Obama mania: Is this 2008 ... or 1984? "reminds me of totalitarian cult"

[jackson_dem]

Here is the chairman Mao style photo that accompanies the article and contains the poster that is referenced in it.

-snip-

But we ask you, does the campaign poster on this page remind you of a totalitarian cult?

Wait, don't answer that.

The Soviet-style heroic Obama, the use of a single word "Hope," do make the SEPTA bus shelter posters a bit reminiscent of George Orwell's "1984."

Its more direct antecedent is John Carpenter's 1988 paranoid totalitarian fantasy flick, "They Live." Replace the word "Hope" with "Obey" on that Obama poster and tell us what you think.

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/clout/200804...

[tabatha]

1. People are sooooo jealous of Obama

that they stoop to any idiocy.

Was JFK support a cult?

Not that I think JFK and Obama compare - but he generated the same enthusiasm.

On edit:

1984 is a bad comparison - because Obama wants to restore the civil rights we have lost.
He has repeated time and time again - from the ground up - that is NOT authoritarian, or big brother.
It is "we the people".

Some people don't think logically.

[jackson_dem]

5. JFK won by less than 1% and had no Stalin-style posters, murals, etc.

[bilgewaterbill]

13. And Gore ran away with the nomination. The difference: Hillary.

[SoxFan]

75. Nope, not at all

Wait...what?

[verges]

176. Sonny Bono performed at a

Bobby Kennedy benefit? What happened!?

[dchill]

156. "Stalin-style posters"

Done deal. If you say so. Nice, and soooo subliminal.

[verges]

177. Stalin? Mao?

Looks more like Andy Warhol's style to me.

[PoliticalAmazon]

191. Typical Clinton demonization; they walk lock-step with the DLC. n/t

[billbuckhead]

6. Hillary's opponent looks like Satan in those artsy pictures.

[undeterred]

So how long have you and Satan been acquainted?

[JVS]

112. I don't see the resemblance

[ekwhite]

178. Although the woman down there kissing Satan's butt does look kind of familiar

[JVS]

179. The ritual of kissing the devil's butt is initiation into being a witch.

And that's exactly what this picture is all about.

[chascarrillo]

190. Oh no! We can't have artsy!!!

Please stay in Georgia. Don't move. Thanks.

[PoliticalAmazon]

193. Criticizing "artsy" sounds like a Republican to me. n/t

[PoliticalAmazon]

192. Hillary behaves like Satan--will do anything to get her way. n/t

[Writer]

183. To assume jealousy in other people is a sign of narcissism. n/t

[sellitman]

2. Wow.

Your hatred has no depth limits.


How sad for you.

[AX10]

Don't shoot the messenger.

Read the article.

[depakid]

9. Sometimes the proof is in the posts

[sellitman]

10. The post didn't appear magically.

It's a fair comment.

[TahitiNut]

93. Dumpster-diving

The posters were created by Fairey as his way of endorsing Obama. A different poster, by the artist Munk One, is also displayed on SEPTA bus shelters.

Sergant said that the ad space - on about 40 shelters - was purchased by Obama supporters and not coordinated with his campaign.

"I can't ever remember a time when the artist community has come together in support of a candiate like this," Sergant said.

It's pretty pitiful when a Hillbot goes dumpster-dving and then works to make the garbage smell even worse.

Chow down, maggots.

[Why Syzygy]

137. And I read all the weepy calls for Obama supporters to *be nice*.

Yet today the board is flooded with more anti-Obama crap. It always backfires on them. You would think a person would learn.

[PoliticalAmazon]

194. This is Hillary's style--whine about being "attacked" at same time...

...she is planning an attack. Again, BushJr-Rovian campaign tactics.

[AX10]

3. It is strange.

Obama is a centrist most of the time. He has mearly re-packaged what already exists.

[depakid]

4. Many people here and abroad have been a bit unnerved by some of this

Worse, it's likely to backfire down the line....

[AX10]

7. The McCain campaign seems calm...

compared to all the hoopla going around Obama's campaign.

[walldude]

19. That's because everytime McCain opens his mouth

he shows how stupid and ignorant he is. His handlers are trying to keep him quiet as much as possible. Here's todays McCainism


McCain: It was al-Sadr that declared the ceasefire, not Maliki. … With respect, I don’t think Sadr would have declared the ceasefire if he thought he was winning. Most times in history, military engagements, the winning side doesn’t declare the ceasefire. The second point is, overall, the Iraqi military performed pretty well. … The military is functioning very effectively.


Clueless. Yet I have yet to see a post about this genius statement. Why go after McCain when Hillary and Obama are more deserving targets

[jackson_dem]

8. Exactly and the "devoted" Obamites are blind to this

Obamanaia can't last forever and there will be an inevitable backlash, like there often is to pop culture fads.

[tabatha]

12. Some people don't think logically.

1984 is a bad comparison - because Obama wants to restore the civil rights we have lost.

He has repeated time and time again - from the ground up - that is NOT authoritarian, or big brother.

It is "we the people".
It is "we the people".
It is "we the people".

NOT 1984.

[depakid]

20. The imagery there is still creepy

actually, that one reminds me a little of those corporate "motivational" posters....

[tabatha]

23. I think it is just modern graphics.

[depakid]

28. with a retro influence

not something the campaign ought to be putting out there, unless they want more reactions like the one in the column.

