'Obama got Osama' – US memorabilia shows renewed support for President
Mugs, t-shirts, yoga mats and coffee cups a-plenty on every New York street corner all emblazened with a reinvigorated belief in the once “No-drama Obama” who is fast becoming the heroic image many americans had never believed possible.
Outside ground zero in New York people are already wearing their OBL souvenir T shirts. Osama’s face in red white and blue – just like that iconic Sheperd Fairy image of Obama – and the legend “Obama got Osama “. It would be tasteless in the extreme for the Obama campaign to use either the same image or slogan in the 2012 presidential election campaign. But you know that’s what they hope voters will be thinking. And judging by the readily available memorabilia they already are.
Public Enemy #1 is Dead reads one of the quickly printed T shirts you can buy for $10 from a street cart in Washington. Patriotism in America goes hand in hand with making a quick buck. You can buy a coffee mug that wishes you “Happy NoSama Day”.
Forget your Osama urinal cake read one advert I read – so last decade. It’s all about the yoga mat now. How times have changed, I remember just after 9-11 when it was all OBL toilet paper and targets for the firing range. Now you can get a “Go SEALs” cupcake in smart Georgetown bakeries.
Some shops are refusing to sell this kind of merchandise, understandably uncomfortable about celebrating the death of another human being. But most americans feel they have waited a long time for this day and they will celebrate any way they like. These are not people who worry that without seeing a photo of Bin Laden’s corpse they can’t be sure he is dead. These are people who not only believe in his demise they see it as a personal victory.
And whether you agree with the President’s decision not to release those gruesome photos to the public, at least now we know they won’t be reproduced on T shirts and beer mugs all over America