This is the Official Seal of the President of the United States (from the Whitehouse's website).
I post this image for a reason.
I realize it takes a ego of extraordinary size to run for President. Even with that, this photo, which is from Associated Press coverage of Senator Obama's speech at a meeting of Democratic Governors in Chicago, demonstrates an arrogance and degree of self-centeredness I can't say I've seen before:
Let's go through what's different with the Obama seal:- Instead of "E Pluribus Unum" between the eagle's wings, it says "Vero Possumus," which is (bad) Latin for "Yes We Can" [UPDATE: Posted on the New York Times article about this is a translation of "Vero Possumus" as "Truly a Possum"];
- It uses the bluetones of the Obama campaign instead of the representative colors found in the US Presidential Seal;
- [UPDATE: The eagle is also very similar to the Blue Eagle of the National Recovery Administration, which represented a fascistic takeover of US industry through direct nationalization of industry and other, slightly subtler means like loyalty oaths to "buy only where the Blue Eagle flies";]
- Instead of the eagle having a shield on its chest, the Obama seal has a disc with his "Hopeful Sunrise" graphic on it. The shield has meaning too -- apparently instead of a united republic of states (the blue overarching the stripes representing the federal government binding together 13 individual colonies) leading and protecting the eagle, it is the symbolism of the Obama figure leading and protecting the eagle;
- Instead of the print on the outside circumference of the seal, it has Obama's website and "Obama for America."