Something to think about with yard signs and bumper stickers, too.

[QC]

100. It has a Soviet Realist quality. Looks like the propaganda posters from that era. n/t

[Recursion]

212. I see Warhol and Liechtenstein more than Soviet, but whatever (nt)

[JVS]

32. Modern graphics are teh evilz

[Lilith Velkor]

181. ...

[jackson_dem]

33. You buy that? It isn't about "us". It is all about the savior Obama...

[CTLawGuy]

65. its hiliarious

that all these people forget that Hillary voted for the war, and the Patriot Act and makes up stories about things that happened to her. Also, she told NYers that she's "always" been a Yankees fan.


And they call Obama Orwellian.

[jackson_dem]

66. Obama also voted for the Patriot Act, to fund the war, and he fudged similary in PA

He was asked recently which PA football team he preferred. He had a little something for fans of both, claiming to have been a Steelers fan when growing up but now preferring the Eagles. Oh, Philadelphia is much larger than Pittsburgh. No audacity in saying you prefer the Philly team.

[undeterred]

72. He wasn't in the Senate when the Patriot Act was voted on in 2001

so how exactly did he do that?

[jackson_dem]

86. He voted to reauthorize it in the Senate

As to the original Patriot Act, which passed 98-1, notice how you never hear of Obama speaking out against it in 2001-2002?

[CTLawGuy]

80. delete title

he wasn't in the senate for the Patriot Act, and he voted to fund those poor people we have stuck there, as did Hillary. And do you have a link for who he says is his favorite team. I'm sure it's the Bears, since he's from Chicago.

[jackson_dem]

lol what an ironic charge to make given your "intelligent" reply

He voted to reauthorize the Patriot Act. You need to use your self-proclaimed "intelligence" to read better. He wasn't asked who his favorite team was. He was asked which Pennsylvania team he preferred and he, as usual, straddled the question. You can't bring up the Yankees/Cubs thing and then ignore what Obama himself did just last week!

[CTLawGuy]

95. not the same thing

as voting for it originally, which I was referring to. You didn't specify that he voted to REAUTHORIZE, but fine, whatever, you win.

of course he was going to straddle the question, he's not a huge fan of either team over the other. That is totally different than claiming you have "always" been a fan of a team from a state you've barely been to before that point.

None of this changes the fact that you are on a sinking ship, so keep laughing. I will be, when SS Hillary does its impression of the Titanic.

1627 - 1492. Scoreboard!

[Condem]

21. Yup

Like the Beatles.

[walldude]

25. delete

responded to the wrong post

[Neshanic]

57. In 2025 this will be the "hot" item to have on your apartment wall.

[SeaLyons]

202. "inevitable backlash"

and tremendous disappointment.

[Skip Intro]

11. And a beam of light will shine from the window upon you, and you will have an epiphany, and

you will know, you have to vote for Barack Obama.

[GoldieAZ49]

233. wrong nt

[Lefty-Taylor]

14. J-Dem, as I've noticed for several months, now, your imagination and paranoia has run wild.

To compare this poster to a Mao poster is stooping too low -- even for you! Before you ask: Yes, I do support Obama (as you may recall) but I originally supported Edwards. To suggest that those of us who support O are cult members is demeaning and just plain silly, especially given my absolute repulsion to any cult, religion or nationalism.

One more thing -- HRC will lose, despite her manic desperation, transparent lies and dirty tricks.

[izzybeans]

15. Love the poster. I've been looking to get one myself.

Thanks for reminding me.

[madrchsod]

173. here ya go

http://obeygiant.com /
Obey Giant - WORLDWIDE PROPAGANDA DELIVERY

they were giving away pasters but they ended up on ebay..if omama gets it look for more from the artist and obey..i`m going to sticker..but don`t tell anyone..

[bowens43]

16. Your posts get more and more ridiculous everyday.

You're making a jackass out of yourself.

[Lefty-Taylor]

18. Bowens, I couldn't agree more. Desperation continues to raise its ugly head in J-Dem's posts.

[jackson_dem]

36. Thanks for confirming the OP, along with other robotic Obamites

[Lefty-Taylor]

41. You're pathetically illogical when it comes to your dislike for Obama, which is too bad because

occasionally you show signs of clear-thinking.

[XemaSab]

47. Jackass_dem posts another hit piece

[Alter Ego]

196. I wonder if anyone knows that Andrew Jackson

was a bitter racist?

[Moochy]

206. I'm sure that's why jackholedem picked him

[hedgehog]

17. I think it's a generational thing. If you grew up during the Cold War,

that poster is bound to remind you of Soviet style social realism. I think this poster is more a Rosarch test than anything. On the other hand, I think this does capture something a lot of people believed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo

[Noirceuil]

22. John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, Barack Obama, that whosoever voteth for him shall not perish, but have everlasting hope and change.

[tabatha]

24. your envy is showing

[GoneOffShore]

240. Looks like the termites are crawling out of the woodwork again.

Do a Google on that handle and be appalled.
or just click here http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[tammywammy]

26. Yet another Hillary supporter referring to Obama as the messiah

I've still yet to see an Obama supporter say it.

