Hubby and I went to the mall yesterday to laugh at the harried shoppers. My mood was wrecked when we passed one of those faux-galleries that specializes in tacky patriotic/religious/heart-warming pictures. They'd replaced the center display with a large black backdrop and a big pictures of all the presidents standing behind a poor--white, of course--man sitting on a park bench looking dejected with Obama standing with his back to the bench and one foot on the Constitution. Washington, Jefferson (I think), Reagan, and someone else were directly behind the bench pointing to the man and staring imploringly at Obama. Behind Obama were the liberal presidents--I recognized FDR and Teddy Roosevelt--applauding. I couldn't bear to look for the Bushes. There was lots of money lying on the ground, just in case anyone was missing the point. Next to the painting was a rack of smaller prints that one could buy.
I expressed my contempt as loudly as I dared and I wanted to go to the proprietor and tell him I was deeply offended, but I know I'm seriously outnumbered in this valley and chickened out. I contemplated lining up my escape route and doing something to the painting, but Hubby said, "No, that gives them martyr status, and insurance would pay for it. Let them go broke over the thing."
But, god, I knew this state hated Obama, but someone went to the trouble of painting this thing and creating prints and dedicating their entire store to peddling it.
Oh, Kennedy was sort of on the righteous conservative side, but he was staring at Obama like he wasn't sure if he disapproved. I guess the artist couldn't *quite* get away with dissing assassinated presidents.
I wish I could trust my outrage to be eloquent instead of merely outraged, I'd have gone up to the thing and engaged the store proprietor in contemptuous dialogue.