Barack Obama with a friend, Sohale Siddiqi, in the fall of 1981. (All photos courtesy of Phil Boerner)
Well since he and Phil are still friends to this day, maybe you should ask Phil Boerner why he provided the NYT with photshopped pictures.
Obama just looks stoned and relaxed on the couch, and his gay, hyper Paki friend perched next to him, a little too close, but Obama’s not gonna move over for anyone, so Siddiqi just nervously smokes when the picture is snapped. Probably with a little camera using tiny 110 Kodak film. His hand is in motion and blurred. A poor quality photo has been scanned. There’s nothing particularly weird about the hand. Hyperactive young gay Paki men perch, twitch and smoke nervously all of the time.