Open Thread: Pointer-in-Chief

I’ve made endless fun of Bill Clinton’s non-accusatory knuckle-pointing, but when perusing media imagery I understand why he did it: you look like a snot wagging your finger about in people’s faces. Sure, he messed up the technique from time to time, but he was lampooned because he more often than not did this:

Or the rare double kucklepoint:

The technique was creepily brilliant: address those to whom you’re speaking in an authoritative but non-confrontational way. There’s no index finger upon which to impale your audience, emotionally, anyway. For all his charms, Obama hasn’t seemed to grasp or lost the grip he had back in 2004 entirely. His relationship with the press has grown testy; hosts on MSNBC, a useful barometer as to where the President stands with the socialist base within the Democratic party, have lamented that he hasn’t done enough.

Perhaps that’s why the progressive-claimed Greatest Speaker Ever need to bring Bill Clinton in a couple of weeks ago to pinch hit during what can only be described as the Ghosts of Presidents Past presser, wherein he wowed the press corps with parlor tricks and Sith lightning.

Is it just me, or has the President lost his speaking shine? Or has he just not reviewed how he lately comes across in photos?

Enjoy.