Is Obama’s Skeet Shooting Photo All Smoke?

Update: Did you say we the people can't "manipulate the photo in any way"? We the people say FU! Twitchy captures the very funny results! Best tweeted caption: "A lame duck shooting a clay pigeon." Also POTUS is now known as "President Mom Jeans".

The White House has released a photo which claims to be POTUS skeet shooting. However, I’m calling BS on this as nothing more than a staged, and perhaps partially photoshopped, print.

The photo shows the president holding a shotgun (at first mislabeled by the liberal press as a rifle). Blue smoke is seen shooting out the barrel and vent. But did the president actually fire the gun, or was the smoke added later to a staged shot?

Skeet are clay disks called “pigeons” that are usually flung by a trap, meant to represent a bird in flight. The point is, when the pigeon is flung, the shooter must move the gun to try and “lead” the pigeon so the shot will reach the moving target as the paths intersect. Furthermore, the skeet is usually flung up in the air, so someone firing at one would have their gun pointed up, not straight like target shooting.

Yet Obama has almost no movement at all when allegedly firing the weapon, even in high resolution. Whatever the level the skeet was at, he should have been moving left to right while firing. So unless he shoots skeet in a “caged hunt,” this is simply another staged WH photo.

Furthermore, the gun looks to be held (mounted) incorrectly, which could result in a substantial “kick” a shotgun produces.

In the AP article, Michael Hampton, executive director of the San Antonio-based association, tactfully suggest the president obviously didn’t go “skeet shooting all the time.”

“This isn't something he's done very often because of how he's standing, how he has the gun mounted,” he said.

If you want to see a slow motion of what skeet shooting looks like, here’s a good example:

One former senior advisor, David Plouffe, tweeted the challenge, “Make our day — let the photoshop conspiracies begin!” He does have a point. Hopefully, this doesn’t become the latest “bait” set out to distract conservatives from a president trying to take away gun rights.

The user is also warned that, “The photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House.”

Really? I’d bet the courts might have something to say about that as it’s taken by the White House photographer. It’s not a private photo. And I’m so looking forward to the motivational posters.

A Country Divided?

We are no longer a country who can "agree to disagree"—we are now at each other’s throats. We snipe at each other on Facebook and Twitter. We try to hold our tongue at the office or seek out allies we can voice our opinions to safely. If you go back over to the Real Clear Politics map and look back through past elections you can see how we've become more and more fundamentally divided just in the past 30 years. Instead of being rational, some people make excuses for their politicians like it's their hometown football team who got caught in a foul. They ignore and excuse them like a mother screaming at the police for arresting her “innocent” child for the 50th time.

The press has largely gone from the investigation arm, to the propaganda arm. You can find more objective reporting in blogs and by independents these days—which not surprisingly, are hated by both the politicians and the so-called “real journalists.” Politicians on both sides want to keep us divided so we go after each other, instead of calling them out for the sneaky business they're up to. Journalists no longer just report the news, they openly seek to influence it. They both look down on the majority of the populace as too stupid and uneducated and who must be spoon-fed and taken care of by an overprotective Big Brother. Bills are no longer written by the elected, but by the special interests. It's no wonder politicians can't tell us what's in them until after they made into law—they're spending more time raising campaign funds and running for office instead of actually writing the thousands of pages of laws they pass every year.

The more people who get what they didn’t earn, the angrier they are when someone tries to take it away. Give a child a bunch of toys and then tell them they aren’t going to get any more and watch them throw a fit.

I blame them and I blame the press. But I also blame the lazy public who refuse to lift a finger to educate themselves about what's going on. As long as your politician throws some money you're way, you remain coddled and asleep while the country goes down. And who's fault will that be if the country implodes financially? People will point the finger to Washington. But don't blame the politicians or the press—look in the mirror. Because it's you. You who couldn’t be bothered to look at what a politician does, not just what s/he says at election time. You who’d rather sit down than stand up. You who can’t be bothered to make an informed vote. Yes, you who watch The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with John Stewart instead of searching out the truth. It’s not always easy to find, but it’s out there. You who refuse to look at the overall well-being of your country and the massive spending going on and only care that your state gets a piece of the pie.

Because we are closer to Greece than you think, my friends. We are at the tipping point. But in our case I fear we could easily turn into a second civil war. The more people who get what they didn’t earn, the angrier they are when someone tries to take it away. Give a child a bunch of toys and then tell them they aren’t going to get any more and watch them throw a fit. But allow a child to work and earn what they can and buy their own toys and you have a more responsible child who is more secure because they are dependent on themselves, not others.

The generation that came out of the Great Depression and WWII were called the Greatest Generation. Unfortunately, they did not all pass these lessons on to their children and grandchildren. Within a few short years we went from a generation of self-sufficient and independent to the Me Generation fighting over our toys and expecting them to be provided to us. We went from the people who pursued happiness to those who demand it. Nearly fifty percent of the population now pays NO federal income taxes. Eventually someone is going to have to tell a number of them that there will be no more free toys.

Thanks to White House Support, Egyptian Islamic Law to Allow Sex with Deceased Wife

We know republicans don’t support women’s rights like the White House does, right? Especially things like reproductive rights. So it’s a good thing that the White House supports governments like those in Egypt. They took out Mubarak and made sure those nice Muslim Brotherhood guys got in. So what is the women-supporting, Islamic parliament doing now?

They about to pass a law that allows a husband to have sex with their dead wife for up to six hours after death. Hey, Sandra Fluke, how about that for reproductive freedom? Well at least at that point, they don’t need to worry about their health care plan providing birth control.

But that’s not all: They are also lowering the marriage age of girls to 14 so they can combine child rape with arranged, forced marriages. They’re also getting rid of laws about guarantee of education, employment for women. Don’t want them to get any ideas in their heads.

Don’t forget it’s THIS White House that supported the overthrow of Mubarak and the establishment of an Islamic parliament. Similar to when Iran’s Shah was overthrown, Egypt, once a country friendly toward the US and Israel is now going back to Sharia laws and furthering the oppression of women.

But remember, according to this administration, it’s the republicans that are anti-women….