A Photo to Cleanse the Palate

[Clio the Leo]

I don't know about you all, but all of the videos and images of last weekends festivities by the teabaggers has left me with a bad taste in my mouth (which is not meant to disparage any of the posters who shared the photos.)

So I thought I'd share what I think is one of the more interesting photos from the latest WH flickr upload. It shows the President, surrounded by the Congressional Black Caucus, some of the most powerful people in this great country, of ANY ethnicity, seated in the White House State dining room.

Looking down on them is the famous portrait of the Great Emancipator, looking more satisfied and content than I had ever noticed before. Proud even.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h1549t.html">"...shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free..."



Free no mater what vile words or actions are hurled at them. Free to live and work as they please. Free to stand up. Free to change the course of history.

It's a very powerful scene, IMO.

[tekisui]

1. That is a powerful scene.

It shows how far we have come as a nation.

And asks us what is possible in the future.

[laconicsax]

55. Call me cynical, but...

That it took about 140 years from the end of slavery for a black man not just to be elected President, but be regarded as a serious candidate says more about how far we still have to go rather than how far we've come.

[Myrina]

56. not to mention ...

.... that Lincoln was more of a pragmatist than an abolitionist. He knew the Union Army needed the manpower.

[defendandprotect]

57. It's a wonderful scene to see, both people of color and women . . .

but let's not forget what former Justice Thurgood Marshall told us as he was

retiring and as we awaited an announcement of a nominee from Poppy Bush, with

the hopes being that he would fill the seat with another AA ....

Justice Marshall said:

"It's not the color of a snake which is important - it's whether or not it bites!"

And, of course, we all recall that Poppy Bush appointed the infamous Clarence Thomas

to the SC -- a man who has been called a "Judas" by his own people -- and a man who

is a "lover of hard core pornography" according to his close friends!


-- And that advice applies to both color and gender --



And, let's also not forget that right wingers were spitting at and calling representatives

racist names just this past week --

Homophobic names as well --



We're not quite there yet --

[Cha]

2. It's so magnificent as to be

surreal! Thank you so much for the pic, Clio~

I didn't even need to cleanse my palate bc I don't look at those teabaggers for the very reason you described.

[PopSixSquish]

3. The Honorable Mr. John Lewis!

My congressman was/is a BAMF! He shed blood to carry on what Lincoln started...

Love that man.

[CurtEastPoint]

11. John's mine, too. I met him by chance at Natl Airport once

and he's just as real and nice as anyone you could ever meet.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. GREAT post!!+

[Jackeens]

5. Ah Clio, what a stupendous post.

Luv ya.

[Glimmer of Hope]

6. What a great portrait of Lincoln. It takes on a new meaning in that pic.

[chill_wind]

7. A fantastic and truly uplifting image, K & R. n/t

[political_Dem]

8. Thank you for posting this photo. It touches my heart.

It makes me feel hopeful despite the latest round of ugliness that has happened. Progress, no matter how slow or difficult, is still coming--especially when it comes in the face of national discord by those who want us to stay entrenched within the bowels of yesteryear.

[One Voice]

9. Best post (& photo) ever!

Thank you! :hug:

[Jackeens]

10. + 1,000,000,0000!

:toast:

[my2sense]

12. K&R

[TheBigotBasher]

13. Great picture.

Thank you very much for it.

[demigoddess]

14. beautiful picture, it should be shown far and wide to school children.

And Abe has never looked happier!!

[JohnnyLib2]

17. Wouldn't that be great?

One picture is worth.......

[kestrel91316]

15. Yep. That scene is a thing of beauty.

[loudsue]

16. Good job, Mr. Lincoln.

I don't know about you guys, but I just feel so much safer knowing these are the people leading our country.

[phaseolus]

18. If only ...

...Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms were alive to see it. :evilgrin:

[FrenchieCat]

19. My girl sitting right next to my President.

Now that's what I call, excellent! :patriot:

[Lifelong Protester]

20. I love this photo. It makes me wonder, what the HELL are some

of these damn teabagger a**holes afraid of?

I couldn't be happier being an American and seeing this photo. Finally, we have people at the table who look like a lot of Americans.

Thanks! Now I can go to bed without all of those crappy images in my head (again, no disrespect to the posters of those 'rally' photos, guess we have to see the enemy for what he or she is, like it or not).

[drmeow]

21. That is one awesome picture! n/t

[eyeofdelphi]

22. that is truly, truly beautiful

now i can go to bed feeling warm and fuzzy. thank you!

