Granted, the sole source for tying the e-mail to Clinton is Drudge, who is unreliable. On the other hand, there is NO ONE denying it. The best Clinton can do is a couple of non-denial denials -- we don't know, and we're not even going to try to find out and, by the way, it's not a big deal anyway.

I agree, if the e-mail came from someone other than Clinton, it's not a big deal. But given the weak Clinton response and events of the past, my guess is there's a pretty fair chance it came from her campaign. And I doubt anyone is circulating the photo because they want to show everyone how handsome Barack is. If they didn't think it was divisive, they wouldn't have circulated it.

Lovely! We were just sending out a picture postcard for your enjoyment and personal edification. It just so happened that it was Obama dressed in traditional costume in a Muslim country. It has nothing to do with those phony Muslim e-mails we were sending out before.

Huh??????

"If someone on our staff makes the point that we are treated differently by the press than Sen. Obama, we agree with that sentiment."

What in the hell does that mean? Does this not imply that if it was distributed by someone on her staff it was done with the intent to insinuate something negative because, after all, she's been treated so poorly by the media and the fact that this photo hasn't been picked up by the press proves that they are partial to Obama? I don't understand his statement at all.

In my mind, this is all part of a larger picture and is creating a natural progression:

1-Michelle/Barack Obama (Michelle's "proud" statement, Barack's missing flag pin, Barack not placing his hand over his heart during the National Anthem) - Unpatriotic; not "Real" Americans (therefore, foreigners)

2-The Clinton campaign's weekend meme about Barack's alleged ties to Weather Underground figures - Terrorist

3-This photo of Obama in African dress, which will be misconstrued as "Muslim garb" by a segment of the American population - Muslim Terrorist

See how easily the associations can be made? And if I'm thinking this way (as a liberal Democrat), what must the scary "9/11" crowd be thinking? This is truly reprehensible on Clinton's part and I really am starting to think that these are not isolated incidents.

I hope like HELL that Chris Matthews brings up this picture at tomorrow nite's debate and asks Hillary why her campaign released it? He doesn't even have to get confrontational - all he has to do is ask what the motivation was. And Barack doesn't even have to do a thing - just look at her with a little enigmatic smile on his face and watch her twist and turn as she tries to weasel out of it.

Look, if Obama is stupid enough to wear and be photographed wearing this garb, then he should be fine with it being shared. Obama is increasingly sounding shrill and thin-skinned. He and his supporters are seriously setting the Democratic party up for a big failure in the fall that will make Kerry and Gore look pretty good in hindsight.

Is the cry of "racist" all Hussein Obama has to offer?
First it was "fairy tale" and now it is an unaltered photo of himself serving his Islamofascist constituency.
The suicide bombers crossed bandoliers is a really nice touch!
Good goin Hussein.

Oh come on, some of you "obamaniacs" have lost your minds! If Clinton's campaign wanted to leak this to Drudge anonymously, they could have done so very easily.

Mo Elleithee's point above makes complete sense. Since when has adhering to local customs been a "divisive" act? Obama lashed out far, far too early on this one, and it will come back to make him (and his maniacal fans) look a bit silly.

Enough of this non-story already.

This is such a non-story.

First, I agree that there's absolutely nothing wrong with or controversial about the photo, so why the Obama campaign is acting so hyper-sensitive over it, I don't know.

Second, right now the primary source for the photo is Matt Drudge, and you have to consider who his audience is. Most self-respecting Democrats I know won't read The Drudge Report, just on principle.

Jonathan Alter: It's Time for Her to Go

http://www.newsweek.com/id/114725/page/2

If the story wasn't true or it was just some random staffer doing it on their own, they'd have strongly denied it and attacked Obama for believing Drudge.

Instead, they've tried to deny there was anything wrong with sending the picture. This tells me the campaign was very much involved with it.

absolutely HRC is treated differently than BHO. Had BHO lost 11 races in a row the media would be demanding he drop out.

Formerly NCSteve,

I must say I'm impressed. I read your earlier comment about Answers 1.0 - 3.0, and indeed it happened exactly as you predicted. Although perhaps it is just that the Clinton camp is predictable.

