Chia Obama?!

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Posted by Jaywalker July 9, 2009 at 3:01 p.m.

Color me refreshed.

It's no secret that our nation's fascination and idolization of Barack Obama is off the charts. I haven't been around that long to be an authority, but I've never seen nor heard nor read of anyone - let alone an elected official - who's skyrocketed to such lofty heights of popularity. Even JFK wasn't so wildly beloved. Camelot wasn't Camelot until his assassination, and that wasn't even firmly established until his brother met a similar fate.

I have no idea if all of this is a good or a bad thing. I'm torn on the impact such adoration might affect. After W., perhaps this kind of faith, hope, and trust in our President is just what the doctor ordered. Maybe it's all an elixir that will continue to instill confidence and resurrect the pride the majority of us held in being American not so long ago. Lord knows we need an injection of spirit, comaradery, and community to help us through the troubling times we find ourselves in. We need fresh ideas and invigorating leadership, and that could be what continues to fuel this wild devotion.

Then again, perhaps it's little more than blind idol worship that will inevitably fade over time. I've always found it fascinating with past Presidents that while they were esteemed walking in the door one was hard-pressed to find people willing to admit they'd voted for them a year or two down the line.
And maybe the mania and idolatry will only serve to blind the populace from the hazardous waters this administration is negotiating, realizing those are rocks at the bottom of that beautiful waterfall when it's too late to turn the boat back. I'm not saying the moves being made are wrong, but they're certainly unproven and subject to thoughtful suspection.

All that being said, whatever the cause of and potential outcome from this Obama-mania might be, at least it's providing some much appreciated levity. And at least someone's making money these days. The "Obama Souvenir" industry is a force of nature. From the moment those last votes were counted, everything-Obama has been hawked with the fury of the Sham-Wow guy on cocaine. I haven't seen it, but I imagine you can get a kitchen sink with the Presidential seal and that charming picture of Obama with his girls smack dab around the drain.

What have I seen thus far? T-shirts, key chains, lava lamps, posters, 6' cardboard cutouts, pendants, stationary, coins, etched plaques, figurines, bobbleheads, busts, mugs, glasses, basketballs, jackets, pens, bumper stickers, skateboards, kites, and....wait for it......condoms! Yes, condoms. And I'm sure this comprises less than half the list of memorabilia available to those sick of collecting Elvis gear.

But the "pie'ce de re'sistance" was unveiled to me last night at about 2 a.m.

I was up late balancing the books and trying to figure what new business I could generate in order to keep all my men on the payroll. I've been able to ride the storm admirably thus far, if I do say so myself. We've diversified, expanded territory, and forged new ones. I've reduced my own salary to just above nothing and removed myself from our health insurance rolls just to keep my guys employed. But the ball keeps rolling downhill.

So in the wee hours I was nursing a scotch on the rocks in an effort to minimize the weight of the stress coursing through my entire body. I could feel my knitted eyebrows attempting to meet in the middle and my poor dog could sense it was not a good time to be lying in my path as I paced the den. I'd been at it for hours so I opted to turn on the tube to see how badly my Royals had been spanked. I know, I know; insult to injury and all that but I needed to direct my frustration elsewhere.

I punched in the numbers on the remote and in that split second before the channel changed I saw something that caught my eye. I thought, "Was that....? Could it really be......? Did I see....?", as I quickly pressed the recall button.
It was. For the love of Oprah, there was an ad for a "Chia Obama"!!! As the voice-over announcer detailed the fine craftsmanship of the product and explained how "you can commemorate the historic election" I stared in disbelief with jaws agape. And then I chuckled. Then I laughed. Soon I was laughing so hard I had to put my scotch down. Maybe it wasn't that funny. Maybe the hilarity was more about the combination of punchiness and stress. But I gotta tell ya, watching the time lapse effect of that Obama head grow little green hair was too much for me to take.

I've thought all this Obama-mania was over the top, that the theory of over-kill had been lost on those looking to put him out in front of the public in each and every way possible. But for once, just for that one moment, I couldn't have been more thankful. I needed a laugh so badly. It was just what the doctor ordered.

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honeychild (Mel Briscoe) says…

wow. being a person of color, i am almost leaning toward being offended at "chia obama".... as if a black person's hair texture could be likened to a bush or plant. hmm.... maybe i'm taking it too seriously and putting too much thought into it.

i just drove past one of those black market/white house stores the other day and thought about how michelle made their profits rise by something like 1000% when she told someone that she shops there. brand obama is proving to be quite marketable.

chia obama tho?... that's a bit much. very goofy.
July 9, 2009 at 3:08 p.m.
jaywalker (anonymous) says…

I apologize for the structure of the paragraphs. It doesn't have the flow and pause that I intended. Apparently a clear delineation is only made if you double space. I'll remember that if I ever do this again.
July 9, 2009 at 3:12 p.m.
justbegintowrite (Ronda Miller) says…

jaywalker...you can always go back and hit edit and try again. Lord only knows how friendly I am with the edit button, but usually to change my point of view!

We must be from vastly different generations. President Kennedy was tops from the start. We didn't wait until he died before we loved him....we loved him from the beginning and that is why he and Jackie were "Camelot".

And sorry, Obama is terrific, but he isn't up to "Camelot" in my book as yet. Or even Chia....for that matter.

Yeah, yeah and all this from a McCain fan....go figure.

Good blog though!
July 9, 2009 at 3:24 p.m.
logicsound09 (anonymous) says…

Good stuff jaywalker. I was also going to note that you can edit the blog after the fact if the paragraph structure is really gnawing at you.

Personally I think both those declaring Obama the doom of civiliation and those declaring him the savior of America are in left field (the left field parking lot, that is). There seem to be an awful lot of both of them on these forum though...

