Classic Glassock

With the the 40th anniversary of Bobby Kennedy’s assassination this past Friday, The NY Times ran a feature in their weekly magazine last week about the photos that Paul Fusco took while on the train that carried his body from New York to Washington, DC. A presentation of some of the pictures with Fusco’s narration is here. The loss captured in the photos is visceral and intimately touching. The Times describes some of the photos…

A black woman kneels on the dirt, a white purse hanging from her arm, her hands locked in prayer.

A small boy holds his hands flat against the pockets of his shorts.

A woman in dark glasses bites her fingers.

A man on crutches waves one crutch high in the air.

An older woman holds a handkerchief over her mouth.

A mother holds the hands of two children; one of them holds the hand of a third.

Three teenagers salute.

A white-haired man waves his straw hat in farewell.

Some hands hold American flags; others hold wildflowers.

An old man clutches his throat, and some people fold their arms, hiding their hands as if for protection.

A man and a woman wave a big hand-lettered sign: SO-LONG BOBBY.

The train moves on, along the worn silver rails.

So long. So long. So long.

“R.F.K. Funeral Train— Rediscovered,” an exhibition appearing at Danziger Projects in New York can be seen June 6 to July 31. His book, “R.F.K.,” will be published by Aperture in September.

I’ll go with Tim Russert, George Stephanopoulos, and Matt Drudge and say that Barack Obama is the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party. Expect to see a wave of superdelegates announce their support for him in the coming days and weeks. Or, dropping hints like this:

Well, I am certainly doing my best not to take sides in this presidential thing. But I think that flexing our muscles, threatening people, threatening countries, is not the American way. We have — as President Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt said, “speak softly, carry a big stick.” Words to that effect. And that’s what I think we should do. Speak softly, make sure that people know that we can react if we have to, but let’s not go around threatening people.

-Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Hillary Clinton’s promise to “totally obliterate” Iran.

Obama will deliver his acceptance speech at the Democratic Convention on August 28, 2008. That’s exactly 45 years to the day after Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream Speech.” We’ve come a long way, but still have much to do.

Tip via Sullivan

The Strange Attractor highlights a NYT article on the support that Obama has garnered from the art community.

Whether or not Barack Obama would make a good president, it’s clear that he makes an excellent muse. It’s hard to think of a political candidate in recent memory who has, in real time, inspired so much creativity, exercised free of charge and for the campaign’s benefit. Perhaps this suggests something about Obama — or maybe it suggests something about his supporters.

Next up? Graphic Designer Scott Hansen will produce a limited run of 5000 prints at $70 a piece. Do the math kids…a nice sum for the Obama campaign. Stay tuned this week for an image of the print.

As for the McCain campaign?

***UPDATE: Perhaps artists are standing behind Obama because of this

As usual The Colbert Report hits it right on the nose…

Click here to view the video

Via Andy Borowitz

In an act that campaign insiders said indicated an irrevocable break with his former pastor, Sen. Barack Obama today de-friended the Rev. Jeremiah Wright on Facebook.

At a press conference in Gary, Indiana, chief Obama strategist David Axelrod said that Sen. Obama had to de-friend the Rev. Wright on Facebook “because he was getting really annoying.”

“Every day, Rev. Wright was sending Sen. Obama new Facebook applications like ‘What Superhero Are You?’ and ‘What 1980’s Toy Are You?’” Mr. Axelrod said. “After awhile, enough is enough.”