Obama: On The Progressive Front

Whether or not Obama is taking a progressive turn, the White House seems fully engaged in prompting the suggestion.

Not only was there this photo leading the NYT front page yesterday of Obama standing beside Paul Volker like Wall Street avengers. I also came across the picture above. The photo was taken by Callie Shell, who — given the friendship she forged with Obama on the campaign trail — is as close to being to an in-house photographer as you can get while still shooting for the MSM.

The image is part of a TIME slide show marking Obama’s first year, photographed over the course of the day before that milestone (this past Tuesday). Although the caption reads: “The President leans in to hear Economic Advisor Larry Summers at the end of the economic briefing,” what it looks as much like — given reports Obama has been putting the heat on his largely Wall Street-bred financial team — is Obama putting Larry Summers under the gun.

(photo: Callie Shell/Aurora for TIME)