From editor Joey Skaggs: I recommend this piece from The January/February 2010 issue of Tikkun written by Christopher Hedges about the cultural phenomenon of celebrity-ism. Parts are excerpted from his 2009 book, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle
Celebrity Culture and the Obama Brand, by Christopher Hedges
Barack Obama is a brand. And the Obama brand is designed to make us feel good about our government while corporate overlords loot the Treasury, armies of corporate lobbyists grease the palms of our elected officials, our corporate media diverts us with gossip and trivia, and our imperial wars expand in the Middle East. Brand Obama is about being happy consumers. We are entertained. We feel hopeful. We like our president. We believe he is like us. But like all branded products spun out from the manipulative world of corporate advertising, this product is duping us into doing and supporting a lot of things that are not in our interest.
What, for all our faith and hope, has the Obama brand given us?
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