I am still highly suspicious of drawing conclusions based on a typical freeze-frame news photo.

Drudge ran something a few weeks back showing what was ostensibly someone famous "flipping the bird" (I don't remember who it was.) His hand was near or on his face, middle finger extended.

I was rubbing the corner of my eye with a finger, under my glasses, when I realized I was using my middle finger. Heck, it's the longest one for getting behind my glasses, and I must use it all the time for rubbing an eye. A photo taken of me at that time would probably show an obvious "flipoff." Maybe not--I'm paying attention now and noticed my index finger is also slightly extended, but you can see what I mean.