Really what was the big deal? Just Monday, on NPR's Morning Edition, Louisa Lim was reporting on rumors of the man crush between South Korea President Lee Myung-bak and Barack or fears that something might "sour the bromance." This is the 'manly' administration, after all. Where Barack ignores women and golfs with men only -- until an outcry forces him to include one woman for one-time only. The Barack who plays b-ball with the men, sweating with the boys and slapping at the ball, reaching over, around and between things while grunting and sweating.
Suddenly we were reminded of a scene in the film Strangers with Candy (written by Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris; Sedaris plays Jerri Blank; Joseph Cross plays her half-brother Derrick Blank).
Derrick: I'll have you know, stump, the varsity squat thrust team took third in All Conference.
Gerri: And how does that make you not gay?
Derick: What are you talking about? We squat together! We spot each other on the workout mat! And we play grab ass in the showers! How is that gay?
And suddenly the objection becomes clear. Barack can't interact with women ("sweetie") and of all the silly rumors during the 2008 run, the only one that truly sent the campaign into a panic was where the man was stepping forward and claiming he had oral sex with Barack on repeated occassions. That one bothered them so because it got at the heart of just how false the 'manly' Barack image was.
He might pose like Superman one moment but then the next, like a desperate starlet, he was tossing off his shirt and saying to all the world, "Check out my titties!"
No, it's not manly behavior.
Nor is manicures and Barack's well tended nails on the 2008 campaign trail rivaled Teresa Heinz-Kerry who is generally thought to have sported the best campaign trail nails of any candidate's wife.
Nor were the suits that would have been cute on Leonardo di Caprio in 1997 but, as Di Caprio's matured (still younger than Barack) would look embarrassing on him. The boyish suits for the boy-child.
There was the lip gloss and lip stick to cover the blue-ish lips on the campaign trail.
There was so much.
So when an ad photo pictures Barack in a lip-lock with a man, the White House grows nervous. And, of course, it doesn't help when the ad plays into Barack's passive nature by making him appear to be the delicate flower in the relationship, kissing with adoration and grace.
What's in a picture?
More than the White House's image control can ever handle.
