<i>Politico</i> Explores Ramifications Of Obama's Beachwear

Via Wonkette comes this latest exercise in journalistic superfluousness from Politico's Carrie Budoff Brown, TOTALLY nailing down the high-wire implications of the President-Elect dressing as if he were at the beach or something:

Obama has been photographed several times without his shirt as a presidential candidate but he's about to step into the White House -- so how much skin is too much? There is a fine line, experts said, and this time at least, Obama was on the right side of it.

"He is being authentically Barack Obama," said Howard Bragman, a Los Angeles public relations expert and author of "Where's My Fifteen Minutes." "I don't see it as disrespectful of the office. If he was wearing Speedos? Yeah. A thong? Maybe that wouldn't be the best look."

So there you have it. Experts say Obama tread closely to the "fine line" that borders the symbolic region where sportswear causes the collapse of the Republic. Luckily, he didn't wear a Speedo -- a "center-left" garment if there ever was one.