Daily Gut: Joker Poster Boosts Obama’s Coolness
by Greg GutfeldSo posters of President Obama made up as Heath Ledger’s Joker with ‘Socialism’ written below it have been showing up around L.A – and it’s being greeted with the usual outrage you’d expect from people who get outraged. Some are calling it racist, others are calling it “mean spirited and dangerous,” while I call it boring, boring, and oh yeah: boring.
The website Newsbusters points out the silliness behind the outrage – after all, President Bush has been depicted as far worse – he’s been portrayed as everything from a bloodsucking vampire in the Village Voice, to the Joker in Vanity Fair, to God forbid, a Republican- everywhere else. No one seemed to mind then. And while people like Bill Maher point out that Obama has been only at this job for six months (whereas Bush earned the bile over eight years) and therefore any criticism is unfair – that’s pure batpoop. Hatred for Bu$hitler began the moment he took office, and the vile lefties only knew Sarah Palin for a few weeks before they were wearing t-shirts with her face and a vulgar word (begins with ‘C’ and rhymes with bunt) beneath it.
And besides, if you ask me, this new Obama Joker face is pure street art that only elevates his hip persona. It’s no different than the Shepard Fairey ‘Hope’ poster, except it’s far more complimentary and honest. Seriously, we live in a culture where anti-heroes have replaced heroes, and we all know that Ledger’s Joker is far cooler than Bale’s Batman. (At least the Joker didn’t yell at his mom at the premiere.) The Joker scoffed at traditional values, reveled in post-modern humor and more important – was played by Heath Ledger, who’s dead! You can’t get any cooler than that, even if you add a Prince Albert and a nitrous addiction.
Finally, as so many Obamalovers point out, our President is more than a President, he’s a pop culture icon – and you can’t go more than five feet in Times Square without seeing a t-shirt, a button, or a jock strap with his face plastered on it.
At least with these new posters, the media has a message.
Also – a reminder for tonight: Mike Baker, Remi Spencer, Barret Swatek, and Ab News!
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152 Comments
I love the image of Obama Joker. It says it all in a way mere words fail. I think the floodgates of skepticism just opened and may drown Obama's socialistic plans. Expect more to come and liberals may whine, but it won't stop the juggernaught of change Obama didn't hope for. Obama's approval rating is dropping like a hot rock through butter at the poles.
If your opponent is quick to anger, find out what irritates him most and use it often. – Sun Tsu – Art Of War.
What's the big deal with the poster? He's The Joker of Earth-Democrat.*
*If anyone reading this gets that, welcome to the geek squad!
I disagree though I do always love Greg's commentary. I believe that just the sense that there might people out there who dare to mock Obama puts a real dent in his until now carefully crafted image. It also is the first mocking of Obama that has any sense of street credibility or pop culture savvy. It might just be cool to dislike Obama. We have so been programmed with the Shepard Fairy idolization of Obama that to have another image to challenge it in our psyche is great. To challenge the sense of well being that Obama fans has is great. And it just may be the first crack in his veneer.
the response is breathtaking…
A little bit of not-so-terribly creative street art and the whole world is buzzing about it. One would think that this might have the patina of truth to it. The old Shakepearean adage seems to apply: 'Methinks he doth protesteth too much'…
This four years is going to be a wild ride, friends…
I would like to ask those who are calling the Obama socialist joker poster, which is mysteriously popping up all over L.A., "mean spirited and dangerous"… Where was your outrage and condemnation when this eerily similar artwork of President Bush was published by Vanity Fair magazine on July 28, 2008?: http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/07...
[...] The Riddler Might Have Been a Better Choice, Come to Think of It Greg Gutfeld, Big Hollywood: Daily Gut: Joker Poster Boosts Obama’s Coolness Atlas Shrugs: The Worm Turns Washington Rebel: Yes, I Know Tim Worstall, Examiner.com: The Obama [...]
This hubbub over the "Obama Joker" poster reminds me of this classic video:
http://www.citizenlink.org/Stoplight/A000010182.c...
[...] Big Hollywood: Obama as Joker: Selective Outrage From ‘LA Weekly’ Greg Gutfeld, Big Hollywood: Daily Gut: Joker Poster Boosts Obama’s Coolness Atlas Shrugs: The Worm Turns Blog de KingShamus: Hey, you know about the poster showing Obama as [...]
[...] Sheppard, NewsBusters: Obama Joker Poster Popping Up In Los Angeles Greg Gutfeld, Big Hollywood: Daily Gut: Joker Poster Boosts Obama’s Coolness Pundit & Pundette: Joker-bama kerfuffle Conservative for Change: Liberals Up in Arms Over [...]
Lock and Loaded Marine. Let's Go Get Some. In The Conservative Way Of course.
