Barack's and Joe's Body Language

 Baker in Zhangmu, Tibet - photo by JoAnn Sturman

by Scott Sturman

Body language or kinesics is the study of non verbal communication, and what two better masters of the art are there to demonstrate their expertise than Barack and Joe?  If institutions granted PhD’s in the field, both would graduate summa cum laude.

We small people are reminded constantly by the media that Barack and Joe are really great guys.  Women in particular adore them and are drawn by their personal magnetism.  Men, too, emulate them and would like nothing better than to share a beer with them in the Rose Garden.  Incapable of duplicity or temptation, one could trust them alone with your little sister on a long Las Vegas weekend.

American swallowed the Kool Aid for years until this year’s debates, when Barack’s and Joe’s body language got the best of them.  Pravda brainwashes the peasants by informing them what the candidates really were saying, but overt gestures and mannerisms are impossible to hide.

Round 1:  The First Presidential Debate.  Emotions demonstrated:  Amusement, Contempt, Pleasure in oneself, Pride, Boredom.

Barack, while struggling to concentrate, gazed downward, listless and inattentive.  His opponent was beneath him and did not merit even the appearance of a half hearted performance.  Avoiding eye contact, his memorized talking points were rambling and unconvincing.  Was he looking for the TelePrompTer or just bored?

Round 2:  Vice Presidential Debate.  Emotions demonstrated:  Utter contempt, Amusement, Self satisfaction, Excessive hubris, Rudeness

Joe graduated top of his class in kinesis, and if there was any thought he was a gentleman, it quickly was put to rest.  Who knew a man could roll his eyes so far back in the sockets that the irises vanished?  His self satisfaction and hubris rose to toxic levels, as he laughed and smirked uncontrollably at his opponent’s responses.

Round 3:  The Second Presidential Debate.  Emotions demonstrated:  Extreme aggression, disdain, intellectual arrogance, bullying.

After his pitiful performance in the first debate, Barack assumed a street fighter’s demeanor, as attempted to overwhelm rather than persuade the audience.  Using the tactic of speaking long and loudly, any semblance of politeness or gentlemanliness was cast aside.  Saul Alinsky would have been proud to hear his disciple preaching from Rules for Radicals.

Round 4:  The Third Presidential Debate.  Emotions displayed:  Desperateness, Pugilism, Rancor, Disingenuousness.

Trying to make to transform the proverbial sow’s ear into a silk purse, Barack painted a perpetual scowl on his face as he leaned toward his opponent with his neck flexed and head extended.  A wide grin occasionally spread across his face as he sought to ridicule his challenger; his body language was all about ripping Mitt’s throat out on national TV.

Where were the fleeting smiles, the nodding heads, and the arms extended with the palms facing upwards which one would expect from a “nice” guy?  The debates demonstrated a picture is worth tomes of newspeak and no amount of spin or legerdemain can prove otherwise.  Barack and Joe may be many things, but a nice guys are not one of them. 

Zhangmu, Tibet - photo by JoAnn Sturman

 

News? Paper

Flowers at Ground Zero - photo by JoAnn Sturman

Scott Sturman
fliesinyoureyes.com
 
By its very name a newspaper delivers news to its readers.  This morning the Fresno Bee, one of the West Coast’s chapters of Pravda, deemed the Vice Presidential Debates hardly newsworthy.  The front page was plastered with old news about the Lance Armstrong doping scandal and color pictures of the Fresno Fair, but there was no clue that tonight two men with very different agendas would be debating in hopes of becoming the nation’s second highest elected official.

If one were not a political junky or simply inattentive to these matters, how deep would someone have to dig to find reference to the debate?  Surely by page two or three, a casual reader would discover something relating to the event.  Alas, it was not until page seven where a 2x2 inch box located in the bottom right corner of the page alerted the readers about the nationally televised debate.

Journalism is not so much about news nowadays, but propaganda.  I imagine if the editors of the Bee thought bumbling Joe would take Paul Ryan to the woodshed tonight, the debate time would be displayed front and center on page one.  Yet they know as well as any the patented Biden smirk and bullying behavior will be in full force, so it is best to pretend the debate never happened. 

Aftermath of the Great Vice Presidential Debates

“Riches and fame make a gentleman not.”  - W.R. Priskna

The morning after the great debate Pravda's front page was adorned by a color photo of the event.  The editors, hoping none of their readers had seen the debate, lavished praise on battling Joe Biden.  He was tough and in command of the fact; just the type of man who should help lead the country.

Ask any expert in the field of body language, and they will testify that rolling eyes and laughing at another’s seriously intended comments shows utter contempt and disdain.  Joe Biden’s Cheshire Cat smirk and bullying tactics at the Vice Presidential debates were reported by the main stream media as a demonstration of aggressiveness, but most viewers with any sense of manners preferred the terms arrogance and rudeness.

The morning after the debate I was working with a group of women who are not usually politically oriented but nonetheless watched the contest between Representative Ryan and Vice President Biden.  To a person they were appalled by the Vice President’s boorish and immature behavior.  “He made a fool of himself,” one noted.  “It was Paul Ryan who kept his poise and acted like a gentleman.”

The weekend talk show experts seemed to have missed the point, as well.  The central issue was not controversial moderator Martha Raddatz or the flurry of facts flying back and forth between the two candidates.  The debate was defined by Biden's outlandish behavior and taunting demeanor reminiscent of the National Football League of old.    

Despite the spin, Joe Biden did not help his party’s cause.  Most of those who watched the debate saw a soon-to-be septuagenarian stuffed in an expensive suit, who conducted himself like a street fighter rather than a statesman.

   Tibet - photo by JoAnn Sturman