This Says It All

I know I said I wasn't going to cover the beer summit anymore, but this picture says a whole heckuva lot about the general state of affairs in this country:

This picture truly is worth at least a thousand words.

I am stunned that the official White House Blog published this picture and that it is in the public domain. The body language is most revealing.

Sergeant Crowley, the sole class act in this trio, helps the handicapped  Professor Gates down the stairs, while Barack Obama, heedless of the infirmities of his friend and fellow victim of self-defined racial profiling, strides ahead on his own. So who is compassionate? And who is so self-involved and arrogant that he is oblivious?

In my own dealings with the wealthy and powerful, I have always found that the way to quickly capture the moral essence of a person is to watch how they treat those who are less powerful. Do they understand that the others are also human beings with feelings? Especially when they think nobody is looking.

I think this picture says even more.  I think it perfectly illustrates the principle divide in this country - the elites versus American citizens.

Crowley -- as Thomas Lifson says above, the sole class act in the picture -- is a working American with an exemplary record who was just doing his job before he found himself accused of racism and at the center of a political firestorm.  In contrast, both Gates and Obama took deliberate cheap shots at the first opportunity, accusing Crowley (and all cops) of racism and stupidity, and have still not fully backed away from that slander despite the photo op beer summit.  Gates and Obama are supposed to be friends.  And yet...who is helping Gates down the stairs?

Crowley.

This, to me, is the primary problem in America today.  On the one side, we have elites who, in their arrogance, recklessly accuse and destroy anyone who doesn't share their ideology.  On the other side, we have normal, hard-working Americans who are doing their jobs, making the country work, and genuinely willing to help others.  Even if it means helping the very same people who accuse them of the lowest of deeds.

Yes, this picture says a lot.

There's my two cents.