. Again making her look like she's always a good girl. And good Lord why is the MSM pretending that there is nothing frighteningly wrong in the Clintons not releasing their tax returns? Haven't we seen this movie before?

Time to turn up the real heat:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Truth_Hurts/

[Duffs]

Someone needs to make a website tracking the DAILY horse shit that's coming from the Clinton camp. Literally every day for the past three weeks, Clinton, or one of her shills is making a ruckus about some perceived or contrived grievance.

If you support a candidate that relies on winning like that, then you personally support her means to that end. If you can support that then how far away are you from supporting a republican?

[ncvoter]

there is such a website - it is Rush Limbaugh's site, and they appear to coordinate. I'm not kidding, go there. I have started checking the site now after seeing that Bill Clinton was a guess on Limbaugh's show the day of the Texas primary.

Right now, Limbaugh's campaign has been for "dittoheads" in Pennsylvania to switch their registration to democrat and vote for Hillary.

Over at Limpballs, you can see the Pastor-gate etc...

Believe it or not.

[grrrfren]

Hillary spent tonight trying to apologize to black newspaper editors. I hope they turn a deaf ear to her insincere remarks. She will do anything to win including stirring up racial strife in this country. I had thought America was getting over its racism. But, Hillary is trying her best to revive it in backward areas of the country where she thinks she can use it to garner a few votes. Shame on you Hillary, shame on you. I hope this country never forgives you for this.

[Luna1]

Funny, i never would have seen this cover with Obama because the Time's is an old ashed-up rag so who cares what they print. It will take a lot more than a kitchen sink to thwart Obama's momentum. Some of these so-called MSM reporters who call themselves journalists haven't a clue as to what journalism means. They are so biased and negative that it is unbearable to watch the news -- a strong indication that our country is in serious need of a complete over-haul. For starters, Steven Colbert has more reporting skills than most of the MSM puont together, for he actually questions and brings attention to some of the crap that the MSM reports . What does that tell you? So far, Clinton's campaign advisors are boasting about this insane idea that because Clinton won the big states of Calif., Tex, Ohio that she will win the General Election. Well, duh, McCain has also won in those states -- so what? What kind of argument is that -- is it suppose to imply that democrats won't vote for Obama come Gen'l Election time because Clinton won in those states in the Primaries? Are democrats not going to support their own candidate come November? Well, if innuendo like this doesn't get called on by the media, Clinton will keep on spewing out the bunk and folks with very little intelligence will believe it!

[realpolitic]

What does Obama have to do with Karl Rove? Absolutely nothing, the two are polar opposites. This picture is misleading and condescending in the extreme. Obama is not a crooner, but a highly intelligent leading Democratic contender for President. When we see pictures like this one with hidden, condescending messages put forward by leading members of the press, It makes one wonder if America has gotten as far as we thought.

[Nopes]

Geez... Those Clintonites (like that Mark Halperin) have a lot of chutzpah. They are simply shameless.
This is so outrageous. The Clintons play more dirty than Rove and still they try to paint Obama's picture as the dirty one.
This is simply outrageous.
BTW.... Carville is from the Clinton camp, for God's sake.

[ObamaEdwards]

Who can decipher this stupid photo? And who cares? The lack of clarity indicates that the person who made this wanted to make a racist, hateful statement but didn't have the balls. So they tried to be sneaky, and more sneaky, and ended up with--nothing. Boring people should not try to be clever. It's just sad.

[Meggie]

So who reads Time anymore?

[realpolitic]

i do sometimes in the dentist's office.

[TheWordPimp]

I do! Time's cover story the week before last on how (un)important experience is to a candidate not only inspired my blog entry comparing Obama to Lincoln ( http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977276039&nav=Namespace ), but was as strong an indictment on Hillary's strategy as I've seen. Halperin has made no secret that he thinks Obama going negative will destroy his campaign. I, for one, agree with the premise, although not the conclusion.

[Passenger57]

I noticed that, right under the article,is an ad for "Cool Obama Gear" where Obama is looking at the camera. And why use a photo of the Rat Pack in the first place? how 'bout finding some guy in a suit and just using it five times?
Either they can't find any real dirt on Obama, of they're holding it back, becaue if THIS is all they have, let's practice saying it now: "PRESIDENT OBAMA".

