benj:

I loved Obama’s 2004 speech. I am frustrated by how various aspects of Obama’s past fail to measure up to the soaring rhetoric of that speech. Please understand that I was once open to supporting Obama, but his there are aspects of his character I simply don’t trust. The irony is that I would probably be able to get along with him quite well on a personal level, but many aspects of his professional behavior bother me.

In particular, I am unhappy with how Obama has been marketed on the web. I don’t like his use of halos and I don’t like his use of disturbing images in an apparent imitation of the techniques of tobacco companies. (Take the negatives of downloadable wallpapers from his website and see Obama’s marketing techniques for yourself!) And until the “vero possumus” flap, Obama had posted images where his rising sun emblem superceded symbols of America.

As petty as my objections against Obama’s symbolism may appear to some people, his marketing bothers me. Before discovering his marketing techniques, I was skeptical but open about Obama’s candidacy. I do think Obama’s symbolism crosses a line.