[jackson_dem]

38. It is implicit in his campaign, see the photo for one...

[rodeodance]

195. its self-referencial when Obama fans post jesus avatars--like yours

[GOTV]

220. It's not a Jesus avatar. It's the "Buddy Christ" from "Dogma" - religious satire n/t

[Hugabear]

224. More like religious blasphemy

At least according to some thin-skinned types around here, have seem to have set themselves up as the arbiter of what is and isn't acceptable.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[rug]

27. I can't imagine where you got that idea.

[Sensitivity]

29. LOL. That is why the MORE HIGHLY EDUCATED vote for him.

Right!

[jackson_dem]

40. Another classist for Obama

More classism from the "unity" candidate's camp.

[Forkboy]

50. Another dipshit for Hillary.

[JVS]

55. The new term is Low Information Voter (LIV)

[Forkboy]

60. Same thing.

[undeterred]

73. But who's counting?

[JVS]

83. Well there is this claim that she might overtake in the popular vote, but I don't think there are...

enough dipshits for that.

[undeterred]

92. Well, we got lotsa dipshits

but this race is over.

[Name removed]

182. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Forkboy]

226. He isn't my guy.

And "dipshits" only apples to some of the Hillary supporters, not all of them. There are some dipshit Obama fans as well.

[Lilith Velkor]

229. What's with the classism, then?

[Forkboy]

230. Dipshit is classism?

Like I said, it wasn't a swipe at all of Hillary's supporters as I think many of them are pretty cool. I think you're reading too much into my reply. That poster isn't really worth a serious response, imo at least. Unless you think comparing Obama to Mao is deep analysis.

I have commented elsewhere on how stupid and insulting I think some Obama fans are being by playing up the "education" argument in efforts to portray Hillary supporters as being too dumb to know any better.

[Lilith Velkor]

231. OK then.

It just seemed like you were backing up the obnoxious classist argument to which jackson_dem was replying, but I guess all this was just an insult-hurling free for all. No harm done. Peace out.

[Forkboy]

232. "insult-hurling free for all."

Pretty much.

[Forkboy]

235. I have no idea why your post above was deleted.

Dumbass wasn't a big deal at all, especially after I called someone a dipshit. I guess someone was offended for me, because I sure wasn't.

[Lilith Velkor]

238. LOL

Feel the butthurt!

[Noirceuil]

44. This Elitist Attitude...

among the Obamists is exactly why he won't win Ohio or Pennsylvania in the primaries or the general election.

[jackson_dem]

45. Yup (and Michigan). The hypocrisy among the "unity movement" is amazing

[AX10]

115. It's why Nixon won in 72'

[last1standing]

163. And the Nixon Democrat should know, right?

n/t

[SoxFan]

204. Teh ironies! The ironies!

The same one-post wonder who just made a snide crack about John 3:16, managing to offend both my support for Obama and my religious faith, is giving a lecture on elitism!

[Zynx]

199. Having been in college, education does not preclude people from getting carried away.

Far from it.

[tekisui]

31. DAMN, I never noticed that before....I'm voting Hillary

because I am scared of posters!

[sniffa]

34. Look upon me! I am the nominee!

Obamamania
Obamamania
Obamamania
My father was a Kenyan

Obamamania
Obamamania
Obamamania
My mother was a Kansan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_yAtFNCv-M

[MadBadger]

35. You're such a bitter, hateful, spiteful person. Why?

[Moochy]

207. Baby dropping accident a few decades back?

[Auntie Bush]

37. Obama can do no wrong...now!

Just wait till after he starts compromising away our issues with the republicans. Then the cultist will drink the poison kool-aid all on their own accord.

[jackson_dem]

49. They are too drunk on kool aid to realize what his beloved unity entails...

They actually believe he will mesmerize them into disbanding their party's platform. It would be funny if it isn't so scary, given the consequence it may lead to: President McSame.

[Recursion]

213. Er... a lot of us disagree with his PATRIOT reauth and Bankruptcy bill votes

Seriously, you're the ones imagining that we think the guy walks on water.

[Mezzo]

42. That piccie is a fucking joke, right? It's scary if it isn't. nt

[TK421]

43. STARE INTO HIS EYES....DO NOT LOOK AWAY, AND THINK PLEASANT THOUGHTS

[hulka38]

46. Supporters believing that her IWR vote in the affirnative was not a vote for war

because she says so, and you call us cultists? Come, have some more cool-aid.

[jackson_dem]

69. I believe it was a vote for war. I also believe she, and Edwards, have been wrong

Notice how you never hear Obamites cite a bill that they disagree with Obama on? They view him as a saint.

[Skip Intro]

48. Rec.5. Some of us here can see it. Some of us here refuse to.

Funny thing is, we've all seen it before.

[Moochy]

223. Just Like Hitler!!

[zulchzulu]

51. You can stay with the Legion of Liars. They need suckers to believe their lies

The Warmonger Chain of Dynastic Liars will be STOPPED! Hazzah!!!!

[Forkboy]

52. I think the people against Obama are far scarier than those for him.

Some seem downright unstable and deranged.

[Eric J in MN]

53. "Replace the word 'Hope' with 'Obey'..."

Or you could replace the word 'Hope' with 'Pickles' and the ad would be absurd.

Or you could turn the poster upside-down, and then Obama would look upside-down.

[Neshanic]

54. It's Orwellian creepy and is a major turn off.

[Seabiscuit]

113. I see that poster and imagine "Hope" replaced with "Resistance Is Futile"

[Recursion]

214. Because it has his face on it?

Seriously, I'm just not seeing it.

