Heart-ache: Obama drops presidential seal

posted at 3:50 pm on June 23, 2008 by Allahpundit

Like the man says, he insists on the suppression of ego; he just didn’t realize it might come off as egotistical to debut his very own presidential seal until his friends and allies in the media politely informed him of it. And so under the bus it goes, assuming there’s any room left under there with Wright, Pfleger, Rezko and who knows who else crowded in.

I’ve had my fun with the Obama campaign’s seal, and now that fun ends. I’m told that Obama recognizes that it was a silly mistake, that the universal reaction at Wacker and Michigan was, “Boy, was that dumb,” and that they don’t think the seal staging will matter to actual voters.

Does the press think Obama is arrogant? Yes. Does the seal represent arrogance? Only tangentially, actually. The worry for Obama’s image managers is that it gives the press a pretext to call Obama arrogant, an example for them to add to a list of arrogant moments, and a way to distract them from what Obama is saying.

By “pretext” I assume he means “credible reason.” Ken Wheaton from AdAge is also hearing that the seal’s been dropped, which I guess means this kerfuffle is officially over. Or is it?

Update: Whom does Bob Beckel blame? Chuck Todd and the rest of the press corps who pleaded with St. Barack to straighten up and retire this abortion? Of course not.

“The right wing bloggers don’t like it but so what? If this is the best they can do against him then he’s a more of a shoo-in than I think he is already,” Beckel said.

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Comment pages: 1 2

Bob “the shoes gonna drop” Beckel

Tazz 55 on June 23, 2008 at 3:53 PM

What? Arrogant? Not the Messiah!!! Say it ain’t so!!!

/sarc

Andy in Agoura Hills on June 23, 2008 at 3:54 PM

this election cycle is already starting to annoy me. I cant stand obama because of his principles and how he is on the issues…but the fact that this presidential seal thing is making headlines, when he is so far from qualified to be president just by looking at what he says and does…I just want this election to be over..Obama followers are just like cult members and sheep…looking for something to follow and believe in

SoCalInfidel on June 23, 2008 at 3:54 PM

Victory.

ilitigant on June 23, 2008 at 3:55 PM

Obama killed a Baby Seal. So typical.

RushBaby on June 23, 2008 at 3:56 PM

That the idea ever came to fruition is a scary reminder of this man’s gargantuan ego.

I hate to see it go.

hillbillyjim on June 23, 2008 at 3:56 PM

You know, I was thinking that there is soooo much crap under that bus, that come Labor Day there won’t be a single ray of sunshine visible under that vehicle. What will “Your Black Muslim Candidate” do then?

Andy in Agoura Hills on June 23, 2008 at 3:57 PM

I’m told that Obama recognizes that it was a silly mistake, that the universal reaction at Wacker and Michigan was, “Boy, was that dumb,” and that they don’t think the seal staging will matter to actual voters.

“Mission Accomplished”
“Potatoe”

Oh no… this will quickly disappear and then it will have never happened because it doesn’t matter to the liberal press voters

Skywise on June 23, 2008 at 3:57 PM

St. Barry = p*ssy

Dr.Cwac.Cwac on June 23, 2008 at 3:58 PM

“That was not the seal I knew Friday.”

Chuck Schick on June 23, 2008 at 3:58 PM

RushBaby on June 23, 2008 at 3:56 PM

Great joke for ya: A baby seal walks into a club. Get it?

Dr.Cwac.Cwac on June 23, 2008 at 3:59 PM

No more Possums?

Eat More Possum..

Chakra Hammer on June 23, 2008 at 3:59 PM

Please stop these constant distractions, they are not helping Michelle Obama’s childred. Change!

SoCalInfidel on June 23, 2008 at 3:59 PM

“That was not the seal that I knew.”

Heh, was I the first to say it?

AverageJoe on June 23, 2008 at 4:00 PM

No, you won’t.

Mazztek on June 23, 2008 at 4:01 PM

Nope, betten by 2 minutes.

AverageJoe on June 23, 2008 at 4:01 PM

So he can’t use that seal. There’s plenty more seals in the world. All he needs is a bucket of fish; they’ll come running flopping.