Oh please, NCSteve, don't be stupid. Are you really trying to say that the Clinton campaign could instantly determine if anyone in the campaign had sent out an e-mail, within hours of being told about it? And with almost no evidence about who sent it? And are you aware that anyone on a campaign use their own e-mail address?

If you can stop your knee from jerking for a minute, you might acknowledge that there's nothing wrong with the photo or the e-mail. It's just as the Clinton spokesman said, all the e-mail did was talk about the disparity in treatment between Obama and Clinton. It didn't say a single negative thing about Obama wearing the costume, since politicians wear different get-ups when visiting foreign countries all the time.

Jesus Christ, do you ever have an original thought? Or do you just wait until the next ginned up controversy comes along, then fit it into your talking points?

Stay classy, Hillary.

Obama is increasingly sounding shrill and thin-skinned.

Paging Dr. Freud ...

In case anyone's interested, here's the photo, posted online apparently way back in 2006, if the date is to be believed.

OK, it took a while, but now I understand the Clinton campaign's position: If someone had a picture of Hillary dressed in a rain barrel and nose-glasses, it would be on every Page One. But here's a picture of Obama that hasn't been newsworthy since 2006 going completely ignored by the press until someone brings it to their attention. (And God knows who that "someone" was.)

Matthew Weaver,

"If Obama is stupid enough to be photographed wearing this garb" - Yeah, all members of congress are stupid for following local customs while on foreign visits. Obviously you haven't seen the video of Bush in similar outfits. Someone shouldn't have to be paranoid of having their picture taken in an outfit like this because it is a non issue, unless you're trying to play the fear card.

Obama shouldn't have to worry about this picture. He shouldn't have to worry that his several thousand member church has some ties to Farrakahn. He shouldn't have to worry about not stopping his campaign to go to a black forum. He shouldn't have to worry about being pidgeon-holed as a muslim or as a support of domestic terrorism in the 60's but he does. The main reason he has to worry about these things is Hillary Clinton.

this is EXCELLENT NEWS!!! for HILLARY!!!

how severe of a cretin do you have to be to not think that circulating this photo is an obvious ploy to play on the slur-memes going around about Obama being "a secret Muslim" or "unAmerican"?

OF COURSE that's what they're doing. how can her supporters gobble Clinton talking points verbatim without so much as a critical thought?

But they can't apologize. If they do, then it was something wrong, and they are playing as innocent as a newborn fawn frolicking in the morning dew.

Lets just hope this is all over in a week and the Dems (Clinton...) can stop handing the Repubs ammunition.
After a slow week last week, I am glad to see the Obama campaign on top of these things.

Tomorrow's debate should be interesting.
I used to like Hillary, although was more for Obama but now I am just for Obama and Hillary makes my skin crawl - that all happened this weekend. (although the Hillary rash started just before SC and then went away, but now it is back with a vengence)

frankly,

The photo is not "divisive", a Democratic campaign sending emails to news organizations saying "ZOMG look at the scary picture! He'll never get elected" is devisive. Any more questions?

It doesn't matter how American Politicians and officials choose to dress when they are guests of other nations. When in Rome, you know the rest of it.

You have to show respect to gain respect. Dressing in the traditional attire of the nation or place that you are visiting is merely being a respectful cultural visitor, and is far more likely to win more friends for America than just dictating our demands from afar.

What the Clintons were doing was trying to create an impression that Obama is too Muslim like. That is why you were fed the term "Muslim garb" which was clearly false, but intended to create a pejorative impression.
Remember the Clintons have already played the Obama Muslim smear card before. It is not like this picture pushing by them was not preceded by similar gutter tactics.

This is really silly. Who really cares. He visited a foreign country and got dressed in the native dress. I bet there are pictures of clinton doing the same thing when she got all that foreign policy experience in the 90's. No big deal.

The fact that the clintons are pushing it reflects more negatively on them than on obama. Talk about tone deaf. Kinda like mattie, I wonder if she/he is a clinton staffer. In the end, she will be jetting to the french riviera on 3/5 to cry in her champagne.

Is it me or could this just be the DUMBEST possible thing for her campaign to put out there the day before she has to sit in front of Matthews and Russert.

