In Which I Defend Obama, Maybe...

C'mon folks, is there one among you who hasn't put the proverbial hoof in mouth? I think it is entirely conceivable that Mr. Barack Obama was not consciously picturing Gov. Palin when he made the now infamous "lipstick" remark. First is the question of derivation, that is to say that the economy and the market have been in the headlines as of late, which may very well have influenced his choice of figurative language. "Putting lipstick on a pig" is a time honored way of describing talking up a dud stock. See, the economy, stock market, lipstick, pig. Trust me, I know a bit about loose association.

There is another way to view this flap and that is to picture Mr. Obama as a Machiavellian strategist. You see, Mr. Obama there; he's got himself some right "plausible deniability." It is undoubtedly suspicious that the two images he used relate to females in an unfavorable way. This way, he gets to say "Oops, I didn't mean that." Now just for the fun of it, let's assume that he had no conscious purpose in using the lipstick and fish analogies. Could it be that subconsciously Gov. Palin weighs so heavily and unfavorably in his mind that those were the images that came spontaneously to his previously golden tongue?

In any case, he could check with his running mate as to how difficult it can be to remove said extremity from one's esophagus. Remember "clean and articulate"? There's no hope for it, he's gonna have to take the blow back. That's the way of all politics. But this time, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.