[izzybeans]

56. There is this town in Arizona.

You should go there.

Don Aiton is the mayor.

[Barack_America]

58. Yep. Those posters are everywhere. We Philadelphians LOVE them!

Sorry you didn't get them in Delaware. You're obviously jealous!

[ProSense]

59. Are you kidding?

Hillary and the Band

[GoneOffShore]

241. What a great video!!

And no he's not - mores the pity.

He actually believes this bullshit.

[Texasgal]

61. OH FER FUCKS SAKE!

What a STUPID, RIDICULOUS assertion!

[izzybeans]

62. .

The poster is only here to stir up trouble.

[jefferson_dem]

63. Does Hillary make you proud, Jackson?

Feeling a bit of buyer's remorse, I bet.

It's sad to see that lashing out in bitterness helps you get through the day.

[Lefty-Taylor]

64. Thanks, Jef-Dem. Hey Jackson-Dem, about your tagline about Bill Clinton, think about this:

I know this is long and you may not want to read it but your Bill quote about the poor is such revisionist history. Remember Clinton championed the neo-con "welfare reform" act. This is Paul Street, often quoting the great Professor Zinn:

"Clinton's domestic agenda was first announced as a gigantic jobs-creation program coupled with a determined effort to guarantee health care for all. But, Zinn notes, Clinton quickly betrayed these declared campaign priorities by "concentrating on reduction of the deficit, which under Reagan and Bush I had left a national debt of $4 trillion." This emphasis, Zinn argued, "meant that there would be no bold programs of expenditures for universal health care, education, child care, housing, the environment, the arts, or job creation." Clinton's "small gestures" toward social democracy did "not come close to what was needed in a nation where one-fourth of the children lived in poverty; where homeless people lived on the streets in every major city; where women could not look for work for lack of child care; where the air, the water were deteriorating dangerously."

More than being merely inadequate to the needs of America's millions of truly disadvantaged citizens, the Clinton administration actually attacked the disproportionately non-white poor in numerous interrelated ways. Clinton signed a punitive neoliberal welfare "reform" bill that ended the federal government's guarantee of financial help to impoverished families with dependent children. By forcing poor families getting federal cash assistance (such families were mainly non-white single-parent units) to find employment without establishing concomitant government programs to create or directly provide livable wage jobs, Clinton flooded the nation's low- and poverty-wage and no-benefits job market with hundreds of thousands of defenseless new proletarians. He also scored points with the grinders of the poor by taking welfare benefits away from legal as well as illegal immigrants.

It was all done in the name of "Personal Responsibility," "Work Opportunity," and "Reconciliation," to use the key Orwellian phrases of the Clinton-Gingrich welfare-elimination regime.

Clinton enthusiastically signed a "Crime Bill" that expanded federal prison construction, helping turn the "land of freedom" into the world's leading incarceration state. Poor blacks made up a wildly disproportionate number of the Clinton era's massive and expanding army of prisoners and felony-marked "ex-offenders".

Meanwhile, Clinton increased economic insecurity in poor and working-class American communities by signing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA destroyed tens of thousands of American industrial jobs by tearing down long-established regulatory barriers to the movement of corporate capital and commodities across the U.S.-Mexican border.

Clinton claimed that "the era of big government is over." He was more than content, however, to sustain funding for the regressive, repressive, and militaristic "right hand of the state." His concern with balanced budgets did not extend to the prison- and military- industrial complexes. As Zinn notes, Clinton's federal government "continued to spend at least $250 billion a year to maintain the military machine." Clinton "accept the Republican claim that the nation must be ready to fight two regional wars simultaneously, despite the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989."

It was only the left hand of the state, the part that serves the poor and non-affluent majority, that Clinton targeted in his quest for deficit reduction."

Any thoughts?

[Eric Condon]

67. Why don't you do some research on the origins of this poster?

The artist who designed it is Shepard Fairey, who designed the "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" street-art campaign. More to the point, that campaign was the antecedent of the Obey Giant motif, which is intentionally ironic and pseudo-authoritarian. Fairey's style has been influential in modern graphic design, and part of that influence is the popularity of simple iconography as a powerful statement in and of itself. A dramatic, iconic image and a straightforward, declarative statement is a powerful combination. The point isn't propaganda, the idea is to make a point with something simple and symbolic, much like a peace symbol.

Street art is the essence of viral marketing philosophy. This is just another example of why Obama has been able to reach out to young people. Naturally, as a Hillary supporter, I'm sure you either bitterly resent that appeal or fail to comprehend it entirely. That's fine, but there's no point in denying that it's there.

Shepard Fairey's methods are NOT the same as this kind of thing,



and as much as you'd like to paint the Obama supporters as "cultish" and "kool-aid drinkers," the fact is, most of us (including yes, us young people) like to call that "actually being moved by a presidential candidate for once."

[Lefty-Taylor]

77. Thanks, Eric, for offering some intelligent context. As someone who teaches at an art college,

I appreciate your enlightening commentary about Fairey's artistic style and content. But don't expect Obama haters to see this in the same light. They -- especially the OP -- are delusional in their support of HRC.

