MOVE ON A LETTER TO MOVEON.ORG

Dear MoveOn.org:

I received your recent e-mail asking for donations.  No problem.  I'm on your mailing list; I've donated before and will again.  But ... not this time.

Your latest letter with the subject "Hope Poster Of 2009" cites the "iconic poster of acclaimed artist and designer Shepard Fairey," (the guy who did this HOPE rendition:).  It was over the line.  Let's begin with the hyperbole.

I never thought Shepard Fairey's "iconic" Barack Obama Hope poster was anything close to "incredible." As for "inspiring, moving and unforgettable," you're right about that.  It inspired me to move away from it and forget it.

And, as a point of order, in the future let's reserve the word "incredible" for solar eclipses, Grand Canyons, and Ben & Jerry's, okay?

To my eye, Fairey's creations -- that godawful Obama poster, and now this muted "Clean Energy For America" concoction -- are both dull, flat, and amateurish, something any of us rank amateurs could Photoshop/conjure up in two minutes (as I'm about to prove).

They're also typical of what's happened to primary colors in this faded world, beginning with automobiles, as our real icons have been softened and blurred into one big mobile suffuse pastel bore.  Such has become the world palette and canvas.

So, I'm offering for sale two of my own versions of the Obama "Hope" poster that you might consider using to solicit donations for the cause, only this time let's use a "Faith" theme, because the former isn't worth much if you don't first have the latter.

First up is my "Faith" poster.  It's from a photo I took of Obama in the fall of 2007 at an early campaign stop here in New Hampshire.  Sprinkle a little Photoshop "Fairey" dust, and voila -- my poster.

"Iconic, incredible, inspiring, moving, unforgettable?"

Well ... Shepard Fairey could do far worse (and did, in my humble opinion).

Next up:  Version Two of my Faith poster, again from a photo I took at the same event, as Obama was answering questions in the round and he turned to face the audience across from me.

Iconic?  Profound? Stunning?  Abstract? Compelling?  

Couldn't it just as easily become "as well-known and loved" as the Fairey renditions?

You're asking me?

Well, whyinhellnot.

Meanwhile, ... maybe I'm playing Emperor's New Clothes here, but please don't ask me for donations based on the Shepard Fairey red, white & blue posters.

For the bang in my buck, they're maroon, beige & gray Warholian rip-off attic stuffers.

You say that you want us to buy and hang his Clean Energy For America windmill posters everywhere for your "Cover September In Windmills" campaign?

In my breezy interpretation, as windmills go, I'd rather see them chased out of the room.

I hope that's not too much audacity for you.

Best, El