[Hekate]

23. It's good. It's a good way to end the night. nt nt

[lunatica]

24. My Congresswoman Barbara Lee is sitting right next to him!

God I love her! She was the ONLY Congressperson to vote against the war in Iraq. That's when the slogan "Barbara Lee speaks for me" started. She actually went against all that patriotic fervor when any opposition to the war was seen as unpatriotic.

[paulkienitz]

52. yeah I noticed that right away

She was my congressman a couple of terms ago, until I moved to the district of Ellen Tauscher (now arms control undersecretary, and from recent news apparently kicking ass at that job).

[lunatica]

25. This Caucus stood by Al Gore in 2000

They've never been fooled about that selection.

[Uzybone]

26. Palate cleansed, thank you.

[rasputin1952]

27. I love the pic, but am I the only one that makes the...

"Last Supper" connection?

:hi:

[Clio the Leo]

28. Nope 'cause the Apostles and Christ didn't dine around an open square....

.... THIS one however .... lol

Feb. 10, 2009
“The President meets with the Democratic Blue Dog coalition in the State Dining Room. I had noticed the glasses of cranberry and orange juice sitting on a table in the doorway of the Red Room, so I backtracked to compose this picture from inside the Red Room.”
(Official White House photo by Pete Souza)

[rasputin1952]

29. LOL...

:D

[FailureToCommunicate]

33. "...glasses of cranberry juice" (photo tip: including red often helps a photo) Thanks

Cleo.

(and Pete Souza)

[CTyankee]

46. Here's one where one "diner" is across the table...

along with a cat...

[Sanity Claws]

53. The blue dogs are white men, except for one white woman & one black man

That doesn't seem very representative of the Democratic Party.

[ensho]

30. kick

nt

[Jennicut]

31. Love this pic. Very powerful, especially considering what some members of that caucus

went through with the teabaggers recently.
Some of these teabaggers forget we are living in 2010, not the 1800's or even the 1950's.

[vaberella]

32. In the words of Tea Partiers..."The Black has taken over!" n/t

[riverbendviewgal]

51. I love this picture

what a sexy and smart 70 year old.

My brother hates her so much.

[vaberella]

59. I'm her no.1 Fangirl!! I'm well known for being devoted to NP on DU. n/t

[ProSense]

34. Excellent. n/t

[wryter2000]

35. That's my Barbara Lee

Sitting at Obama's right. :bounce:

[Cha]

45. I didn't know that..thanks! nt

[TrogL]

36. This reminds me of some other photos

(which I'll post if I can find them or don't get distracted with something else).

(Also, this is an old obsession of mine).

Any meeting I've been to, you need to have in front of you the agenda, the minutes and your papers for your contribution to the meeting.

Any photo I saw of a Bush-era meeting, the table was completely empty. Not even any refreshments (note the water).

There's an old photo of Kennedy meeting with Cheney(?) and somebody else. Kennedy's desk is a mess and the other two have papers in their laps.

[Turbineguy]

37. Nice!

[FarLeftFist]

38. ******

[Political_Junkie]

39. Very powerful.

Thanks for posting this. History in the making and the history behind it as well. Love this photo.

[ejbr]

40. k & r !! n/t

[RedstDem]

41. thanks

thats a great pic

[uponit7771]

42. AMEN!!!

[keepthemhonest]

43. Thanks for sharing that NT

[avaistheone1]

44. Great picture.

Thanks for sharing Cleo.

[Deep13]

47. outstanding...

[GrantDem]

48. Very moving...

[cyndensco]

49. It IS a very powerful scene, Jackeens.

It is remarkable to be living this history!

[craigmatic]

50. very symbolic picture n/t

[kma3346]

54. Brought a tear to my eye!

Thanks for posting that picture. I've been feeling really down (and worried) about all the vitriol and blind hatred of these stupid teabaggers and the Republican party who eggs them on. Seeing this picture drove home how far we HAVE come and how proud I am to have been part of the enlightened group of people who voted for this president. He may not be doing all that we want him to do (yet), but my God--what a change from the last person who sat in that chair and drove our country into the ground.

[babsbunny]

58. Beautiful!

I needed that!

[DontTreadOnMe]

60. Very Powerful Image

and having Lincoln's portrait above brings a tear to my eye.

[etherealtruth]

61. What a wonderful post!

Cleansed the palate and lightened my spirit