Barack Obama joker socialism poster denounced as racist

A poster depicting the US President Barack Obama as Health Ledger’s “Joker” character from “The Dark Knight” has sparked controversy after it appeared on the streets of Los Angeles, Toby Harnden writes in The Daily Telegraph.

The poster shows the US president with white face paint, dark eye shadow and smudged red lipstick above the caption “socialism”.

It is unknown who created and distributed the image, but apparently it attacked the US President’s efforts to reform health care and stimulus spending.

Some critics believe the poster has racial overtones because it shows Mr Obama as a black-and-white minstrel in reverse.

According to The Daily Mail, a spokesman from the Los Angeles urban policy unit said depicting the president as demonic and a socialist “goes beyond political spoofery”.

The president’s supporter condemned the images and calling it “mean-spirited and dangerous”.

Toby Harnden, The Daily Telegraph correspondent says the Los Angeles urban policy unit have issued a public challenge to the person or group who put up the poster to come forth and publicly tell why they have used this depiction to ridicule President Obama.

Previously, South California born contemporary artist, graphic designer, and illustrator Shepard Fairey created a popular red, white and blue image of the President-elect featuring the caption “hope”.

The current emerged “socialism” image seems to indicate the President is facing a growing swell of criticism as he attempts to force through his $1 trillion health care programme.

The “socialism” poster has spread virally cross the internet, and crashed the website that first displayed images of it, and now it is rising to the top of Google’s “Today Hot Trends” list.

Apart from spreading on the web, paper version of the images also appear to be circulating, with some showing up in Atlanta, Georgia.

Some Right-wing commentators have seized approvingly on the images, Toby Harnden quotes what Thomas Lifson wrote on the conservative American Thinker website: “It is starting. Open mockery of Barack Obama, as disillusionment sets in with the man, his policies, and the phony image of a race-healing, brilliant, scholarly, middle-of-the-roader.”

The Liberal tabloid “LA Weekly” denounced the Obama-Joker poster as virulently racist.

The paper previously depicted George W. Bush, the former US president as Dracula on its cover in 2004.