Now I know what Obama meant by engagement

Wait until the Republicans get a hold of this! The Wall Street Journal‘s Mary O’Grady, also known as the last Contra to stumble out of the jungles of Latin America’s Cold War, will likely pass out on the spot. It’s so wrong…and yet, to the right, it will feel so right.

Full-on-the-mouth man love between American socialist Barack Obama and macho Bolivarian Hugo Chavez! Is this geopolitics? Sean Penn’s latest homoerotic fantasy? Or is it capitalism at work?

Of course, the answer is: it’s all of the above. The picture is from the latest Benetton advertising campaign, one that seeks to give a jolt of edgy relevance to the fading brightly-colored sweater purveyor. It is part of a campaign that also features the equally steamy picture of Pope Benedict kissing the Sheikh of the al-Azhar mosque, Ahmed al-Tayeb. But that one goes too far, clearly. After all, who could imagine a senior official of the Catholic Church… Er, never mind. I’ve gotten myself in trouble in that department in the past. I’ll just let the picture speak for itself.