The vanity of a political leader is great fodder for cartoonists, critics and satirists. Does anyone remember when Nixon tried to redesign the uniforms of the guards in the White House. The Prussian look gave comedians a superb excuse to poke fun at Nixonian vanity.
President Obama has been far more generous to satirists struggling to earn a living in the Obama economy. On the one hand is the presence of his constant companion, not Michelle, but his trusty teleprompter. Then there is his imperious poses. Who can forget his rally in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin? It was the perfect photo op for delusions of grandeur.
The Obama Logo has morphed into various forms. It certainly raised eyebrows when a variant of it replaced the American flag on the presidential airplane. Now, the missile defense agency has a new logo that bears an eerie resemblance to an Obama campaign pin. Some critics are even comparing it to the star and crescent employed in Islamic religious symbolism. Fox News reports as follows.
"The Missile Defense Agency, which is part of the Defense Department, now features a circular red, white and blue logo on its Web site that has been characterized in some reports as "scarily" similar to President Obama's former campaign symbol. Others have noted that it has a crescent and star design, evoking a common symbol for Islam.
The logo, which first appeared on the Missile Defense Web site in the fall, was designed by TMP Government, a marketing and communications firm that has managed Web site redesigns and logos for numerous government agencies, including recovery.gov and more than a dozen Defense and intelligence-related sites."
I have worked under a few managers in my years on the job. The best managers want to leave their mark on day to day operations. They examine how things are done. Changes in office decor occur gradually, almost incidentally.
One of the worst managers I ever had spent the first three days redecorating his office, eliminating all traces of his predecessor. He was obsessed with image and fearful of substance. He gave beautiful speeches, looking off into the distance as things crumbled at his feet.
The Obama administration is still blaming its predecessor as it stumbles into a second year of misrule. It is churning out logos and photo ops. It is hoisting snappy new flags over a ship of state that zigzags aimlessly in the turbulent waters of modern events. The latest Obamaesque logo is like the doodles of a daydreaming child as the words of his teacher drift above his head. Minute attention is paid to the message conveyed by the agency logo, even as babbling incoherence.
There is a sense that has been lost by the current administration of transcendent concerns that unite all parties and ethnicities that make up our United States. We have an administration that is reaching out to enemies and snubbing its friends. It is becoming sadly apparent that Obamic vanity has not won over our nation's enemies. Indeed, the willing to stamp apologies onto every page of our nation's history stands in stark contrast to Obama's faith in his own grandeur.
When I see the missile Defense Agency logo, I see minute attention to style at the expense of substance. I see a President who is not taking notes, not studying the dangerous geopolitical landscape to which he is heir.
The beauty of our republic is the ability of its institutions to overcome the defects of its leaders. The grandeur of the American presidency is its continuity, of its succession of leaders bound by common laws. When I see logo after logo being made over in Obama's image, this beauty is obscured. He would do well to stop doodling and to open his books. Because there will be a test.
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