And he could always use the double-headed eagle of the Romanovs. No one’s going to mistake that for the US Presidential seal.

NeighborhoodCatLady on June 23, 2008 at 4:03 PM

The eagle has landed been thrown under the bus.

Brat on June 23, 2008 at 4:03 PM

I guess we know whose presidency will be guided by opinion polls. I hope his spinelessness doesn’t get Americans killed by doing things like refusing to kill a terrorist mastermind or abandoning an invaded country when the Eurotrash object.

Kafir on June 23, 2008 at 4:03 PM

I like the way Ambinder tries to make it sound as if Obama himself didn’t vet the seal, it just got created and passed along by some low-level staffer w/o Obama knowing about it. Please. The eagle from the seal has been on Obama’s website for months.

And anyway, haven’t we been told ad nauseam that Obama is so stylish and “design conscious”? Pretty posters and logos are supposed to set his “brand” apart and make his hipster fans go apesh*t. The aesthetics are all they care about.

Typical of the Obamapologists to try to shield him from any responsibility here.

Missy on June 23, 2008 at 4:08 PM

This amounts to bobama’s lack of decorum and lack of good taste publically advertised by bobama himself. LOL, it ain’t over by a long shot! This is just one bobama butt in point. The arrogance it took to endorse that stoopid pig latin seal by standing behind it and in front of it for publicity means that it will irk the living daylights out of the bobamans to keep lampooning his dodo rococo faux machismo FAILURE to look presidential.

maverick muse on June 23, 2008 at 4:09 PM

This guy steps on his pecker more than any Prez candidate I can remember–and I have a Long Memory

He’s made more ‘mis-steps’ than Ford, Dukakis, Bush I, and Bush II–and Perot–combined. Add Quayle and Dole-as-VP in ’76 to the list, and HowdyBlackDoody is still ahead

Regarding each of those gaffe-prone men, the MSM pounced immediately. Now, in Enlightened Times, no one sez nuthin’

Janos Hunyadi on June 23, 2008 at 4:10 PM

Did Drudge’s link to Italian Obama fashion design feature his sign of failure?

maverick muse on June 23, 2008 at 4:10 PM

Obama is not that bright.

JackM on June 23, 2008 at 4:12 PM

The worry for Obama’s image managers is that it gives the press a pretext to call Obama arrogant, an example for them to add to a list of arrogant moments, and a way to distract them from what Obama is saying.

Translation: Pay no attention to what I do; pay attention only to what I say.

Socratease on June 23, 2008 at 4:13 PM

In other news, Obama’s spokesman said that he has scrubbed his plans to start wearing elaborate feathered headdresses at major speeches, and is no longer considering traveling to his campaign appearances by sedan chair carried by eight chanting typical white persons.

Cicero43 on June 23, 2008 at 4:13 PM

Next seal design: Hussein walking on water!

Akzed on June 23, 2008 at 4:14 PM

Obama’s spokesman said the notice paid to the seal was a little over the top. “Is this really worthy of this much attention?” he asked.

Honestly, yes. Yes it is.

yo on June 23, 2008 at 4:14 PM

both the messiah and the maverick always say in the stump speeches, that ‘when I am President…’ ..

maybe the ‘Seal’ was the next step for BHO whenever he talks about ‘When I am President…’

DaveC on June 23, 2008 at 4:14 PM

All purpose Obama excuse generator:

“[source of embarrassment] is not the [noun] I knew [number] [time frames]s ago.”

Chuck Schick on June 23, 2008 at 4:15 PM

Barry gave us the Great Seal of Arrogance, and he cannot take it back! Max Possum lives! Where’s my T-shirt???

Maquis on June 23, 2008 at 4:16 PM

Incompetent schmuck. And McCain is the best we can put up against this tool? Yay.

spmat on June 23, 2008 at 4:17 PM

I like the way Ambinder tries to make it sound as if Obama himself didn’t vet the seal, it just got created and passed along by some low-level staffer w/o Obama knowing about it.

The trend to blame bad decisions on those working for him is a disturbing one.

As Commander in Chief would a President Obama would blame a bad military decision on the troops? Seems to me that he would.

baldilocks on June 23, 2008 at 4:18 PM

Beckel is a pretty live possum-like figure. He’s dead wrong on this one. They dropped it because it’s elitist, presumptious, and illegal.

and his political instincts are very cautious and risk-averse.

