First Principles

A friend of mine sent me this:

These communist dictator Obama posters creep me out generally, but this one just made me smile.  Part of it was that Optimus Prime was such a hero to me as a kid, but there was something else about it.  I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I went looking for the source so I could give proper credit to the artist.

A quick Google search found this site, and one of the comments on the relevant post nailed it for me.  The commenter said:

agreed, the nicest of the “change” knockoffs.
BUT, can we stop now. The “change” poster knockoffs have gotten as tired as the whole “got (insert clever quip of choice)” from the “got milk” campaign.

The reason dictators traffick in these types of imagery is that they work.  People surely know they’re being manipulated, they know it’s propaganda, they know it’s over the top –  but it bends their perceptions and works to cement the desired image of an all-powerful, fatherly overseer reaching near the status of the divine.

But overexposure waters down this effect substantially, and outright mockery can work to reverse the desired awe the posters are intended to inspire.  This poster does both.  This is a service, considering the dangers to a free society personality cults truly are.  And no one can argue that the Obama campaign didn’t consist of about 80% Personality Cult Stoking.

So I disagree with the commenter.  Keep it up!  Keep making Obama’s messianic, dictatorial image making “tired”.  Maybe then, Obama will stop believing his own press and will understand he can’t miraculously conjure wealth from debt, or prosperity from the punishment of producers.

For some more good (and far more stinging) examples, check out this deck of cards at The People’s Cube.  They’re the coolest thing since Saddam graced the Ace of Spades…