Sunday, May 3, 2009

Bo Obama

[I posted versions of this comment at Confabulation and the Huffington Post.]

On a happy note, I've got to say that I'm loving the First Puppy. The country needed a little cheering up, and who better than a Portie pup? Porties are wonderful dogs, as I can attest from the ones I've met.

The photo of Obama and Bo running down the White House corridor together is an instant iconic classic, which I'm sure was the hope of official White House photographer Pete Souza, who shot it. That photo will be in history books a hundred years from now; it has a clear political purpose, to convey an upbeat, "hey we're gonna make it" vibe, and it succeeds in that, with the pup's good cheer, Obama's limber athleticism, and the on-the-fly look between the two. Souza, a great photographer who as a young man also was the official White House photographer under Reagan from 1983 to 1989, knows exactly what he's doing.