And that’s the problem with and the stupidity of Obama’s marketing team releasing the photo. Once the context is added, people see the metaphor.

You even, essentially “reversed” your position on what that metaphor would be.

For the purposes of this post, I’m not judging the accuracy of the metaphor. I’m just pointing out the stupidity inherent in allowing this sort of image to be officially released.

As some AT commentators point out, this picture becomes a metaphor for ObamaCare. The elderly are left in the back, with only the kindness of the Crowleys of the world, the stand up guys, to depend on. The government has other priorities.

One of the major subtexts of the health care debate involves the public’s fear of indifferent, powerful bureaucrats ruling their lives. It is one thing to wait in line at the DMV to find out which other line you should wait in, in order to begin the process of waiting for multiple bureaucrats to go through the motions of processing your request. I have spent entire afternoons going through this process.

But when we get to health care, waiting often means enduring pain and dysfunction longer than necessary, sometimes a worsening of the condition, and sometimes death.

That’s why I think this image will have genuine resonance. It captures something that older Americans in particular can relate to. The President presses ahead with a program that will tell them to take painkillers instead of getting that artificial hip.

I don’t see it without “squinting” myself, but I’ve seen the photo and quotes from the American Thinker article a lot recently. It’s a growing meme.

I would normally expect the White House to have people scan such images for possible negative imagery.

It could be a metaphor in the case that Obama will lead the way for healthcare. And that healthcare will aid the old and inspire the young to be leaders. I don’t think any of that is true about healthcare, but thats the best I can do without hearing a better explanation of the relationship between the picture and healthcare reform that has apparently become a meme.

But healthcare? How did healthcare come into play here?