Heh, just what we need in these crucial times.

I designed my own yesterday, and HA’s Gilda thankfully made it, and now they throw it under the bus. I’m so happy I was prescient.

Entelechy on June 23, 2008 at 4:19 PM

Does this mean Michelle has to give back the Jackie Kennedy pillbox hat?

Cicero43 on June 23, 2008 at 4:19 PM

This guy steps on his pecker more than any Prez candidate I can remember–and I have a Long Memory

Janos Hunyadi on June 23, 2008 at 4:10 PM

RACIST!

(Actually I’m cracking up.)

baldilocks on June 23, 2008 at 4:19 PM

I wouldn’t mind it if he wore it on his lapel.

JiangxiDad on June 23, 2008 at 4:22 PM

pay attention only to what I say.

Socratease on June 23, 2008 at 4:13 PM

And only when I say to pay attention to that.

baldilocks on June 23, 2008 at 4:22 PM

This guy steps on his pecker more than any Prez candidate I can remember

… with golf shoes.

NeighborhoodCatLady on June 23, 2008 at 4:23 PM

Now, in Enlightened Times, no one sez nuthin’

Janos Hunyadi on June 23, 2008 at 4:10 PM

But the no one sez nuthin’s never had anything worth sezzing anyway. They deny the Enlightenment, so they’re stuck with the Marx/Mao blackhole of revisionism.

You might agree that bobama, as white as black an idiot to be left alone with his own problems with race, lacks Howdy Doody’s humor. I regard bobama as Soros’ Pinocchio playing the Pied Piper with the world’s mass of philistines smiling as they follow him over the cliff.

maverick muse on June 23, 2008 at 4:23 PM

As Commander in Chief would a President Obama would blame a bad military decision on the troops? Seems to me that he would.

baldilocks on June 23, 2008 at 4:18 PM

I didn’t push the nuclear button! It was a low-level staffer.

Buy Danish on June 23, 2008 at 4:24 PM

He whacks another Updated for Possum Seal shootout

faraway on June 23, 2008 at 4:25 PM

Obama is not that bright.

JackM on June 23, 2008 at 4:12 PM

Exactly as noted by the pastel baby blue representing his immaturity, poor judgement, and inexperience.

maverick muse on June 23, 2008 at 4:27 PM

The release of this bogus “seal” the same day that Obama reneged on public finance is what made it radioactive.

These guys are stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

rockmom on June 23, 2008 at 4:27 PM

The trend to blame bad decisions on those working for him is a disturbing one.

baldilocks on June 23, 2008 at 4:18 PM

I agree. Most of us have had at least one crummy boss who tried to blame staff for his/her own mistakes. Bad news in a boss; major bad news in a Commander in Chief.

Missy on June 23, 2008 at 4:28 PM

Barry gave us the Great Seal of Arrogance, and he cannot take it back! Max Possum lives! Where’s my T-shirt???

Maquis on June 23, 2008 at 4:16 PM

LOL roaring!

maverick muse on June 23, 2008 at 4:28 PM

McCain can’t believe his good luck.

faraway on June 23, 2008 at 4:28 PM

Too bad. It probably took a long time to design. Maybe he can wear it as an arm patch….like in the Boy Scouts. Sad moment for Bambi.

Travis1 on June 23, 2008 at 4:31 PM

The one thing that BO learned from the Clintons. Whatever happens, blame righty.

swami on June 23, 2008 at 4:32 PM

The release of this bogus “seal” the same day that Obama reneged on public finance is what made it radioactive.

These guys are stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

rockmom on June 23, 2008 at 4:27 PM

hillbillyjim on June 23, 2008 at 4:32 PM

As Commander in Chief would a President Obama would blame a bad military decision on the troops? Seems to me that he would.

baldilocks on June 23, 2008 at 4:18 PM

Lord knows bobama would make willijeff look great in comparison. Come to think of it, didn’t Jimmy Crack Corn blame the military when he forced their hand into his poorly contrived rescue via apache helicopters DURING a sandstorm-tornadic winds?

maverick muse on June 23, 2008 at 4:32 PM

Someone really needs to keep a list of everything under Obama’s bus..

