Hilarious and pretentious

[Anonymous]

You have to click on the link and see the picture. From the NYT Politics blog:

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/the-great-seal-of-obamaland/

The Great Seal of Obamaland?
By JOHN M. BRODER

At a discussion with a dozen Democratic governors in Chicago on Friday morning, each of the governors was identified with a small name plate but Senator Barack Obama sat behind a low rostrum to which was attached an official-looking seal no one had seen before.

It is emblazoned with a fierce-looking eagle clutching an olive branch in one claw and arrows in the other and is deliberately reminiscent of the official seal of the president of the United States. Around the top border are the words “Obama for America;” across the bottom is the campaign’s Web address. It also contains the logo of the Obama campaign, variously interpreted as a sunrise or a view down an open road.

Just above the eagle’s head are the words “Vero Possumus,” roughly translated “Yes we can.” Not exactly E Pluribus Unum (Out of Many, One), the motto on the presidential seal and the dollar bill. Then again, Mr. Obama is not the president.

[Anonymous]

Very pretentious.

[Anonymous]

I can't see "Vero Possumus" and not think of Dame Edna Everage. Presumably not the reaction the campaign had in mind.

[Anonymous]

OP here. I thought it was so funny, like something on Saturday Night Live, but the Great Seal of Obamaland bit the dust after one appearance, due to universal ridicule:

Obama retiring Great Seal of Obama?
Posted June 23, 2008 3:45 PM
by Mark Silva
Chicago Tribune

Bets are in that the faux presidential seal which Sen. Barack Obama rolled out last week already has secured an early retirement, with the campaign facing more ridicule than the rostrum décor is worth.

"The Audacity of Hype,'' they called it at ABC News, as our friends at the Top of the Ticket note in citing the ribbing that Camp Obama has taken for its "Obama for America'' seal.

They also note Marc Ambinder's intelligence today at Atlantic.com:

"I'm told that Obama recognizes that it was a silly mistake, that the universal reaction . . . was, 'Boy, was that dumb,' and that they don't think the seal staging will matter to actual voters.''