Ch-ch-ch-cheap sellout? - The Jewish Standard

OK, we get it. President Obama is a superstar. He’s got books, t-shirts, action figures – he’s even in a Spider-Man comic book. This commercialism surrounding our president has reached a new low, however, with Chia Obama.

Happy and determined versions? Really? Depending on the country’s direction you can water the president’s head and bring him into the light or cast him into darkness and watch him shrivel up. Just the notion of watering the president’s head seems wrong….

(Granted, I have an Obama action figure on my desk – right next to the McCain action figure and Rabbi Shmuley Boteach bobblehead. Together the three of them entertain me during slow news periods. But that’s besides the point.)

Has any other U.S. president received this much merchandising? I have a shot glass with a plastic figurine of George W. Bush clinging to the side that says “Presidentiary of the United States (of America).” And there were all those Bushisms books and calendars, which were not so flattering to the president. Bill Clinton was a very popular president but didn’t have this marketing machine behind him.

So, readers, why do you think our president has become a symbol of commercialism?

The Big Lipowsky

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