Bob McCarty Writes

Click image to see photo as it appeared on BarackObama.com.

A controversial photo (right) that captured Barack Obama sitting alone in a room, barren except for a framed photo of champion boxer Muhammad Ali upon the wall behind him, has been pulled from the Democratic Party presidential nominee’s web site.

In a post on this blog 11 months ago, I described the photo this way:

On the surface, it seems innocent enough. The tired Democrat presidential candidate. Seated. Alone. Contemplating his future. Above him, the world champion boxer, Muhammad Ali, stands above another defeated opponent, exuding strength and confidence — the kind of strength-by-association stuff a political campaign manager wants the photo to convey to potential voters.

On the flip side, however, the photo is troubling in that it brings attention to a man who, in 1964, cited his Muslim faith as a reason to claim “conscientious objector” status and refuse to serve in the United States Army during the Vietnam War.

If I’m reading this obviously-staged photo correctly, Obama wants to be associated with a four-times-married Muslim draft dodger who made millions by beating people up inside a boxing ring.

Perhaps, the Obama campaign realized that its waning support is due, in part, to the fact that many Americans — including those who’ve seen the photo in question — have grown suspicious about the people with whom the junior senator from Illinois associates and about his world view.  Ali was, after all, a Muslim convert and draft dodger who refused to fight for his country.

I’m guessing that’s why the web site was scrubbed of the photo linking Obama to Ali.  But that’s just my guess.