[yowza1]

Dear P 57 - get thee from me Republican.
The placement of of James Carville's photo in juxtaposition to a bunch of rats would be a typical Republican lie/misleading message. This is reminiscent of Nazi propaganda films in which photos of Jews were interspersed with those of rats and other vermin. Carville was and remains a n energetic, forceful, at times acerbic champion of truth and Democratic values, he by no means belongs in the company of affirmative action candidate Obama and those other skunks, whoever they are.

[ESerafina42]

What IS it with you people? You were the same ones who dismissed Shuster's comment because "pimping" has a new meaning and no one but old fuddy-duddies (like me at 45) remember the "old" meaning. Even I'm too young to remember the "Rat Pack." How many people would even get this so-called terrible smear without you guys helpfully pointing it out to them?

Gee, Obamaites - get a grip, will you?

[realpolitic]

Well, the illusion to the Rat Pack is not as important to me as placing Obama alongside Rove and Atwater. He has no place there. The one running the campaign full of dirty tricks and smears has been Hillary and not Obama. She would not even resolutely deny he was Muslim. This photo is condescension with little or no import.

[Davwbaird]

i knew that the yellow brick road we have been on led to Nazi Germany, the photo confirms it. My psychaitist was most supportive, when said he was getting lots of complaints of folks thinking they had some how been transported to another world totally out of kilter.

[twofish]

People who watch public television know who the Rat Pack were, since they turn up from time to time on the Dreck Festivals they call pledge drives. There's a new traveling show of singers imitating them. The remake of Ocean's 11 sparked some interest in the original. I don't know how widespread this phenomenon is, but yeah, some younger people know who the Rat Pack were, and view them in a positive light. However, I (well over 45) didn't recognize who the original people in the picture were until it was pointed out.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

Halperin is a Clinton lackey. You get a grip. Clinton supporters are clueless. They only take offense and cry bloody murder when it's something that offends their warped sensibilities. The hypocrisy is sickening.

[Bsonder]

Am I the only one who remembers that the smirking Mark Halperin used to work for ABC News and he and their reporter Jackie Schmidt were just delighted in pouring sulphuric acid on Bill Clinton every day during the Monica episode? Mark Halperin hates the Clintons. I hate Mark Halperin.
This John Edwards democrat has not made up her mind on Hillary or Obama. Living just outside Philadelphia, I am looking forward to seeing Obama in person and the more I read about Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson's shenanigns, the more disappointed I become in Hillary's campaign.

[fullkelly]

A picture is worth a thousand words.But it is giving rats a bad"RAP".

[Bocababs]

And Mark Halperin is important because???!!

[Meggie]

ditto

[blewkarma]

Good Lordy, I don't know how old any of you Obamaites are out there, but you act like this is the first election you've ever seen.

[pinkerman2]

We aren't all young, but I fail to see the relevancy to what is shaping up to be one of the most deceptive and also dirtiest campaigns ever. Your blewkarma name is appropriate, you sound as if you blew out some brain cells.

[Meggie]

And this is exactly Obama's point. While we're destroying ourselves and Iraq, while our economy is falling without a parachute, while our kids for some reason can't keep up with the world in education, while our athletes can't leave the country without being booed........
You think this type of campaigning is ok? The sooner this group dies off the better we might be.

[Waitaminute]

I am close to 60 years old, from Mississippi and i have seen many elections. But, i first saw ads like this in Mississippi, in the late 60s, when a black candidate ran for office. The white citizen's council were behind those. This ad is from a NYC, NORTHERN YANKEE NEWS PAPER 2008 and a hillary supporter. How about those pictures of the darken Obama huh? GOOD LORDY IS RIGHT.

[BeyondGoodAndEvil]

It's convenient how the Clinton supporters outright lie and claim there's no racism from Clinton and her lackeys. One of the hallmarks of racism, is to pretend it isn't there or claim not to understand it. So that would mean all Clinton supporters are racist, because no matter how many times they see it, they fail to acknowledge it. Which proves they are nothing more than racists themselves.