Anyone who honestly thinks that there's nothing wrong with putting out this two year old photo at this point of the campaign; and that it's the Obama camp that's reading the offensiveness into this is a bald faced liar. Wasn't it Hillary that was just screaming (yes, screaming) about Rovian tactics on saturday and then this is her response.This isn't going to work for her. This isn't 2000 or 2004. This crap ain't gonna fly.

I've always thought that the upside for HRC's comeback in NH was that the drawn out campaign was going to make him a tougher campaigner come the fall. It has.

This whole thing is so Rovian. Drudge and Rove are in bed together(figuratively and literally).

The Republicans are the only that benefit from this photo.

Now the real news story here and necessary follow-up is that the clintons' campaign said that they have 700 people on staff. So, are they getting paid or are they receiving IOUs? Can you follow-up on that one greg? Now that would be news.

Kenya's not a Muslim country. Jeez. If you people here think it is, what's going to happen with the NewsMax readers?!!!

And how do you know that this was SENT OUT by the Clinton campaign? Because Drudge said so?? Is that it?? You have a very low threshold for evidence here.

The National Examiner ran this photo in their Feb. 4th edition magazine. Drudge said he "OBTAINED" an email from a Clinton staffer. He DID NOT say he "RECEIVED" an email from a Clinton staffer. I know when I get an email, I receive it. I don't obtain it. This suggests that he got it in a rather roundabout way, no???

So he "OBTAINED" and email where one staffer was commenting to another "Wouldn't we be seeing this on the cover of every magazine if it were HRC?"

I can easily imagine one staffer complaining to another about the unfair press coverage she has received. Doesn't mean they were pushing this story externally. In fact, Drudge's choice of words indicates that this did not happen.

This photo and the turmoil over it will be a major feature of the evening news, and the cable discussion shows on TV. I am willing to believe that 90% of the voting age population will see the photo for what it is, a simple courtesy on Obama's part to a request by his hosts. The other 10%, abetted by carefully phrased insinuations by Fox TV people especially, will see this photo as confirmation of their fears that Obama is a Muslim or someone who deserved a CNN poll on how patriotic he really is.

Whatever swill is coming out now against Obama is a bare fraction of the slime which will be thrown against him if he is the nominee. The Republicans ran a racist TV ad against Harold Ford in the 2006 TN senate race. It will be worse for Obama when the presidency is on the line.

why is every remaining Clinton supporter left on TPM totally batshit? do her campaign tactics require such insanity to defend?

Q.E.D.

Someone (a new troll) was shilling this photo all last night at Eschaton, with the additional claim that it was taken on Sept. 11, 2006. Not surprisingly, the troll provided no information on where the photo was taken or under what circumstances. I figured it was just a stupid photoshop production.

It's obvious that somebody devised a somewhat organized dissemination effort beginning yesterday.

Farrakhan: Obama is 'Hope of the Entire World'

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=29048_Farrakhan-_Obama_is_Hope_of_the_Entire_World#comments

Uh Oh.

If the american people are so stupid to be swayed by this photo or the muslim smear garbage, then they deserve mccain and 100 more years of war in Iraq. I would say the clintons, but they will never beat mccain in the general election.

That was the final straw for me. Under no circumstance will I vote for Hillary if she becomes the nominee. I was a diehard Clinton supporter (and defender) but have been disgusted by her tactics. The first few times she engaged in this race and religion baiting, I excused it. Not again. There simply is no good-faith basis upon which to defend her campaign's decision to circulate this photo. For years we have decried Rovian politics. To excuse this is to be complicit in the very dirty politics we have condemned for so long.

As Obama said, republicans are the party of ideas. You people are so stupid to take something on drudge seriously and go bashing someone your side based on that. So far there has been no other real report other than what was on drudge.

Wasabi hits the nail on the head. With all the time spent hoping for change and whining, it seems to have affected the reading and reasoning abilities of some Obama supporters.

This was put out by Drudge for Chrissakes. It was put put for a reason...to manipulate the simple minded among the Obama supporters to alienate even more Clinton supporters in trying to claim it's some kind of racial/religious smear.

If you believe what you read on Drudge, you're gonna be an easy mark for republicans in Nov.

I always thought the Clintons were beyond contempt for many of their shenanigans, but this latest act probably "takes the cake".