I agree that his celebrity should be taken with a grain of salt, but I think you raise an interesting point with how the adoration may be restoring some faith in the office. The only catch is that if he makes a really major mistake--the kind that stays with us for decades--then all that restored faith would be for naught.
July 9, 2009 at 3:45 p.m.
Pywacket (anonymous) says…

I enjoyed your blog. You present some great food for thought, but I think your statement that " I haven't been around that long to be an authority....." is confirmed by the following comments, "Even JFK wasn't so wildly beloved. Camelot wasn't Camelot until his assassination..."

JFK was indeed idolized, revered, swooned over, etc., as was his glam wife--long before his life was cut short. I well remember the "Jack & Jackie" commemorative plates my mom hung in the living room, where they stayed for many years--through many presidencies. My aunt named her only child Caroline, and was an even bigger JFK nut than my mom! But they were far from alone in this adoration. Many young adults like my mom & aunt could not get enough of JFK, Jackie, their kids, and everything any of them said or did. Fashion was profoundly influenced by Jackie, and the women adopted her hairstyle. There was plenty of souvenir hawking and, if there was less than today, it's only because the merchandising machine was not as well-oiled back then. Proof of this can be found in comparing the insane amount of Christmas, Halloween, & other holiday stuff churned out now with the relatively restrained amount in the 50s and 60s. Advances in cheap production and marketing have spurred wild output of products, whether the subject is holidays or the Pres or Enzyte!

If you go further back, you will find that JFK (much less Obama) was not the first public figure who was slavishly adored, idolized, and merchandised. It's just that merchandising has gotten more lucrative over time. Between JFK and Obama, there have been others whose popularity generated many outlandish products. My aunt brought back some Beatles-printed stockings for my mom from England in 1964. (She still has them--in the pkg!) Going to flea markets, I see no end of Charles & Diana crapola... and this is the tip of the iceberg.

As for Obama, many of us are just so relieved to have an intelligent, thoughtful, well-educated (practically scraping through Yale after being admitted only due to daddy's influence doesn't count), articulate, strategic, competent person in the White House after 8 years of arrogance, incompetence, and ignorance is enough to send us into raptures. To say that he is a breath of fresh air is like saying the Hope diamond is a sparkly bauble.

I don't have a commemorative Obama plate on my wall (ha!) but I am delighted with our president. If anyone can correct some of the egregious errors of the Shrub era, Obama can. As he has said many times, it will not happen overnight. Only the die-hard bush leaguers seem to think that anyone could fix such a terrible mess in 100 days or less. Anyone with good sense knows it will take longer.
July 9, 2009 at 4:15 p.m.
jaywalker (anonymous) says…

Thanks for the tip, didn't know you could edit after the fact.

Ronda,

Yup, different generations. My knowledge of the Kennedy legacy is from books. My folks talked of how big fans they were, but also said the country was a straight split on his popularity 'til he passed, and that's what I'd gleaned from studying, too. They said that after Dallas he gained a 'martyr' type of adoration. But you've got more 'hands on' experience than I, and they experienced all that in the northeast. I imagine things were viewed quite differently depending on geography and since there wasn't nearly the media presence or constant news cycles and talking heads at work.

logic,

Yeah, that 'catch' annoys the hell outta me. Such is the fickle nature of the masses. It's disappointing people can't take rational overviews and realize that none of these officials is either perfect nor infallible. When all's said and done we're just men doing the best we can. If Obama blows it with one of these big ticket items but hits a home run with 5, the focus should be on the five. Hell, I'll be happy with a spot over 50%. Hercules didn't have this many tough trials.

icedover,

Certainly meant nothing remotely offensive. What are you reading into this?
July 9, 2009 at 4:18 p.m.
logicsound09 (anonymous) says…

I believe what icedover is alluding to is the fact that--at least when I was in high school--having hair like a chia pet was sometimes used as a putdown for the tight curls often associated with african-american hair. "Your hair is so [curly] that it looks like a chia pet" - that sort of thing. Not that I ever engaged in it, but I remember hearing it unfortunately.

Of course, if anything is offensive (which I don't believe it is), it would be the company that created the product, not the blog that talks about it's existence.
July 9, 2009 at 4:29 p.m.
Logan72 (Alia Ahmed) says…

jayhawker,

I had heard of the Obama chia when it was pulled off the shelves by Walgreens back in April after some people raised concerns that it was a racist depiction.

There is a cartoonist Donna Barstow who says the idea was stolen from a political cartoon she had published earlier.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/polit...

http://www.gocomics.com/feature_items...
July 9, 2009 at 5:11 p.m.
Logan72 (Alia Ahmed) says…

jayhawker,

By the way, I like the way you write. I thought your writing displayed a keen sense of humor and ability to laugh at the absurd. Your story was descriptive and I liked that you included personal information. In all your spare time (LOL!) maybe you should consider participating in the next round of the Citizen Journalism Academy.
July 9, 2009 at 5:58 p.m.
jaywalker (anonymous) says…

Alia,

That was the first time I'd heard or seen anything about it. Thanks for the links though. Don't know if it was wise for that cartoonist to squawk. Probably more offensive than the chia.

And thank you much for the compliment and kind review. Very nice of you to say.
July 9, 2009 at 8:07 p.m.
Logan72 (Alia Ahmed) says…

Well, it appears that cartoonist likes to be provocative, but I guess most poltiical cartoonists aim for that. I often wish I could draw cartoons, I like the use of satire or irony and a good political cartoon often includes one or the other.
July 9, 2009 at 9:37 p.m.
jonas_opines (anonymous) says…

There's no need to view this as racist at all. There was a whole line of Chia heads about a decade ago, and most of them were actually white.

Mine had a mohawk, of course.
July 9, 2009 at 9:58 p.m.