The President himself referred to the story of Passover as "among the most powerful stories of suffering and redemption in human history," and noted, idealistically if a bit stiffly, that "as part of a larger global community, we all must work to ensure that our brothers and sisters of every race, religion, culture and nationality are free from bondage and repression, and are able to live in peace."
Hopeful words. But we should hope for nothing less from a man who earned the votes of nearly 80% of American Jews; who churned "hope" into a movement that carried him to the White House; and who, in the process, broke the biggest racial barrier of all, to personally embody the dream of a global community living in peace.
The Obama Poster Icon: From Zero to Cliche in 6 Months
Dave Nalle
Of all the legacies of the Obama presidency, the one which may last the
longest in the cultural imagination is the enormously popular poster image created by artist Shepard Fairey. 
The high-contrast, vertically split image has gone viral on the internet and assumed a place in the visual lexicon of American pop art alongside Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe triptych (from which Fairey kind of stole the design idea) and the Eugene McCarthy dove poster.
Fairey got into a certain amount of trouble for infringing the copyright of an AP photograph
he used as a source, but his payback is that everyone on the internet has since pirated his design concept for icons of themselves, their girlfriend or their dog to use on the web as a subtle dig at Obama or a statement of support and conformity.
Making your own Obama poster icon has been made much easier by the folks at Paste Magazine who have provided a neat little Flash tool which will let you take any photo, turn it into an icon in the style of the Fairey poster, tweak it and customize it and add a new slogan to the bottom and make it your own. You can use the tool to parody Obama, iconify anyone or anything else, or convey some more obscure message.
One of my personal favorites is the icon of "TOTUS," Obama's teleprompter, but I have to admit to doing a few of my own, including an image of Aleister Crowley titled "Beast" and one of Rahm Emanuel titled "Puppeteer."
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
Man we're really seeing a wide variety of opinions just in this series!
2 - Eric Olsen
yes, we are, which is the BC way!
3 - Arch Conservative
"But President Obama is around. He’s everywhere: traveling to foreign countries, giving press conferences, appearing on You Tube, making speeches; he’s on television, and he and Michelle are on the cover of every possible magazine, smiling and telling us how great life is."
Translation: He's a smug, narcissistic piece of garbage.
4 - Phillip Winn
Yes, Archie, because no previous President has ever traveled to foreign countries, given press conferences, or made speeches. Obama is the first President to ever go on television.
And, of course, he is demanding that magazines put him on their covers, and since we lack freedom of press in this country, they have no choice but to comply.
Or, just maybe, possibly, all those magazines are using candid or non-exclusive photos, and President Obama is just doing his job. Because I have these strange ideas, could even be memories, that Ronald Reagan was very much in the public eye while he was President as well, and I don't remember him being a "smug, narcissistic piece of garbage."
Yeah, I think I'm going to go with "B." Your translation is more projection than translation.
5 - roger nowosielski
Well, ladies and gentlemen. Let's not congratulate ourselves prematurely. I'm kind of disappointed of late of Obama's lack of enthusiasm and electrifying quality which characterized his primary appearances. No doubt it's difficult to maintain such high level in light of the problems facing us. How can you be upbeat day in and day out?
But I do remember JFK and RFK, which is not fair perhaps to the younger generation.
6 - Eric Olsen
I think Obama fares pretty well under the JFK comparison - remember that the press was still very compliant and discreet regarding personal foibles in that day
7 - roger nowosielski
It may be so, Eric. And the times were surely different. Perhaps the difference comes down to the fact that we were more naive then and more idealistic.
I don't think it's any longer the case, not even when it comes to the youth.
8 - Mongo
Some good signs in the economy today.