Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Strange picture accompanying an article about Obama in the Times today. Two supporters, one young, black and male; the other older, white, female, and wearing what appears to be a thorny crown of tricolor stars; claw at a cutout of the man. The caption says "Shelley Diment and Anthony Brown secured a Barack Obama cut-out," which I suppose means they're securing it to something, perhaps helping to keep a chaotic campaign scene tidy. But it seems like they may be securing it for themselves, covetously; Shelley's mouth is agape with adoration as she stretches to grip the silhouette by the neck and shoulder. Also, the cardboard seems bent and worn, like it might have just been retrieved from the trash; this, combined with the zany look of the woman and the zeal in her gestures, gives the scene an air of offbeat righteousness, like a freegan dumpster crawl.