What 'Situation Room Photo' reveals about us

[NYC Liberal]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/05/iconic.photo/index.html?hpt=C2

But look deeper and that photo becomes historic in a more subtle way. It's a snapshot of how much this nation's attitudes about race, women and presidential swagger are changing, several scholars and historians say.

"The photo is visually suggestive of a new American landscape that we're still crossing into," says Saladin Ambar, a political science professor at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.
...

American presidents have traditionally sold themselves as our alpha male. Theodore Roosevelt went safari hunting; Ronald Reagan cleared brush at his ranch in a cowboy hat; George W. Bush did his "Top Gun" imitation when he donned a flight suit on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

...

"He's not in the tallest chair," says Brown, the sociology professor at Meredith College. "He's not the center of attention. He's not even in the middle of the room."
Yet Obama's willingness to be photographed without the typical Oval Office swagger gives birth to a new type of swagger, says Contee of Jack & Jill Politics.

[cliffordu]

1. Blow that photo up and look very carefully at the look in Obama's eyes.

It's the one you personally never want to see.

[Bake]

5. That is one steely, intense stare!

Bake

[dkf]

2. Our protector in chief.... :)

He is crossing lines for me too...gosh I am so proud of him. Gotta admit I am starting to really fall for the guy in a real sappy way. Lol.

[jpak]

3. "This is one of the rare times that Tea Party supporters have referred to Obama as President Obama,"

speaks volumes

yup

[lillypaddle]

4. Too bad Hillary said she was trying not to cough

I kinda liked the dramatic effect of her "alarm" - but it's a great picture, and you know they were all on pins & needles.