No doubt, we weren’t the only ones who howled with laughter when we spotted the current Creative Loafing in a box in Decatur.  The cover photo of Bob Barr is delightfully evil.  It is among several taken during a Libertarian Party fundraiser. Photographer Joeff Davis — if that’s his real name — used the tried-and-true technique of below-the-subject lighting.  It put horns on Barr’s head (in the print version) and put Spockian shadows on his eyebrows.  Barr’s reptilian smile is all his own doing.

(Did somebody mention Spock?  Sorry, then resistance is futile.   If the f-word or homoerotic themes offend you, then skip this rather side-splitting video.)

Given the relative anonymity of his presidential candidacy, Barr probably didn’t complain much.  This would contrast sharply with the reaction John McCain’s camp had over a photo that appears in this month’s Atlantic.

Apparently, Atlantic hired a lefty photographer who happily took her political agenda to the shoot.  The result was a photo that McCain’s backers used as ammo to gripe about what they see as a media conspiracy against their guy.

The Fox News Channel was apoplectic.  Its snarling interview with Atlantic’s editor was ringing with naked partisan outrage.  (Regular viewers of Fox News are probably accustomed to this.  We aren’t.)  The Atlantic editor apologized and denounced the photographer.  The dissatisfied Fox anchor all but demanded legal action or, it seemed, a good ol’ fashioned necktie party.