An original “I Am A Man” poster from the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike fetched one of the biggest prices in history for civil rights collectibles.

[caption id="attachment_8447" align="aligncenter" width="607" caption="I Am A Man"][/caption]Today at Swann Auction Galleries in New York the winning bid was $34,000.00The auction is still in progress and includes 392 lots. The poster was put up for an initial minimum bid of $4,000 and an estimated value of $8,000 to $10,000.Memphis collector Larry Moss tried to purchase but finally relented at the $20,000.00 mark.The price quickly rose. “I chased it way on up there, but I got whupped,” said Moss, who said he dropped out shortly after bidding hit the $20,000 range. “I went considerably higher than I meant to and still was not in the hunt.” Moss said bidding for most auction items was in the estimated range. “That poster was far and away the highest priced piece in the auction.”

Sergeant Crowley, the sole class act in this trio, helps the handicapped Professor Gates down the stairs, while Barack Obama, heedless of the infirmities of his friend and fellow victim of self-defined racial profiling, strides ahead on his own.

This picture becomes a metaphor for ObamaCare. The elderly are left in the back, with only the kindness of the Crowleys of the world, the stand up guys, to depend on. The government has other priorities.

This image will have genuine resonance. It captures something that older Americans in particular can relate to. The President presses ahead with a program that will tell them to take painkillers instead of getting that artificial hip.

At every stage of the entire Gates affair, Obama has provided a revealing tell. The "acted stupidly" blunder revealed that he automatically blames the police and thinks they really are stupid to begin with. It didn't trigger a single alarm bell in his mind as he figured out what to say.

Without his scripts, Obama is no longer the master performer.