Iconography of Obama
They were selling Obama condoms after the Lincoln Memorial event last night. Today in Georgetown there is an exhibition of Obama paintings and posters - the iconography putting me in mind of religious art. I say this not to be sour, in fact the opposite: this is big.
In fact, there is a real risk that the media, far from over-emphasising the impact of the coming of Obama, tend to underplay it, assuming it is, at heart, just another transfer of power, when it is, arguably, something else entirely.
I was reading the other day that someone (Norman Mailer?) called JFK the "edge of mystery" - the point being made that the same could be said of O.
Meanwhile, a man who relies on many good books rather than one for his inspiration and education is being given plenty of advice. What strikes me about this list is its hesitancy in the pursuit of Western values. To many, this will be a good thing, a necessary corrective.
But I wonder whether Natan Sharansky's The Case for Democracy - Bush's favourite book and a worthy presidential reader - might eventually be sought out by this president as he comes face to face with those who (still) burn American flags and regard Americans as scum...
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