The Presidential Evil Eye?

It's a look rarely seen during the '08 campaign, but now White House photographers are whispering among themselves about the increased frequency of a new President Obama visage: The Evil Eye. Drudge is all over it today. (Most Drudge flash reports are extremely short lived so if the link is busted, don't blame us!)

As the summer begins, White House watchers have spotted a new look by President Obama: The Evil Eye!

Staffers have joked about the menacing glance, which comes when the president meets with world leaders who are not aligned with his progressive view.

White House photographers have captured the "evil eye" in recent weeks, during sessions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Colombia's Alvaro Uribev.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi got hit with the commander's malocchio last week in the Oval office.

And at least one White House reporter has been on the receiving end of the daggers during a press conference.

My wonderment is this: Does the president know he is giving out these "evil eyes"? If so, what is his purpose?

Is he trying to intimidate, or is he attempting to cast some sort of hex on his target?

If he is unaware of "the look," some close confidant should advise him to cease and desist. How can you conduct diplomacy if you wear your emotions so close to the surface? Does he not realize that the world press will carry these images to the home countries of these leaders, where people will look at them and wonder, "Who is this clown? Why is he giving our prime minister (president, whatever) the Evil Eye?

Personally, I don't give a rat's posterior how Mr. Obama grimaces in private, but he is my president and he represents me and all other Americans in his official duties. I would rather not be represented by the "Evil Eye."

In recent weeks we are increasingly seeing a president who is short-tempered, thin-skinned and who delights in acerbic responses to questions he would rather not answer -- and usually doesn't. He's not happy that his honeymoon with the press appears to be ending (one wag said that it has reached the "cigarette smoking" stage). His disdain for reporters who stay objective and ask tough questions is quite apparent. You have to wonder how staff members are getting treated.

We haven't seen this level of irritability since the days of Tricky Dick Nixon who, at least, usually kept his ire under control in public, reserving it for profanity-laced rants behind closed doors. Even so, that didn't end well, did it?

Today Rasmussen reports that Mr. Obama's Presidential Approval Index is back down to -2. Expect it to drop further if he cannot control his temper. Or his Evil Eye.