The last page of a new mailer from the Virginia GOP appears to show a close-up of Barack Obama overlaid with the text:
AMERICA MUST LOOK EVIL IN THE EYE AND NEVER FLINCH
Late Update: With a reader’s help, we think we may have found the picture the state party started with, and it’s not an Obama photo but an Osama bin Laden photo. We’ll have both pics here side by side in a moment so you can compare.
Later Update: The two images:
We used photoshop to align the eyes here. The pupils match up almost exactly:
Just a few points to make here. I grapple with whether it’s paranoia at this stage to think that the GOP is conflating Obama and Osama visually — as they have so often conflated them textually and rhetorically. But look at the pic closely. You’ve got the turban and beard photoshopped out or otherwise obscured. The flared bulb of the nose is gone, leaving only the narrower bridge. And the photo appears darkened to match Obama’s complexion.
You be the judge. But in politics, as in advertising, images are rarely accidental.