The poster is a perfect representation of the President. It's like seeing the man behind the curtain.
"or a jock strap with his face plastered on it."
I thought Hollyweird was strange and San Fran. I guess New Yankers has one upped the left coast!
Obama 'un-masked'. Its a powerful image because it reveals a truth about the man that EVERYONE understands.
I think this is fair play. I don't expect people on the left like me will like it, but if Shep Fairey is in the game with his hope poster, well this is turnabout.
What's lame: LA times suggesting that this was somehow racist and was missing a noose. Uh, no. The Joker didn't have a noose, this isn't what its about and they need to relax.
But no, I disagree that this article makes Obama "cooler" with anyone. The people that like this are those on the right that want to score the point that Obama has played a joke on us and is actually giving us socialism. DUH.
Obama appears incapable of making fun of himself, and hates it when others make fun of him. I hope we see more of this ridicule, as he clearly cannot take a joke. In short – love it!
What's the Conservative Way? Abuse of the shift key?
"Show these statists, that over 40 years of playing by their rules is over.
Stick it to them.
Stick it to them now.
You only have your way of life, and your children’s future to lose.
Not to mention your country.
Get off of your a$$es now and fight back."
what are you smokin' dude? 40 years since when!? I CALL YOU CHICKEN for only speaking in weird nonsense code and not actually having the guts to make a meaningful or coherent point.
So it begins.
The sleeping giant has awoken…and he's pi$$ed.
Make this a national movement patriots.
I just this minute up loaded my latest findings Here ➔ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5OoNpU7O8c
Show these statists, that 40 years of playing by their rules is over.
Stick it to them.
Stick it to them now.
You only have your way of life, and your children’s future to lose.
Not to mention your country.
Stop sitting on the sidelines and waiting for someone else to do the work.
Get off of your a$$es now, and fight back.
Like water easing it’s way through a crack in a dam, eventually it will cause the it to crumble and collapse.
Or, I’ll call you “chicken.”
I triple dog dare ya.
Not Over.
DaJoker say………….
I won………….and DaJoker know best.
"Spread the wealth"
Oh and if you hear anyone speaking ill of the One's health care reform, you are supposed to send an email to flag@whitehouse.com I already sent them my name, I would suggest we all do.
I guess I don't see how the poster can be considered "racist"??? Funny, yes, Accurate, yes. But racist? How is this connection made?
You are not to speak…I do not like you.
Dude.
Not Over.
Lovin' how the media is ignoring or downplaying the obvious anger erupting at townhall meetings. Citizens upset over healthcare overhaul are marginalized, brushed off as "insurance company employees", and the movement is deemed by the WH and the MSM as "manufactured", "astroturf", illegitimate because it is not purely leftist.
Some people are going to be in for a rude awakening. There'll be a lot of folks looking for jobs after election day, 2010.
One man’s propaganda is one man’s racism is another man’s art. Let’s keep mixing it up, just for fun and outrage.
Didn't you get the memo? Anytime a black or half-black or hispanic or asian or otherwise minority person is criticised, questioned or otherwise made the least bit uncomfortable, it is RACISM. White people are the only ones who can be guilty of racism or hate crimes. You better get the message before they haul you off to the camps!
It's this damn IntenseDebate software. It causes no end of posting problems.
Nor Over.
It's this damn IntenseDebate software. It causes no end of posting problems.
Not Over.
1969
I think Harvey 2-face would have been a better choice.
No Wise Guy. I'm Talking at the Polls in 2010& 2012. That's the Shift I'm Looking For. The Only Abuse I See is the Abuse of This Administration on The People. If You Don't Like My Writing Style Fine. You Can Lump It. O.K. Lumpy.
I just returned from Office Depot where I bought a pack of 3 3/4" x 4 3/4" shipping labels (4 labels to a sheet). I am now going to print the Obama/Joker image I downloaded onto these labels and I am going to plaster this image on every legal surface I can find around town. Who's with me?
This could be the start of a beautiful trend. All you artists and photo-manip experts please feel free to express yourselves. There's a wealth of material/subjects out there.
The Dear Leader is already in crash-n-burn mode… I thought it would at least take a year.
And the open mockery has begun… the way this guy is propped up by the media establishment, street art is one of the few open venues besides blogging that Team Obama doesn't have a finger in… expect more cutting humor as Barack attempts to drive what remains of this country over the abyss.
But OUR side is winning now- the party's over Obots.
http://reaganiterepublicanresistance.blogspot.com...
[...] on the flipside, this new picture of Hussein is circling the net and naturally all of a sudden its being called racist. I’ll take a line from Fox News. We report, you [...]
Sorry Greg, this is a good thing.
