Barack Obama’s campaign store now features a $45 T-shirt designed by Beyonce and Tina Knowles. And it tells you everything you need to know about this campaign’s confused and discombobulated take on the United States.
The shirt itself is a hideous mishmash of fonts and slogans. The phrases are idiotic and meaningless. “I’M IN!” reads one, suggesting either that you’re working with the Obama campaign, or that you’ve finally achieved access to the McDonald’s restroom.
“YES WE CAN,” says another.
“WORDS DO INSPIRE,” says a third – which, of course, we already knew. The problem for Obama is that words also mean things. So when Obama promises jobs, transparency and accountability, open access to hearings on health care, and the like, we expect him to keep his promises. Obama’s problem isn’t that words inspire – it’s that words matter.
“A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things,” says a fourth slogan, apparently cribbed from the script of The Avengers.