She can kiss that Veep slot goodbye!

http://osi-speaks.blogspot.com/2008/02/you-knew-john-mccain-was-winning.html#links

SCMadden..."Jesse Jackson won here too!"

When truth is somehow your enemy, your candidate and campaign are paper thin.

The pubs are going to eat you guys alive.

JTHB - WTF? I know what Obama's middle name is. It sounds like "Osama." I get it. They sound the same, so they *are* the same.

Do you lump every guy named "Joseph" in with Stalin, too?

In a democracy, we get the government we deserve.

But I fervently hope that we don't get the government YOU deserve.

That picture has been on the U.S. Veteran Dispatch on Jan 08, and at the bottom of the page they support Ducan Hunter. This is no Hillary Clinton thing that dim wit Drudge sucked you in, because he knows you will believe anything. Just go to the web page and read it you will love it http://www.usvetdsp.com/jan08/obama-lou%20tribe.htm You can read what the GOP has cooked up for Barack Obama.

There's a lot of stupidity on this thread, and Carol Soprano would take the title if liam hadn't already retired it. The e-mail, which has never been shown to have been sent to the press by the Clinton campaign, addresses the unfair treatment of Hillary by the press. That's all it said. Why is the Clinton campaign somehow obligated to disavow an e-mail that says what many of us think? The photo of Obama is noteworthy for a lot of reasons. Photos of politicians in funny costumes oftrn appear in the press because they're different. It's unfortunate for Obama that he has to deal with the Muslim rumors, but that's not Hillary's problem. Pehaps he should consider not having his photo taken wearing a turban. That would be a good start, rather than whining when it shows up in the press.

So someone in the Clintin campaign sees the photo, thinks "Boy, if that was a picture of Hillary it would be all over the media" and sends it to someone else. Are you blowhards really saying that the proper response should be "I'd like to e-mail this to someone, but if anyone ever saw it, despite the fact that it's already been in the papers, they might have a negative thought about Obama, so I'll just keep my thoughts to myself." This isn't an e-mail rumor or a photoshopped picture, and there's no evidence that it was being sent to the press. I'd still like someone to tell me exactly what the Clinton campaign did wrong, without using terms like "obviously they did this" or "everyone knows they did that." Actual established facts, please. And keep in mind that there's no evidence whatsoever that the Clinton campaign distributed, came out with, passed around or did anything else with the picture, so please don't try to use that.

So Obama wore a turban and traditional garb. So what? I wear a lungyi when I go to South Asia.

I saw him the other day with a cowboy hat on. Does that mean he is a redneck?

A couple months ago we saw GW dressed up as Lawrence of Arabia. What does that mean?

I am sure I am in the minority, but I really think the election process brings out the worst in the US. Nationalism dressed up as patriotism, jingoism etc.

Hillary and McCain & his robot wife look like shrill ethnocentric white people who can't relate to anyone else. In that context, why does this picture of Obama be open to a different culture have to be only taken in the negative context?

Time for a change to being a bit more positive.

Mr Clinton disgraced the office of the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and to me that makes him a sorry S.O.B. O if he don't like being called that I am a 68 ys old Texan and will be glad to supply my address. Mrs Clinton stood by him which tells me she approved of what he did. She lied to us about HEALTH CARE REFORM WHEN THEY WERE RUNNING FOR OFFICE BEFORE AND HERE SHE IS DOING IT AGAIN. DEAR GOD PLEASE DON'T MY FELLOW TEXANS VOTE FOR CLINTONS LIES. If he says they did't lie to us what about the fact he swore under oath he had not had sex in the oval office. You have to give Arkansas credit they did NOT want nothing to do with them they couldn't even carry their home state during the election..AND NOW THEY ARE TRYING TO make a big deal out of Obama wearing a robe seens to me what he did was MUCH WORSE COME ON TEXAS WAKE UP. THEY BOTH ARE LIERS

I keep going back to their notion that pics of her in foreign garb exist as if the proposition is the same. Are they stupid or pretending to be to or just think the entire electorate is - to suggest that b/c there are so many pics of her in foreign garb he should not be embarrassed?!? As if a photo of a person of dark complexion and hers would have the same effect!?!

They're so incompetent they can't even come up w/ a coherent answer.

Let this end soon.