[SaveAmerica]

168. I was going to mention a recent discussion about an artist who makes posters of Obama,

it included a link to his web page that had several samples of his poster designs and even a letter written by Obama telling him he liked that he took the time to design posters of him. It was a couple days ago, did you see it? I'm wondering if it's the same one. Maybe you can post your information up on one of the earlier posts so it's at the top and gets the message out up there?

I found this, if you thought it would be helpful to add:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kristin-gorski/obama-webs...

[nichomachus]

68. Note to Hillary supporters: The stench of desperation is unbecoming. Take a shower

[Mooney]

70. This is just comically silly.

[Neshanic]

71. The young ones find it a hip inside joke, the old find it Stalinist and creepy.

Maybe SpongeBob on some so no to terrify the little ones that are not auditing Art History 101.

[Lefty-Taylor]

79. Neshanic, your last post is incoherent (not to mention grammactically incorrect).

[Neshanic]

99. The mysteries of life then for you.

[Lefty-Taylor]

103. Very clever, N. Great comeback. At least you didn't misspell or mis-write anything in this post.

[Neshanic]

114. Thank you. You want me to recite my guzintos?

[Lefty-Taylor]

146. "Maybe SpongeBob on some so no to terrify the little ones ..." Your words: Re-read what you post

before you post. Clarity is not your strong suit.

Next, look at what Hillary has voted for, stands for and has said. Then, ask yourself if you want a Republican-Lite in the White House.

[Neshanic]

169. Like Obamists, that was the past. It can be revised later.

[anonymous171]

74. Figures. Democrats have been politically destitute and the minute an extremely popular candidate

emerges he suddenly is too popular. His following becomes too big and "creepy" (read: Energized.) Ridiculous.

[Neshanic]

76. Really, you don't think that a poster could be more blatantly Orwellian?

You don't think it could be toned down a bit?

[anonymous171]

78. You don't even know what you're talking about.

You know what is Orwellian? How about Wolfson's doublespeak: Superdelegates->Automatic Delegates

[Neshanic]

81. Yu have already as a group alienated half of the Democrats, what's a few more to make the kiddies

happy?

[anonymous171]

82. Half? You mean 42% right?

[izzybeans]

84. Have you read Orwell?

[Neshanic]

97. Uh...Nope. is that them thar a book thing?

Film versions...classics. Interpretations of 1984 have used visuals according to the moviemakers take on it. Fuck, Even the commercials have use this imagery to depict a totalitarian feel.

Oh and I read the book. High school and college, but I had dropped it ridin my mule.

[izzybeans]

98. You must not remember it too well.

Or you really have no stake in the truth of the matter. One or the other.

[TahitiNut]

101. Yup. But I hear that the Classic Comics version was the one with "art."

I guess that's the kind of folks who get their knickers in a twist.

[izzybeans]

106. .

Something tells me that the knicker twisting here isn't so genuine.

Three posters show up at the same time and post three separate threads with the cult meme and they all wind up in here.

[Recursion]

85. I've read a lot of Orwell and nothing in that poster reminds me of 1984

Come to think of it my impression of the world of INGSOC was that everything was bland and colorless.

[izzybeans]

90. This thread reminds me of it though.

[woolldog]

188. Ain't that the truth.

Reading this board for a while it becomes clear to me why democrats have lost so many presidential elections. Summed up neatly in jackson_dem's attitude.

[citizen snips]

87. Where is the Chairman Mao pic?

I need link because it is not on the article.

[rug]

104. There are so many. Here's one.

[QC]

161. Here's a famous one:

But I'm more partial to this one:

[PerfectSage]

88. How come Hillary was too stupid to start up a totalitarian political cult, so she could win?

She obviously isn't in it to win it.

[Neshanic]

89. "Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?

The Candidate silly!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_What_Is_It_that_Makes...

[Lefty-Taylor]

94. N, scroll up and you'll see that I called you out for incoherence. You continue to demonstrate that.

[izzybeans]

96. That one was particularly funny.

[Neshanic]

109. Thanks, The person above obviously is humor challenged.

[mmonk]

91. Yes. I have no intelligence whatsoever. How did you know?

And people backed campaigns like Obama's are so Orwellian unlike the campaigns that have so much special interest money behind them.

[myrna minx]

102. Anyone familiar with the work of Shepard Fairey, the artist who designed

these posters, understands the intent of the work. This is again, a generational thing. The kind of paranoia this post is trying to evoke is like the fear that the Beatles were corrupting our nation's youth.

[izzybeans]

108. Looks like a standard fare Indie concert poster to me.

[myrna minx]

126. Check out their stuff.

http://obeygiant.com /

The article in the OP is just hilarious, considering what they are trying to do with their work. Obey Giant.com has some though provoking stuff.

[izzybeans]

133. I think they were at the Renegade Craft Fair in Chicago this summer. If not there were several

groups doing similar stuff there. It is good stuff. Reminds me of the Soviet dissident art housed at the museum on the Rutgers University campus.

[Neshanic]

147. I knew that was his stuff from the get go.

[madrchsod]

174. i`m 61....

http://laughingsquid.com / is another good site...

[myrna minx]

189. Thanks for the link.

I'm looking forward to exploring it when I get home from work tonight.

[blogslut]

105. Looks to me like Mr. Joseph forgets his history

If he ever knew it. Mao rose to power bloodily. Those famous posters came after he assumed control of China and removed the civil rights of the citizenry. He already owned the press and the media. The cult of Mao was nothing more than the result of an entire generation raised to venerate him instead of their own personal freedoms.