Chakra Hammer on June 23, 2008 at 4:35 PM

they don’t think the seal staging will matter to actual voters

Sort of like “real people.” I know cloning is on the way, but who are all these fake people?

DrSteve on June 23, 2008 at 4:36 PM

No, you won’t.

Mazztek on June 23, 2008 at 4:01 PM

Caption suggestion – Chris Matthews confuses tree with Obama.

Entelechy on June 23, 2008 at 4:37 PM

And so under the bus it goes, assuming there’s any room left under there with Wright, Pfleger, Rezko and who knows who else crowded in.

How could you have forgotten Grandma (i.e. the very first one he threw under the bus)?

thirteen28 on June 23, 2008 at 4:38 PM

“…they don’t think the seal staging will matter to actual voters.”

Does anything matter to actual voters?

Django on June 23, 2008 at 4:38 PM

Someone really needs to keep a list of everything under Obama’s bus..

Chakra Hammer on June 23, 2008 at 4:35 PM

Presidential seal fantasy
Wright
Rezko
Ayers
Johnson
Powers
Campaign staffers who dislike headscarves
Flag pins
Trinity United
Pfleger
Hamas
Che Guevara
Grandma

Chuck Schick on June 23, 2008 at 4:38 PM

It’s just like the spineless, arrogant, flip-flopping dumb**** he is to do something like drop his own seal a few days after adopting it.

indythinker on June 23, 2008 at 4:39 PM

Vero

possimus

bussimus

Entelechy on June 23, 2008 at 4:39 PM

Next seal design: Hussein walking on water!

Akzed on June 23, 2008 at 4:14 PM

He can already do this, provided his scary wife first looks at it and freezes it.

whitetop on June 23, 2008 at 4:40 PM

E, vero stupidus :( – picked quotes vs. the strike…

Here we go, again

Vero possimus busimus

Entelechy on June 23, 2008 at 4:40 PM

If Basama Orack wins the election, you can bet the libs will safely use the Hussein middle name, as if to stick it to the right.

malkinmania on June 23, 2008 at 4:42 PM

“any room left under there with Wright, Pfleger, Rezko and who knows who else crowded in”

- his grandmother
- his support for publice election financing
- his opposition, then his non-opposition to FISA
- And now he’s thrown a baby Seal under the bus

When will Winnie the Pooh end up under there as well?

michaelo on June 23, 2008 at 4:43 PM

I heard the Republicans made up that seal and stuck in on the podium.

ThePrez on June 23, 2008 at 4:43 PM

And anyway, haven’t we been told ad nauseam that Obama is so stylish and “design conscious”? Pretty posters and logos are supposed to set his “brand” apart and make his hipster fans go apesh*t. The aesthetics are all they care about.

Missy on June 23, 2008 at 4:08 PM

Reminds me of those stories of Barry taking tapes of Wright’s sermons with him to Harvard so he could learn to emulate Wright’s speaking style. Or the stories about Barry practicing his “looking off into the future” stance and gaze, to try and look more presidential.

Style over substance. Just what we need in these dangerous times. What a tool.

AZCoyote on June 23, 2008 at 4:46 PM

I’m sad. That seal was really really funny. He needs to make another one where he’s the face of Uncle Sam saying “I want CHANGE and HOPE!!”

My amusement is over. Time for Obama to pull another stupid move.

mjk on June 23, 2008 at 4:49 PM

LMAO

becki51758 on June 23, 2008 at 4:49 PM

If Basama Orack wins the election, you can bet the libs will safely use the Hussein middle name, as if to stick it to the right.

malkinmania on June 23, 2008 at 4:42 PM

Use it now. I keep mentioning that, technically, Barack has two last names like the average Luo born in the West, using the Western method of naming would.

The traditional Luo method of naming is to give the child his/her own surname. Therefore, were one to go by Luo–but not Islamic–rules, one would refer to him as Barack Hussein. IOW ‘Hussein’ is his last name by Luo tradition.

baldilocks on June 23, 2008 at 4:50 PM

Obama may be abandoning his Great Seal but I think I’ll be keeping it around for a while longer.

