Oba-Mao? Are they kidding? If Anita Dunn’s open admiration of Mao wasn’t enough, we’ve got Chinese worshipers peddling souvenirs to the Obama Faithful. Sheesh.
'Oba-Mao' t-shirts in the tourist Houhai district of Beijing (Photo by Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images)
(The Atlantic) — /SNIP/ On Sunday, President Obama arrives in Shanghai for a four-day visit that is among the most anticipated by a foreign leader to China in more than a decade. No doubt, such major diplomatic concerns as rising trade tensions and the upcoming Copenhagen climate-change summit are factors in the frenzied attention being lavished on Obama’s impending arrival. But equally important is the intense, rock star-like popularity that Obama enjoys among average Chinese. In my Shanghai neighborhood, and in large cities up and down China’s East Coast, Oba-Mao T-shirts are readily available the Beijing authorities rounded up supplies of the T-shirt in that city, early this week, and copies of his books can be found in pirate DVD shops, subway stations, and on street corners.
Obama-mania, indeed. No doubt, Barry will have a wonderful time soaking up the admiration. Meanwhile, the American people are getting soaked. Aren’t you glad that God is the one Who is really in charge? Enjoy your temporary ‘reign’, kings of the earth. That vain thing you’re imagining hasn’t sneaked past the One Who Never Slumbers Nor Sleeps.