Political Satire at it's best.
Just caught a brief CNN segment, man-on-the-street, NYC, majority of those asked to comment not diggin' it. The whole,mean spirited, extremely disturbing, shame on them, OMG, whiteface, yuk, were some of the responses.
As I said, it's a good thing.
Is this the Earth with the Crime Syndicate of Amerika or the Squadron Supreme?
I'm the leader of the geek squad.
You can order t-shirts and bumperstickers from Zazzle.
http://www.zazzle.com/obama_joker_front_tshirt-23...
See my post and new vid above.
It's working. Heh.
Not Over.
I've got your back Jimmy.
Not Over.
Sadly, I got it about 3 nanoseconds after reading. Now I gotta get up and do something non-geek. I dunno, go hunting or something.
Dan, clearly you're a bad person…. no soup for YOU!
NO SOUP FOR YOU EITHER!!
A good point Double A – It is what people want it to be. I have had enough time to reflect on episode D'Joker to come to the following conclusion: I don't want to be a hypocrite. Many people's definition of what is and what is not over the line seems to depend on who is the target. For those that feel the office of the presidency is to be respected, perhaps both the vampire Bush and Joker Obama are less than good taste. Up to a point, I probably fall in that camp. And yet, both of the pictures were done by private citizens and what makes this country great is that they can be made without the government shooting the artist in the face like in Iran. Still, it is fun to see the hypocrisy of the left in action on this one. I also love the point brought out by the underling that this was done in a hip way. The more Obama is seen as uncool, non-historic and non-Messiah like, and more like the radical left wing overmatched rookie Chicago political hack he actually is, the better.
That said, where I really do have a problem is with government subsidizing "art" such as the cross dipped in urine, or public institutions hiring people with b.s. credentials like Ward Churchill getting paid by taxpayers to "teach."
Right now, I am making it my priority mission to no longer accept "race baiters" to try and trot that out everytime this president gets criticized. Whenever anyone does that, it needs to be immediately and forcefully thrown back in there face.
Thanks for this Greg: "Finally, as so many Obamalovers point out, our President is more than a President, he’s a pop culture icon – and you can’t go more than five feet in Times Square without seeing a t-shirt, a button, or a jock strap with his face plastered on it."
I'm still coughing from choking on my chips and salsa b/c of that!
LOL! Great stuff.
whoever created this masterpiece of political art is a freakin' GENIUS!!
if the goracle can get a nobel peace prize for his stupid movie…. the creator of this should get a pulitzer prize
Not thrown back in their face but Hurled in their face. I'm with you. I've heard this B.S all my adult life and like Popeye I Can't Stands No More. Thanks for your reply. Be Well Brother.
Specifically, the knucklehead who referred to the imagery as racist was complaining that the depiction was a black man in "whiteface" makeup. Appearantly, he is the only person in the country (including my grandmother) who doesn't know who this "Joker" person is.
Now, of course, an liberal worth his salt these days screams "Racist!" at any depiction of the Obamessiah as anything less than perfect.
I just noticed the poster reminds me a lot of the cover art for the album "All Four One" by the Motels.
Pretty sure that would be "whitehouse.gov".
Whitehouse.com used to be a pron site…
True enough. Except for the asian part. They seem to be fair game.
I love it. I want a poster, and a t-shirt, and a sweat shirt, and some postcard's. I want a jacket , and a jockstrap emblazoned with the new logo. I think every God fearing American should get a bumpersticker, and maybe a tattoo. It's COOL…………………………………..But the Joker was an anarchist, and not a socialist. That's OK…………..I still like it.
And you know this how sir?
"Snow on the roof doesn't mean that there's no fire in the furnace" ol Tom I suppose.
Not Over.
We need to report President Obama and every single Democratic Congressman because we know from Gibbs that Obama has no plans to read the bill so everything he says on the subject is misinformation. Likewise, many of the Dems in office haven't read it either.
Actually, my wife teaches middle school. A couple of years ago, they were doing an online research project about basic government and civics.
It didn't end well…
True enough – who can design a Che Obama for t-shirt purposes? Just needs a good catchphrase underneath it.
Obviously, there's a gap between what you and "those on the right" believe is "socialism". Please define "socialism", and how President Obama is NOT "giving us socialism" with the US trending toward Germany and the UK.
http://econompicdata.blogspot.com/2009/05/were-al...
Spoke too soon – here it is:
http://www.zazzle.com/che_obama_tshirt-2357749773...
I believe it was the LAWeekly – a weekly free throw away – albeit one with a bit more value than the LATimes.
Actually, here's a whole bunch of them!
http://www.zazzle.com/che+obama+gifts
Notice how well they can dish it out, but can't take it? Of course, they weren't making fun of a deity when they did it.
