April 28, 2010
Obama on a Platter
Doug Mills/NYT
The headline in The New York Times above this photograph by Doug Mills reads: Obama Slams Arizona’s Immigration Bill.
With that prompting, Obama’s expression reads as indignation and irritation towards the Arizona lawmakers, who just challenged him directly, perhaps personally, by enacting a Jim Crow-era law.
Even so, Obama’s out-thrust chin and tight smile show determination and his usual confidence in his own abilities. The President does not look intimidated. He looks rather like a deeply disappointed teacher, looking down at some boys who just went over the line. It is a scene of racial unity and order, the multi-ethnic soldiers in dress formation. With hands aloft in sacred oath, the image proclaims the idea of America as a post-racial society. Obama bows slightly forward, a gesture of respect for this group of immigrants, who saw active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq in exchange for this moment.
Doug Mill’s unorthodox composition places the President’s head right on top of an olive green base, formed by a soldier’s hat, suggesting at least three different associations:
1. An official bust upheld by the hat of a dark-skinned immigrant soldier. The metaphor being that the president is above the fray, supported by immigrants and the (multi-ethnic) armed forces.
2. Off with his head! As yelled by attendees of Tea Party rallies, this slogan obviously says that Obama is an illegitimate tyrant who should be executed. Implicit in the slogan is the call to form “well organized militias” as a defense against the tyrant.
3. On a platter. The Arizona Legislature just handed Obama the immigration issue, on a platter.
As the photo op makes clear, Obama has the military with him on immigration. The Pentagon wants lots of new citizens, strong young men and women to fight our foreign wars.
By the way, these men and women are today US citizens thanks to the “Expedited Naturalization Executive Order,” signed by George W. Bush, on July 4, 2002, which offers expedited naturalization to foreigners willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States. In plain language, the United States currently offers the world’s young men and women a pragmatic deal:
If you survive your tour(s) in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, you will be rewarded with fast track citizenship.
And if you die, we will grant you post-mortem citizenship, should you so wish.
