Chances are if you caught the news this morning you saw the picture of Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer pointing her finger at President Obama by Air Force One that landed in Phoenix Wednesday.
They were both smiling in the photo, but the body language that stands out is her finger wagging at him. We've probably all pointed a finger at someone. As a mom these are not my proudest moments. In fact, I've learned pointing fingers at kids (or adults) doesn't work. It usually backfires. It's almost like waving a mini white flag.
Kids see right through the finger pointing. When I point, I usually am so frustrated that I am unable to say the best words to make my point. And if somehow I miraculously manage to utter the right words, the pointing finger is far too distracting.
Back to the President and the Governor. In the age of cell phone cameras, you would think we would learn the lesson. Photo ops are every where. And photos often speak louder than words--or worse, say the opposite of what you were really saying.
Before their meet and greet on the tarmac I could have guessed the tensions would be high on both sides. I'm not going to get into all the political ramifications of the photo. In a nutshell, the President and the Governor publicly disagree over a few things such as border relations. Her tell-all book "Scorpions for Breakfast" scolds the President for lecturing her and goes on to say the Obama administration ignores the illegal immigration issue because "migrants will help Mr. Obama register more Democratic votes" according to NYTimes.com.
Stop. Rewind. If she complains in her book about being upset because she was being lectured at, I wonder why she thought it was a good idea to lecture with her scolding finger? And this is when I think the finger pointing backfires. Her intended message was probably lost with a hand gesture.
Was her finger pointing disrespectful? Did it backfire and make it impossible to get her point across? Or do we just roll our eyes? She is getting tons of press about her finger pointing. And she has not apologized.
What do you think? More on this topic here:
A Frosty Meeting for Obama and Arizona Governor - NYTimes.com
Jan Brewer gets an earful from Obama in Ariz. - CBS News
Ariz. Governor Jan Brewer squares off with Obama - The Washington Post
Jan Brewer 'breathless' after encounter with Obama - latimes.com
Pointing fingers getting out of hand? – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs
Obama-Brewer tiff fires up cyberspace: USAToday
(Photo: Cell phone photo of TV coverage with post processing by me.)
