litmus test

This is my current desktop:

I'm not enamored with all that the President has done, but I like pictures of adults acting silly with children. And this President has some really cute pictures with kids.

But that's not the point. The point is that I had to have my laptop worked on today, and every time a window was closed, this picture kept coming back front and center. Now, honestly, what is your reaction to the President of the United States blowing on a toddler's outstretched dandelion? Aw? Shucks? Something, right?

The dude who was working on my computer? Nothing. Nada. Zip. It could only mean one thing: he thought Barack Obama is a soulless tyrant, or the Antichrist, intent on eating that child.

Which makes me think this picture is the perfect litmus test: do you have anyone in your life who falls mysteriously silent when you espouse the benefits of healthcare reform? Or someone who goes lukewarm when you mention what a great family the Obamas seem to be? Who quickly covers up their "I'm With Joe Wilson" t-shirt when you enter the room?

You might have a town hall silent screamer on your hands. Someone who doesn't necessarily attend, but agrees with 9/12 teabaggers; this someone might think people who go on potential martyrdom missions by parading pistols in front to the Secret Service are making rational choices.

But lunacy aside, you'll have someone without a sense of joy. And that's far more disconcerting than whether they advocate the assassination, overthrow, or deportation of the President of the United States.

But if you show them this picture and they don't react, they probably want all of the those things, too.