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Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama spoke today in Chicago in
front of a seal surely meant to convey a presidential image and his
readiness for the job at stake. Instead, he made me giggle.
The similarity between the new seal "logo" and the official
Presidential Seal is evident and requires no argument. CNN points out
the obvious features for us.
The problem is that Obama's seal does not look presidential; it looks
derivative, a parody. Instead of elevating him, the seal creates a
defining context of an amateur at play, a pretender to the office. It is what we would expect from
a movie set or a Saturday Night Live skit, which is why it is entertaining instead of convincing.
One might see it with wry
humor,if it appeared in a high school class president election. Wry
humor is not the standard for "real" candidates. A less generous view might find it nothing short of signaling counterfeit authority. Afterall, it replaces the
American flag with the "Obama flag," and the word "Obama" occupies precisely the same spot as "President" on the true POTUS seal. It is more than a hint presumptuous.
In changing something so globally and
figuratively powerful as the Presidential Seal, Obama has recast his
definitional, hopeful "Change" promise into something at once trivial and
frightening -- seemingly silly but actually shocking. Talk about "audacity." Change is one thing; pure disrespect for the symbols of the office one hopes to earn is another entirely.
Play-acting may have worked for Reagan; it is laughable on Obama. He
is not an actor, or so he had us believe until today's stage prop.
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