This picture caused a bit of a stir in the blogosphere. It was not meant as a conservative political statement – and, as Dan Flynn pointed out, it would have been an ineffective one. And it certainly wasn’t a racist image, as some critics have claimed.
The picture is, however, evidence that occasionally images take on a life of their own, and that people sometimes see what they want to see. If the narrative in your head is that the conservative movement has been dumbed down (as Flynn has written about before) you may see an aimless attempt at fusing politics and pop culture. If you are looking for examples of the racial hatred you just know your opponents possess, you see a black man painted in white make-up.
At the end of the day, this was and is a picture doctored up by someone looking to have some fun and blow off steam after listening to months of hero worship. Why so serious?
Jim Eltringham 