Approaching the Precipice

 By Russ Cote

As I made my way to the New York Times’ call for submissions of Obama-inspired reader ‘art’, there were, for me, two ways to approach it: one, highlight yet another installment of the seemingly infinite series of obvious media bias, or two, scroll through and reflect on the eighty-two submissions. Let’s go with option two.

The submissions themselves, observed independently, vary greatly in skill, technique and form. Some appear to be the work of children, others of more talented artists. When examined as a whole however, the unavoidable, overriding theme is one of reverence and, more distressingly, faith. I don’t pretend to know the subjective motivations of each independent artist, but one can nonetheless objectively assess the collective expression personified by the works.

Even casual political observers will remember the Obama campaign’s ‘Hope and Change’ posters, Parthenon-inspired stage set and “Seal of the Office of the President-Elect”. That was one thing. But now, just shy of six months after the 44^th President’s inauguration, when I would have hoped the immediate elation would have worn off and the serious business of governing and corresponding citizen’s obligation for vigilance and sober reflection on policy had begun, the Times brings us a steady stream of artwork paying homage to Barack Obama. This is quite another thing.

These submissions cannot reasonably be interpreted as artistic commentary on Obama’s policies or a visual reflection on the intellectual battle between Socialism and Republicanism. They are more accurately defined as works of art depicting Barack Obama as either an earthly leader of unprecedented greatness or as the earthly manifestation of something deity-like. Either way, the works reflect a disturbing consciousness, (or unconsciousness as the case may be). Barack Obama is a man. I would think it is beyond reproach to suggest that men should not be worshipped. Perhaps I’m over-reacting, but the artwork as I see it evinces a reverence in the artist that is unhealthy and seriously detrimental to the survival of a system of self-governance.

The collectivist ethos, from Marx to present-day American statists, has railed against the worship of Jesus Christ. The ACLU has succeeded time and again in driving expressions of the Christian faith out of American institutions and perhaps, to some extent, out of Americans’ lives as a result. The Old Gray Lady has solicited reader’s portraits of President Obama and received, at present, eighty-two submissions whose most dominant collective theme can most accurately be described as one of reverence without reason. At what point does the “cult of Obama” cease being a tongue-in-cheek ribbing of some over-the-top individuals and evolve into a very real and very dangerous movement of faith? I don’t know the answer to that question, but I for one will be watching very closely.