[izzybeans]

110. Don't distract them from their prolefeed.

[Name removed]

107. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CTLawGuy]

111. that looks NOTHING alike except for the circle

and I am Godwinning you now.

If you are being sarcastic I apologize.

[Name removed]

122. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CTLawGuy]

127. that's utterly ridiculous

WTF does that mean??? they both have circles? the flag of Japan has a circle for God's sake! Are they fascist?

New Hampshire's flag has a circle in the middle, are they fascist?

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://upload.wikim...

[smalll]

134. It means that AMERICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES tend NOT to have personal, campaign-specific FLAGS.

(and/or stylized logos, perfect suited for lapel pins, campaign buttons, internet avatars, armbands, or other things of like nature.)

[CTLawGuy]

140. all campaigns have logos

on their shwag, even your precious hillary has a logo. This is normal.

[izzybeans]

141. Really? Hmmmph...I guess your right then.

And a truly fascistic one would be tied into either the parties symbolism or the nations.

But you are the ass that posted the Nazi flag in reference to a democratic candidate aren't you.

[JVS]

131. Here, I saved you the trouble of making it yourself. Knock yourself out with your BS claims

Never mind, do your own work

[CTLawGuy]

136. totally a propos

cuz hitler was ALL about hope and racial reconcillation, and not about scapegoating and blind patriotism.



also, please get rid of that, thanks.

[JVS]

139. It's only a matter of time before they start posting it in earnest.

[CTLawGuy]

159. thank you for taking that down

I appreciate it.

[myrna minx]

149. That is just disgusting.

It's obvious that you've never known any Holocaust survivors, because if you had, you wouldn't diminish and demean the atrocities committed against them. ALso, it is sick and disturbing that you would equate a Democratic presidential campaign logo, with that of the Nazi's. Sick and a new low.

[gmudem]

116. Anyone who calls Obama supporters cultists is officially

a completely and unabashed moron. It's really not worth arguing but they must feel that Clinton's campaign has nowhere near the same level of energy to it that Obama's does. Obama is running a hell of a campaign and many young people are very excited by it. I guess the fact that the youth crowd is actually showing interest in this campaign and is dedicated to electing Obama president has taken some people by surprise.

But JacksonDem, I just can't take you seriously now so you'll have to go on ignore. What a sad drop off for an Edwards supporter. I just don't see how you can support this corporate stooge.

[QC]

121. I don't know how you can so enthusiastically support another corporate stooge.

You have certainly come down in the world since your Edwards days.

[last1standing]

117. Of course it does. And his smile reminds you of Satan, right?

How low will these attacks go? It's not Obama's fault that Clinton couldn't run a successful campaign, it's Clinton's.

Let it go and rejoin the human race, ok?

[mckeown1128]

118. Look, I am sorry your candidate has piss poor campaign..

tactics.. but that doesn't mean you should trash a successful campaign.

[question everything]

119. Congrats, this thread is still alive

All during the day, whenever I see a thread which does not sing Hallelujah for Obama is locked..

[CTLawGuy]

123. no just threads

that compare him to murederous communist dictators get locked, except for this one apparently.

[izzybeans]

125. Yep

I've alerted multiple posts on this thread.

Not only communist dictators but Hitler as well, they through that in for good measure.

[CTLawGuy]

130. I'd inovke Godwin's law on this entire thread.

seriously.

[jackson_dem]

143. Most of the Obamite mass alert squad must be asleep

[IsItJustMe]

120. Have to admit, that is just a little freaky.

[Recursion]

124. Why?

Seriously, I don't see what bugs people about it.

[QC]

132. The whole midcentury communist propaganda feel makes some people uncomfortable.

[izzybeans]

138. google soviet dissident art or soviet noncomformism

and have a merry day.

[QC]

144. No need to google--I have a few Soviet propaganda posters on my walls.

They look a lot like these posters. I collect them with my tongue firmly in my cheek, but I'm not so sure that the Obama devotées are being ironic at all.

[izzybeans]

148. Soviet propaganda and dissident art are entirely opposed in message and intent.

Though they use the same symbolism to do so. So I can understand your confusion. I guess.

[QC]

151. Well, it's very gracious of you to understand my confusion. Thanks!

And your smug condescension certainly makes me want to support your candidate!

[Recursion]

152. Well it's like saying Eisenstein and Tarkovsky did the same thing

because they used a lot of the same visual language. But Eisenstein did it to bolster the Soviet regime and Tarkovsky did it to undermine it.

[DemGa]

128. "Hope" looks strange on those posters-- people have hope without Obama

[QC]

135. No they didn't! They were all wandering through the Slough of Despond until he came along.

Sure, they might have thought they were hopeful and happy, but they were wrong.

[Neshanic]

142. HAAAAAA!!!!! ROTFLMAO!

[jackson_dem]

145. Exactly he is being sold as a savior--just like past figures with a cult of personality...

[Lefty-Taylor]

150. Jack-Dem, You may have missed my post above. If you really think Bill C. helped the poor,

as your tag-line suggest, please consider this. You're either poorly misinformed, disingenuous or blind.

