Image: Matt Bevin/Twitter

From where do great leaders draw their inspiration? For George Washington, it was the Roman general Cincinnatus; for Abraham Lincoln, Kentucky’s greatest son, it was forebears like Henry Clay and great thinkers like Thomas Paine. For Matt Bevin, Kentucky’s present leader, it is a smear on the sidewalk that, if it isn’t an actual piece of shit, it certainly looks a lot like one.

The governor tweeted the above image yesterday morning, alongside the caption “Sometimes you find small signs of encouragement ❤in the most unusual places..(Sidewalk at the Capitol).#WeAreKY”

What is that thing, which Bevin evidently believes resembles a heart? Is it really poop? Is it a cicada shell turned on its side? Is it one of those wads of gum that starts to turn black from being stepped on so many times? Is it mud?

In any case, considering Bevin’s record—cutting tens of millions of dollars from higher education budgets, causing his own attorney general to sue him; suing planned Parenthood himself for providing abortions; reversing his predecessor’s executive orders that raised the minimum wage for government employees and reinstated voting rights to people convicted of felonies—this shitty thing is as fitting an inspiration as any.

We’ve reached out to Bevin’s communications director about what it actually is, and will update this post if we hear back.