um . . two white women and two phallic monuments? anyone else interpreting celebrity ad this way?

[zazen]

I could only now bring myself to watch the "celebrity" video now.

Okay. I'm no expert in semiotics, and I doubt McCain's handlers are either, but they lead off with two white women and then place Obama next to huge phallic monuments. Normally, you don't put your opposition in front of MLK-like crowds and next to huge patriotism-inspiring American obelisks. So why would they risk this now? Why deliberately put him next to these icons?

Someone in Organizational Communication or Southern History could definitely get a journal article out of this. Even if this weren't conscious, the creators of this ad are articulating deep stereotypes about black male potency and its perceived threat to white women (and the egos of white males).

Has this been pointed out yet? If Clarence Thomas, a clear sexual harasser in my book, can successfully use the "lynching" meme to silence an African American woman's claims of his abuse, can't we bring up the lynching iconography when it's in fact BEING USED AGAINST OUR CANDIDATE?