Obama Ashamed Of Old Glory? Hides Flag For Message To Iran

FinkelBlog ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Is President Obama ashamed to display the American flag to Iranians?

Watching TV clips of Pres. Obama’s special message to Iran on the occasion of Nowruz, a holiday that celebrates the first day of spring and the New Year in many countries, I was struck by how tight the frame was cropped. My antennae went up. I found the official White House website for the message, and saw that there were . . . various versions of the message.

In the main, generic version, an American flag is plainly visible in the background [see screencap below the break]. But below that there are links to other versions, including “.mp4 with Persian subtitles.” Persian is of course the language of Iran, so that is the version the White House wanted to be seen there.

Click on it and you’ll see that—poof!—the American flag has disappeared from the background [see screencap above the break]. So that’s why the image was cropped so tight. At times, the prez’s American flag lapel pin can be seen, but during most of the message the cropping is so tight that even that small American symbol is invisible.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Screencap from generic version of Norwuz message.

Screencap from version of Norwuz message intended for viewing in Iran.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Obama ashamed to display Old Glory to Iranians ping to Today show list.

[SolidWood]

You can see the shadow of the teleprompter.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Is President Obama ashamed to display the American flag to Iranians?

Do bears shit in the woods?....

[Billg64]

TOTUS

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Well, isn’t that just classy diplomacy? /s What a moron.

[AngelesCrestHighway]

What a little weasel puke he is!

[WakeUpAndVote]

Not to defend him but, the arabic subtitle screen looks to be resizing the image. May not be his fault.

[deannadurbin]

Idiot. He thinks by his Messiahship message he can stop Iran from developing their nukes.

Obama, in earlier days of this country you would be shot for treason.

[tiredoflaundry]

Bass turd...

[F15Eagle]

You’d think he might have said during the campaign that he wouldn’t wear it on his lapel

oh wait, he did ...

[tiredoflaundry]

Check this out Mark.

[DirtyHarryY2K]

What else would we expect from the Marxist muzzie?
Barak Hussein Mohamed Obama.

[pennboricua]

I think they do it in the open, then kick it into the woods.
like the media is allowing obama to do.

[reagan_fanatic]

Well, gosh - we wouldn’t want to o-ffend anyone, now would we?

[softwarecreator]

Of course he is. Good catch for noticing that. Just what we need, a president who hates and is ashamed of the country he was elected to protect and lead. It’s gonna be a rocky 4 years.

[stuartcr]

This sounds pretty far-fetched. Why would he be ashamed? It’s not like no one knows he’s the President of the United States.

[Migraine]

Persian is of course the language of Iran

If by that you mean Persian = Farsi, well, OK. But why not say Farsi? Persian is far more generic, though -- it is more a language-group (like Athabaskan) than a single language.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Please go to the original article which provides links to the official White House website. You’ll see that they created two separate versions of message, cropping the frame in the Persian subtitle version intended for viewing in Iran so as to hide the flag. It is not the screencap that has been cropped but the original video image.

[roses of sharon]

Allāhu Akbar!

[Bahbah]

Wow, excellent catch!

[governsleastgovernsbest]

I was quoting from the official White House website.

[CanaGuy]

Jay Leno Show: "...the president talked about how he's gotten better at bowling and has been practicing in the White House bowling alley."

When does this CLOWN have time to practice BOWLING????

.

[TV Dinners]

agreed... and I’m sure Iran had the American flag (as symbol of freedom) cropped from the video.

But any excuse to call Dear Leader Ma0bama an ass is fine by me... :)

[50mm]

Just being consistent.

[Always Right]

I am sure it was just an accident. Or maybe they were trying to hide the flowers. Yeah, that is it. It was the flowers....

[Migraine]

I was quoting from the official White House website.

I know. My (overly pedantic) post was not directed at you, but at the official version. Sorry.

[tiredoflaundry]

Sounds more like the WH sent out the cropped version. At least that is what I gathered from Fox reporting of the video.

They did not mention anything about the flag, but showed the cropped version as the video sent for Iranian consumption.

[concerned about politics]

You can see the shadow of the teleprompter.

You don't actually think the teleprompter is happy with taking a back seat, do you? The teleprompter should be in front, and Oboma in the shadows. My guess is it was trying to let the world know who was REALLY in charge.

[concerned about politics]

May not be his fault.

According to Oboma, nothing is his fault. Bush must have done it.

[SIDENET]

You can see the shadow of the teleprompter.

Fitting.

He LIVES in the shadow of the mighty TOTUS.

[surfer]

I surprised he didn’t have Bill Ayers in the video stomping on our flag!

[syriacus]

Whoa! Interesting catch!!

BTW

A guest on FoxNews seemed to say Obama was reaching out to the young people of Iran who watch YouTube.

I wonder if they even got to see the message, since Iran barred YouTube in 2006.

[SunkenCiv]

Just a weird coincidence.

[paulycy]

See my tagline...

[SueRae]

Words fail me (at least the ones that can be printed)

[D-fendr]

I surprised they didn’t use the Iranian version of the flag - the one with “Death to America” on it.

[thomas16]

The shot is tight because they didn’t want to show TOTUS

[divine_moment_of_facts]

Apparently, our Flag is threatening to Iran.. Good!

[Nachum]

The List, ping

[Marysecretary]

I believe the young people of Iran are not as anti-American as most would believe. They want freedom from their lives and religious zealots.

[syriacus]

I believe the young people of Iran are not as anti-American as most would believe

I agree. I pray for their safety under the thumb of such a government.

[Marysecretary]

Yes, that’s a good idea. Wish I’d thought of it! Thanks.