I know this is long and you may not want to read it but your Bill quote about the poor is such revisionist history that you need a reality check. Remember Clinton championed the neo-con "welfare reform" act. This is from Paul Street, often quoting the great Professor Zinn:

"Clinton's domestic agenda was first announced as a gigantic jobs-creation program coupled with a determined effort to guarantee health care for all. But, Zinn notes, Clinton quickly betrayed these declared campaign priorities by "concentrating on reduction of the deficit, which under Reagan and Bush I had left a national debt of $4 trillion." This emphasis, Zinn argued, "meant that there would be no bold programs of expenditures for universal health care, education, child care, housing, the environment, the arts, or job creation." Clinton's "small gestures" toward social democracy did "not come close to what was needed in a nation where one-fourth of the children lived in poverty; where homeless people lived on the streets in every major city; where women could not look for work for lack of child care; where the air, the water were deteriorating dangerously."

More than being merely inadequate to the needs of America's millions of truly disadvantaged citizens, the Clinton administration actually attacked the disproportionately non-white poor in numerous interrelated ways. Clinton signed a punitive neoliberal welfare "reform" bill that ended the federal government's guarantee of financial help to impoverished families with dependent children. By forcing poor families getting federal cash assistance (such families were mainly non-white single-parent units) to find employment without establishing concomitant government programs to create or directly provide livable wage jobs, Clinton flooded the nation's low- and poverty-wage and no-benefits job market with hundreds of thousands of defenseless new proletarians. He also scored points with the grinders of the poor by taking welfare benefits away from legal as well as illegal immigrants.

It was all done in the name of "Personal Responsibility," "Work Opportunity," and "Reconciliation," to use the key Orwellian phrases of the Clinton-Gingrich welfare-elimination regime.

Clinton enthusiastically signed a "Crime Bill" that expanded federal prison construction, helping turn the "land of freedom" into the world's leading incarceration state. Poor blacks made up a wildly disproportionate number of the Clinton era's massive and expanding army of prisoners and felony-marked "ex-offenders".

Meanwhile, Clinton increased economic insecurity in poor and working-class American communities by signing the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). NAFTA destroyed tens of thousands of American industrial jobs by tearing down long-established regulatory barriers to the movement of corporate capital and commodities across the U.S.-Mexican border.

Clinton claimed that "the era of big government is over." He was more than content, however, to sustain funding for the regressive, repressive, and militaristic "right hand of the state." His concern with balanced budgets did not extend to the prison- and military- industrial complexes. As Zinn notes, Clinton's federal government "continued to spend at least $250 billion a year to maintain the military machine." Clinton "accept the Republican claim that the nation must be ready to fight two regional wars simultaneously, despite the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989."

It was only the left hand of the state, the part that serves the poor and non-affluent majority, that Clinton targeted in his quest for deficit reduction."

Any thoughts?

[kmsarvis]

157. DELETED

[kmsarvis]

158. HE WONT RESPOND..

JACKSON-DEM NEVER RESPONDS TO INTELLIGENT COUNTER POINTS.

[Lefty-Taylor]

167. Yes, KMS, I've noticed. Thanks for acknowledging that.

[Moochy]

221. JD is the very definition of a dishonest poster here to only start flames

[Recursion]

154. Only by you (nt)

[TLM]

129. LOL!!! PATHETIC..... even for you...

Speaking of a nice two minute hate for Obama....


Take a step back, if you can be intellectually honest for a second... at least with yourself... and realize you are attacking Obama for, what... generating hope, inspiration, and a motivated electorate. The very things that dems have been ripping their hair out trying to produce for the last 30 years.

These aren't even campaign posers... they're posters produced by local artists who are excited and motivated by Obama.

But I guess this idiotic whining is a good thing, in that is shows how little substantive material there is with which to attack Obama.

Don't hurt yourself reaching for the bottom of that barrel.

[kmsarvis]

153. WELL SAID!!!!!

[Blue_State_Elitist]

155. I do have a problem with the imagery.

He's just a politician like Hillary. A lot of Obama Democrats seem to forget that.

[kmsarvis]

162. BLUE STATE ELITIST ???

WEIRD NAME.

[Blue_State_Elitist]

164. For the 100th+ time

I chose my name in response to what the Republicans branded Kerry supporters as in 2004. Maybe if you were around here you would have gotten the sarcasm.

[kmsarvis]

184. RELAX !!!!!

BASED ON YOUR PREVIOUS SMUG STATEMENT,PLEASE EXCUSE ME FOR THINKING YOU WERE EMBRACING THE TERM "BLUE STATE ELITIST". IF YOU'VE BEEN HERE FOR SO LONG WHY HAVE'NT YOU MADE A DONATION YET???

[Maddy McCall]

187. Can you turn off your caps? And you should make a donation while you're at it.

Because you really look like an idiot ridiculing another poster for not donating when you haven't donated yourself.

And you also look like an idiot when every single post of yours is all caps.

[QC]

198. I DON'T THINK IT MINDS LOOKING LIKE AN IDIOT, MADDY! n/t

[Blue_State_Elitist]

211. Donated in the past

Haven't got around to it lately.

[jillan]

160. It makes me think of this -

edit to add

[Neshanic]

165. You are correct. The simplicity of the message. But Obama would rather be hip.

and creep out a portion of his voters than boot art school turd that hit it big by mistake with his derivative graphic work.

