Obama's Funeral Selfie: This Is Why Context Matters

In politics, image is king, and every politician knows itPresident Obama knows it more than most, having been caught in one or two pictures that hand his opponents, rightly or wrongly, a gift of a story. You may recall a small controversy over candidate Obama not putting his hand on his heart during the playing of the national anthem. The moment he bowed to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia also became a conservative cause célèbre

So it's surprising to see the President caught in a three-way selfie at Nelson Mandela's memorial service in South Africa, even if the other two people in the picture are the British and Danish Prime Ministers. The now iconic picture above, snapped by an AFP photographer, speaks more than its thousand-word allotment — largely because Michelle Obama appears to be the only one showing any decorum Read more...