Obama: Taking it on the Lip

That was then (way back on Wednesday), and this is now.

It’s an interesting juxtaposition between these Thanksgiving holiday photos on the TIME White House photo blog, the two pics offering quite a contrast concerning our “sporting” and vital President. (I liked to also register my approval for the first family manning the food pantry again, by the way.)

Of course, even with DC so keenly attuned to projections of strength and weakness, nobody would go so far as to draw political symbolism from Obama hurting after getting his lip split open on the b-ball court today, would they?

(photo 1:Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP. TIME caption: Ouch! President Barack Obama, with an ice pack over his mouth, looks out the second floor window of the White House during the arrival of the official White House Christmas tree. The President was injured during a game of basketball and required 12 stitches.photo 2: Larry Downing/Reuters. TIME caption: High Five: U.S. President Barack Obama and his family hand out food while visiting Martha’s Table food pantry in Washington, November 24, 2010.)