They always tell you who they are, and Obama is no exception.

I ignored the picture featured on the Drudge front page yesterday. I ignored it because I thought people were being too sensitive. The President putting his shoes on the table while talking to Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu. Hey I do that kind of stuff … ummm … OK I don’t because my Mom would have whacked me and I’ve never forgotten that. But a meaningful picture?

As it turns out, it is. It is because it is an official picture from the White House. The folks in the West Wing took it, reviewed it, and decided to release it because they felt it sent a message. But what was the message? A relaxed President hard at work? Hardly … Scott Johnson at Powerline features a commentary on this by Professor Paul Rahe. Remember as you read this post this one line … “They always, but always tell you who they are … it’s part of the game, its part of the thrill.”

If we are to comprehend what is going on, we must pay close attention not only to what Obama says but to what he conveys in other ways. His tone is nearly always moderate but what he hints at and what he intimates by way of body language often convey the opposite. Witness his warm embrace of Hugo Chavez. Behind the thin veneer of politeness, there is, I suspect, something ugly lurking. In the first of the autobiographies that he claims to have written, Barack Obama frequently speaks of himself as being in the grips of rage. We would do well to take him at his word. If we are to stop him from doing great damage to this country and to our friends and allies, we must take every opportunity that comes our way to unmask the man.

“Unmask” … that’s not necessary. The mask will always slip. Sometimes because it is too exhausting to wear it, sometimes because it is too much fun to show the real face. Just pay attention. The President is a charming and handsome man. You need to be watching and listening those times when the words and actions don’t match the looks and the charm. If that makes no sense to you … it will.