Ok, right now, everyone probably has heard something about the online flap over Obama appearing in a Somali tribal garb. The Obama campaign immediately hit out, calling it “the most shameful, offensive fear-mongering we’ve seen from either party in this election” and suggesting that it implies that “that the customs and cultures of other parts of the world are worthy of ridicule or condemnation.”

Clinton’s campaign quickly fired back saying, “Enough. If Barack Obama’s campaign wants to suggest that a photo of him wearing traditional Somali clothing is divisive, they should be ashamed. Hillary Clinton has worn the traditional clothing of countries she has visited and had those photos published widely. This is nothing more than an obvious and transparent attempt to distract from the serious issues confronting our country today and to attempt to create the very divisions they claim to decry.”

The photos were reportedly circulated by “Clinton staffers”, according to the Drudge Report.

While the Clinton clique hasn’t made any comment about these allegations, what springs to mind immediately was a previous attempt by Clinton staffers to brand Obama as a “Muslim who would destroy America”. Circulating pictures of Obama in “Muslim” garb is playing subconsciously on the open prejudice of Americans towards Muslims in general, while immediately hitting out at the Obama campaign for even daring to suggest that they might be responsible seems to indicate the start of a whole new phase of the campaign. I would hazard a guess that Hillary is on full Last Stand mode and is going to do *everything* to try and break Barack’s campaign, up to, and including laying minefields in his path regardless of the long term costs to the democratic prospects come November.

There’s an old Chinese saying, when two tigers fight, both will be injured…or something like that. John McCain must be secretly hoping that this proves to be the case.