For those like Obama who “insist on the suppression of ego,” there’s also this version.

Gilda on June 23, 2008 at 4:52 PM

and a way to distract them from what Obama is saying.

Distractions, distractions! It’s all just distractions!

NTWR on June 23, 2008 at 4:53 PM

Gilda on June 23, 2008 at 4:52 PM

I love your seals!!

becki51758 on June 23, 2008 at 4:56 PM

This isn’t a campaign, it’s an excuse generator.

Merovign on June 23, 2008 at 4:58 PM

If Basama Orack wins the election, you can bet the libs will safely use the Hussein middle name, as if to stick it to the right.

malkinmania on June 23, 2008 at 4:42 PM

Use it now…Therefore, were one to go by Luo–but not Islamic–rules, one would refer to him as Barack Hussein. IOW ‘Hussein’ is his last name by Luo tradition.

baldilocks on June 23, 2008 at 4:50 PM

Indeed. Why did you, malkinmania, make up a bogus name? Use his real name, since he never officially changed it?

Here’s the list of all our former/current presidents. If Mr. Obama wins, his name will be

Barack Hussein Obama

If he’d have real balls, he’d have made this clear a long time ago. He threw his middle/one of his last names under the bus, silently.

If. Mr. McCain wins, his official name will be

John Sidney McCain III

George Washington, 1789-1797
John Adams, 1797-1801
Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809
James Madison, 1809-1817
James Monroe, 1817-1825
John Quincy Adams, 1825-1829
Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837
Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841
William Henry Harrison, 1841
John Tyler, 1841-1845
James Knox Polk, 1845-1849
Zachary Taylor, 1849-1850
Millard Fillmore, 1850-1853
Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857
James Buchanan, 1857-1861
Abraham Lincoln, 1861-1865
Andrew Johnson, 1865-1869
Ulysses Simpson Grant, 1869-1877
Rutherford Birchard Hayes, 1877-1881
James Abram Garfield, 1881
Chester Alan Arthur, 1881-1885
Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889
Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893
Grover Cleveland, 1893-1897
William McKinley, 1897-1901
Theodore Roosevelt, 1901-1909
William Howard Taft, 1909-1913
Woodrow Wilson, 1913-1921
Warren Gamaliel Harding, 1921-1923
Calvin Coolidge, 1923-1929
Herbert Clark Hoover, 1929-1933
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1933-1945
Harry S. Truman, 1945-1953
Dwight David Eisenhower 1953-1961
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 1961-1963
Lyndon Baines Johnson, 1963-1969
Richard Milhous Nixon, 1969-1974
Gerald Rudolph Ford, 1974-1977
James Earl Carter, Jr., 1977-1981
Ronald Wilson Reagan, 1981-1989
George Herbert Walker Bush, 1989-1993
William Jefferson Clinton, 1993-2001
George Walker Bush, 2001-

Entelechy on June 23, 2008 at 4:59 PM

Yes, maverick muse, I agree that Obamassiah lacks Howdy Doody’s finely nuanced sense of humor. BHO has more of a Bozo the Clown aura, but he does have a smack-dab resemblance to Howdy, ( especially the ears ) and like Mr Doody, BHO is a puppet.

Younger folks reading this don’t know Howdy Doody; more’s the Pity. He’s probably on DVDs at Amazon by now, if anyone wants to catch up.

Janos Hunyadi on June 23, 2008 at 5:00 PM

Too bad Versace will have to tear off all those seals off next year’s collection.

indythinker on June 23, 2008 at 5:02 PM

Gilda on June 23, 2008 at 4:52 PM

Do you know how to say “I am the one we’ve been waiting for” in Latin?

Buy Danish on June 23, 2008 at 5:02 PM

If he’d have real balls, he’d have made this clear a long time ago. He threw his middle/one of his last names under the bus, silently.

Just so.

baldilocks on June 23, 2008 at 5:03 PM

The picture with the now “under the bus seal”, at the democrat governors meeting, makes Obama look like a 9th grader staring into nowhere.

Entelechy on June 23, 2008 at 5:05 PM

By “pretext” I assume he means “credible reason.”