Cool! I think I'm going shopping…
Gee…does anybody remember the whole Dick Cheney / Darth Vadar thing?
I think that even Anarchy was too organized for the Joker….LOL
What goes around, comes around. It's a beautiful thing.
Ouch!
Not Over.
I just came across the REAL Race Card:
http://thepeoplescube.com/red/viewtopic.php?t=377...
We do. It's not that the Libs forget about their hit -jobs. It's just that they can't quite… Recall them. They learned that from the Clinton's Bag of Tricks. Ahhh the Good Ole Day's
Oh Good Lord Tom, you are indeed correct! I hope I did not send anyone there. Should I go check and see if it is a porn site?
If Obama finds me, I may be in the soup line.
I'm personally SHOCKED anyone would exploit the iconic image of our Messiah so blatantly…shocked…
Let's roll…
how about CHE-NGE?
Well – Everyone in show business says that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
Politics is a different animal, though I see your point. Obama does kinda remind of those showbiz primadonnas and he's treated much the same way by his lackeys.
I already did! I am hitting every cab in NYC, and I'm thinking about ordering some nice ones that come on a roll for easy dispensing!
Not quite "recalling" is a symptom of "not inhaling".
Or the firing line.
The poster had the effect of wiping the phony, baloney Hope poster out of my mind. That alone makes it a spectacular success.
It's a strong Possibility.
I think it does make him cooler with an element of our society, but those people are beyond reaching anyhow. I believe that entertainment, be it movies, music, or video games are a mirror on society. Play an online video game like Star Wars Galaxies and look at the number of people who honestly believe Darth Vader and the Empire are the good guys. Or perhaps the Dark Elves in World of Warcraft are good guys. Bad guys are tough and cool, and good guys are wimpy.
That would be Biden. The same guy who said Obama was nowhere near ready to run this nation while he was running against him for the Democratic Nomination. Then when picked for VP said nobody was more qualified. 2 faced…maybe. Stupid…yes.
Yeah, but Anarchy is exactly where we are heading.
Umm… SunSui – The Art of Hifi.
LOL! Works for me!
I see your point, but Harvey started off as a good guy but became corrupt later on. Obama was always corrupt.
Everybody is up in arms as to who did this. Ok, I admit it. I made the posters………..Oh yeah. Robin helped
Whats so bad about whiteface. Hell, it worked great for me!
Now…if we could only have helicopters and little planes buzzing metro areas, blasting Steve Miller Band on strategically placed speakers while dropping thousands of 8.5×11s…
I agree. Under the Obama half of his face put the word "HOPE" and under the other half of his face put the word "CHANGE"
I am hoping that you can still edit the words in your piece. She said. "Dissent is patriotic" not decent. although decent is good patriotic.
darski,
Thanks.
Already fixed
I put it together in about 20 minutes and missed that little thing until it was too late.
I up loaded a corrected version about an hour ago.
High school grad. in 1967 and still learning.
Thanks again for the reminder though.
Not Over.
F*ck Times Square and its high-waisted jeans wearing Obama fangirls. I hate that place. HAY, loook, big TV screens and Ruby Tuesday's!
Woo hoo! My geek credentials are affirmed!
We're not "Dark Elves," we're Blood Elves, TYVM. And we're not all bad! We're not even mostly bad (unless you ask the Amani trolls, but those particular trolls are cannibals, I think… so whatever). And how were we supposed to know Prince Kael'thas was going to turn out to be such a douche? We were down and out and he was all like, I'll lead you to victory! And we were like, Sweet, F the Scourge. And then he was like, JK, I'm evil! And we were like, F U and your demon buddies, we're gonna team up with the Draenei to kick your arse, despite their hooves and tentacles.
So, you see, we're really all right. Just a little testy (silly withdrawal!).
Ah, but Obama is a far better actor than Ledger was. Ledger convinced us he was a comic book villain, but Obama convinced millions of Americans that he wasn't a communist.
Sure, 'cause nothing makes American happy like low-flying planes buzzing urban areas!
We're with you. Hubby wants to plaster them everywhere.
I gotta agree with Gutfield…I don't think it'll hurt Obama at all, and I bet a surprising number of people don't get the reference and think it's PRO-Obama. They'll view it as mocking those who fear/hate him by portraying him as the quintessential villain. So in a way, it's kinda brilliant–it can play to both sides. God, what Andy Warhol would do today with a scanner and a hi-speed internet connection! But at least some people'll sell some t-shirts & others will make home-made rip-offs…uh…variations. Every trip to Staples stimulates the economy!
MMMMMMMMMM…Ab News
Only a last minute addition of S.E. Cupp could make the show better.
That is good, manhattanman.
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