[Name removed]

185. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[JI7]

166. it's the Clintons who want elections with only her name on the ballot to count

[SaveAmerica]

170. It reminds me of posters I've seen in Europe, beautiful, vibrant.

[samsingh]

171. i don't think so - Obama looks like a good candidate

who can wipe the fing disgusting repugs away.

[madrchsod]

172. you really don`t have a clue do you.....

i`m not sure if i should feel sorry for you or just laugh.

oh well i`ll give you this--art is in the eye of the beholder

here`s one that is better--not so commie

[Eric Condon]

180. I'm just about pissing myself right now imagining Obama with those actual measurements.

I get why it says it, but to somebody unfamiliar with the original, it would be REALLY funny out of context to wonder why it claims Obama is 7'4" and 520 pounds.

[Swamp Rat]

175. You sure know a lot about Commies.

[Guava Jelly]

186. Everyone has posters

It doesn't make them Orwellian

[Ian_rd]

197. Again. Nothing. They bring nothing. Try some facts.

Just don't look at a poster and say "Eeeek!" Try to have some substance and it will give the criticism more weight.

[Brundle_Fly]

200. Campaign didn't make the poster

The font designers of the "Gotham" font, the branding agency "Sender" made it.

Hardly something to worry about, if you see conspiracies everywhere, you need to look a little deeper.

[Brundle_Fly]

201. and actually

Its way more Warhol, that Soviet, other than using a four colour screen for printing.

seriously.

[SeaLyons]

203. K&R

[crankychatter]

205. Obama restores Habeus Corpus-Reviews & Rescinds Bush's Exec.Orders

All the totalitarians rejoice...

If the OP doesn't understand it, it must be art.

[fishwax]

208. That's not half as Orwellian as Clinton's home page, which explicitly asks you to SUBMIT!

Replace the word "Hope" with "Obey" on that Obama poster and tell us what you think.

Gee, you mean "HOPE" and "OBEY" present different meanings? Whodathunk?

[intaglio]

218. Hey, Thats why all the Hillary fans surrender to her

"Submit" she's a Domme! They must be seriously into B&D.

Either that or they cannot conceive of people who might actually see her as the failure she is and has a preference someone who offers more than the same old politics,

[Quixote1818]

209. I am no huge Obama supporter but the Hillary crowd around here is much more cultist

than the Obama fans.

[Moochy]

210. I like the poster in the picture, unlike the Poster of this thread..

whom I revile as a traitorous hack.

[Occam Bandage]

215. Hilariously, that poster was created by the man behind the OBEY meme.

And I do use the word "meme" appropriately.

[book_worm]

216. This is one of the stupidiest posts I've seen all day.

[intaglio]

217. When J_D hears the word "Art"

He goes for his gun.

J_D Go emulate a stone wall instead

[Doobie Newbie]

219. So, I thought is was Obama supporters that were insulting

Here is another example of a flaming anti-Obamist who think that being likable is a bad. People like Obama. Why does it offend people that he's charismatic? If Clinton supporters spent as much time talking about their candidates positives as they did attacking Obama, Clinton might get more support. Being the anti-Obama candidate won't get her elected.

[Bensthename]

222. So now it is down to: "Obama has bad posters he can not be pres." LMFAO

[redqueen]

225. ...

[AnarchoFreeThinker]

227. I guess HOPE and OBEY mean the same thing.

[cottonseed]

228. Isn't a reference to 1984 only speaking to Obama's base?

Are the voters Hillary's looking to woo really going to be affected by a reference to 1984? Seems like another waste of time by Hillary supporters and her campaign.

[DrFunkenstein]

234. If You Think That Is Creepy, Check Out This Obama Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo

[LuckyLib]

236. Most Americans wouldn't know Soviet Realism from the Man in the Moon.

Folks are getting way too wrapped around the axle about supposed cultism. We've been so beaten down for so long with BushCo and the Boys that optimism, belief in change, and demanding that we live up to who we are as a country is seen as jumping on the bandwagon for a cult figure.

[Faygo Kid]

237. Too bad. I liked your presidential poll post.

This one is just more empty hyperventilating.

Gotta go; my cult leaders are calling.

Klaatu Barada Nikto ("Yes We Can")

[LittleClarkie]

239. Don't forget to call him the messiah and suggest that his supporters are too stupid

to realize that he's not the Second Coming.

[GoneOffShore]

242. Somebody else has already done that for him.

I'd put him on ignore, but it's fun to watch him shoot himself in the foot every so often.

[BlueIdaho]

243. Its the artists I tell ya - its the artists - We gotta KILL the goddamn artists

to save our democracy!!!!!!!!!!! Come the Hillary revolution all the artists must be strung up by their thumbs!!!!!!!!!! How dare they use an old illustration style!!!!!!!!!!! Don't you see they're trying to speak to us in code!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Insert tinfoil in hats now please.

Fuckin' Hilarious!

[madmunchie]

244. GOD FORBID people really support Obama - how horrible!@!!!!

[Skittles]

245. that kind of shit really works

it really does

[VotesForWomen]

246. if it walks like a duck... well, you know. nt

[kwenu]

247. HELP!!!! My candidate has fallen and she can't get up!!!!!

[GoesTo11]

248. So funny I forgot to laugh

[jackson_dem]

249. Check out the latest cult poster