We need to add this to the “How to speak Democrat” phrase book.

Purple Fury on June 23, 2008 at 5:06 PM

What fake seal does, like the rest of his quasi-agitprop pop-art graphics, is make him seem creepy.

Blacklake on June 23, 2008 at 5:07 PM

Buy Danish “I am the future” – Ego Sum Posterus

Entelechy on June 23, 2008 at 5:08 PM

Entelechy on June 23, 2008 at 4:59 PM

Barack Hussein Mulligan Obama

fogw on June 23, 2008 at 5:09 PM

I had a seal
What a deal
Official I was
Now under the bus
Righties, they squeal

Entelechy on June 23, 2008 at 5:10 PM

Egoist with respect to the seal and egotist when he opens his mouth.

Over30 on June 23, 2008 at 5:10 PM

… way to distract them from what Obama is saying…

As if The Messiah really wants us to listen to what he actually says.

shaken on June 23, 2008 at 5:18 PM

“The right wing bloggers don’t like it but so what? If this is the best they can do against him then he’s a more of a shoo-in than I think he is already,” Beckel said.

Beckel says this to every single Democratic gaffe. His sheen of bravado about his candidate winning in November is hiding something…..a physical shortcoming perhaps. Anyway he and Kristen Powers are the least interesting Democrat mouthpieces.

sheryl on June 23, 2008 at 5:18 PM

The HypObamaCrite stole the Possums phrase from Dame Edna. He’s as big a plagiarist as dipstick Biden.

GeneSmith on June 23, 2008 at 5:22 PM

If Barak Hussein who’s Not Sane Obama actually gets the keys to the White House, he’ll have the hot line installed so he can take orders directly from George Soros and then there will be no more mistakes….or freedom…or economy…or country.

landlines on June 23, 2008 at 5:25 PM

The mendacity of hope hype

Entelechy on June 23, 2008 at 5:27 PM

If Barak Hussein who’s Not Sane

Barak Husnotsein.

JiangxiDad on June 23, 2008 at 5:30 PM

Has anyone noticed that Drudge is knee deep in Obama also? How can seemingly smart folks be so hornswaggled by this empty something or other.

eaglesdontflock on June 23, 2008 at 5:40 PM

Has anyone noticed that Drudge is knee deep in Obama also? How can seemingly smart folks be so hornswaggled by this empty something or other.

eaglesdontflock on June 23, 2008 at 5:40 PM

Yeah, it’s pretty obvious. But the whole site has changed. Methinks it’s a lot less Matt Drudge now (who’s rich, rich, rich) and a lot more Andrew Breitbart.

JiangxiDad on June 23, 2008 at 5:43 PM

To add to the “under the bus” list:

NAFTA
Canada
Ahmadinejad
Jerusalem
Israel
Iraqi Foreign Minister
Bitter Gun-Clingers

Steve Z on June 23, 2008 at 5:45 PM

Buy Danish “I am the future” – Ego Sum Posterus

Entelechy on June 23, 2008 at 5:08 PM

Ego Sum Dominus is more like it.

Buy Danish on June 23, 2008 at 5:54 PM

Found!! Obamajebus’s bus.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f339/bighelmet2/short_bus.jpg

44Magnum on June 23, 2008 at 6:02 PM

“If this is the best they can do against him then he’s a more of a shoo-in than I think he is already,”

Funny,

how I’ve heard him use these exact same words on dozens of occasions,

isn’t it.

franksalterego on June 23, 2008 at 6:03 PM

and a way to distract them from what Obama is saying.

It’s all just a big distraction.

malan89 on June 23, 2008 at 6:05 PM

But Michele said the seal was good for the kids. “You know, this conversation doesn’t help my kids, you know.”

Sergei on June 23, 2008 at 6:06 PM

There goes Obama’s plan for his convention acceptance speech, right out the window:

http://www.imdb.com/media/rm368875776/tt0416449

Bishop on June 23, 2008 at 6:21 PM

Barack Obama changes his mind more quickly than his underwear. Skid marks on both!

Bumper sticker tomorrow; t-shirt ready by, maybe, Friday.

Yoop on June 23, 2008 at 6:25 PM

Comment pages: 1 2