I received this campaign mailer yesterday. Look at it carefully.
Am I crazy, or is this a photo of a protest with Kim Gardner photoshopped in? Doesn’t it look like Ms. Gardner is leading the rally?!
Several things stood out when I looked at it. First, Ms. Gardner is alone — that is, she has none of her usual flunkies by her side. She’s hardly ever by herself in public. She doesn’t even walk alone from her parking spot directly in front of the door to the Carnahan Courthouse, where the Circuit Attorney’s Offices are located. She has her “bodyguard” (I mean, “investigator”) waiting for her, and he then escorts her from the car to her office. Every day. Someone who is fearful of being accosted walking 15 feet from her car to a courthouse with entrances manned by deputy sheriffs is not going to walk into a crowded group of protesters.
The second thing that stood out is that this protest is composed of predominately white folks. Google photographs of Kim Gardner, and you’ll see why this is significant.
The third thing I noticed was that everyone in the photo is walking (with one leg in front of the other — this is an action shot) except Kim Gardner.
The fourth thing I noticed is the person behind Kim Gardner. Look closely at Ms. Gardner’s right side, particularly from her head to her elbow. That portion of the photo looks distorted to me. And, more of that person’s body should be seen from the hand down.
Finally, why is she carrying a flower?
I can’t prove it’s photoshopped but it certainly smells to me — and I have a fairly developed bullshit detector. Of course, it’s not illegal to have yourself photoshopped into a protest march. But it does say something about a candidate’s true nature — it’s manipulative, and it’s dishonest.
But even if it was not photoshopped, it was clearly staged as a photo op.
Whether you carry a Bible or a flower.