Someone has been papering Los Angeles with posters that depict President Obama as the “Joker” from “Batman. My first impression was that someone had too much time on his hands – ho hum. Others were not so unimpressed and the outrage has been flowing.
Here are some thoughts on the poster and the reaction to it.
As satire and political comment the poster misses the mark. Others have well explained that Obama is nothing like the Joker. Andrew Sullivan does the job with the help of some others, here and here. You can also see the poster there.
What really amuses me is the reaction of some people. People who had no problem when President Bust was depicted as the same Joker in Vanity Fair or as other deranged and demonic characters. One of the favorites was Bush-as-Hitler both in spoken word as well as in caricature.
Bush As Hitler
Here is one example. Do a Google search and you will find hundreds, if not
Bush as Dracula
thousands. On the right we have Bush as Dracula on the cover of the LA Weekly. I find it funny that Steven Mikulan was offended enough by the Obama poster that he opined that “The only thing missing is a noose.”
Steve, it is political satire. It may be bad satire but it does not, in spite of the white-face, contain a racist or racial element. And there is nothing about killing President Obama. That was an all too common theme of some who hated Bush but this poster is not in that camp. Your noose comment is unwarranted.
Predictably, some on the right are in heaven over this. Because the word “Socialist” is on the poster they somehow think that there is a grassroots reaction to Obama and his policies. Over at the “American Thinker” they said that “It is starting. Open mockery of Barack Obama, as disillusionment sets in with the man, his policies, and the phony image of a race-healing, brilliant, scholarly, middle-of-the-roader.” I will not debate their points here but I will say that “open mockery” has been the hallmark of some people since Obama announced his candidacy. And “open mockery” is not confined to one side of the political spectrum, nor is it a new phenomenon.
“Open mockery” is just a symptom of how cheapened the discourse in America has become. Facts and reasoned argument are replaced with name-calling, jokes, and crude depictions of our political leaders. Like them or not I think they deserve better. I think America deserves better.
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