The ominous Obamabus
If Darth Vader traveled by bus, this is undoubtedly the one he’d choose:
But it would seem an odd choice for President Obama (I’m hardly the only one who’s used the Vader comparison). The bus has also been likened to an enormous hearse. And of course there have been the inevitable jokes about what and whom to throw under Obama’s bus.
To top it all off, the expensive vehicle was made in Canada.
One can’t help but think Obama was motivated by a desire to outdo Sarah Palin, but that conclusion would appear to be wrong: the million-dollar-plus bus was ordered by the Secret Service in July of 2010, a year ago.
So, was Obama planning this tour way back then? Or was it instead a Secret Service decision independent of Obama? Perhaps the latter, or some combination of the two:
Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan emphasized that the bus wasn’t purchased solely for the president and would be used for other dignitaries in the future. He said the agency has not previously had buses in its fleet and was overdue to get some since it’s had to protect politicians traveling by bus for decades.
In the past, the service has had to lease buses and retrofit them for that purpose.
If that’s true, the plain design is because the bus will be used for other candidates and officeholders, too. But if I were Obama, I’d at least be putting some decorative stickers on it. And I probably wouldn’t be using it at all; the visuals are, quite simply, terrible.
When I first saw this bus on TV I couldn’t believe that Obama and his staff are so DUMB and tone deaf as to ride around in that thing.
At LEAST, it should have clear untinted windows so people can see him and he can wave to people outside.
Another example of this administration’s incompetence.
Oops….am I a racist for saying that bus is too BLACK?
Shouldn’t it have a flag? Or an eagle? Does this guy just not know this stuff? This is why a lot of folks don’t think he’s an American. Because he thinks this is a campaign bus. An American running for office would know to make this a fun looking, patriotic American bus. I’m sure the folks over at secret service could paint over it, if they need to use it in the future for another function. I just don’t get this Obama guy at all. Nope. Just don’t get him.
Just think of it as a big gangster black Escalade.
I have only seen the original 3 movies plus the first prequel. I was so disgusted by ep1 that I refused to see 2 and 3. In ep1 Anakin wasn’t Vader yet so its irrelevant. In the others the only transportation we saw vader use were spacecraft of various sorts, and they were all mostly white: Death Star, Star Destroyer, and his custom TIE Fighter. So Vader would NOT travel in that bus.
I suspect that it is all black because all Secret Service protection detail motor vehicles are black. It just never occurred to anyone to pick a different color scheme.
So what you’re saying is that Darth Vader is Black, and so is Obama? You RACIST tea partier extremest!!
Nothing says “Hope N’ Change Part Deux!” like a bus that resembles a hearse.
Seriously, that’s one depressing monster of a vehicle.
Zsarcophagus
Or maybe sarcophabus?
The BBC, which is not exactly anti-Obama, says the bus “looks more like a police mortuary van than a symbol of hope”.
There’s a second bus which, I’ve heard, is painted red. That color doesn’t work very well, either, whether you are in my generation and think red = communist, or younger, and think red = Republican.
It’s odd because Air Force 1 solved the problem years ago; it’s currently white and blue, with an American flag on the tail.
I can see that the standard black format might make sense to the Secret Service. What I can’t see is why Obama thinks a bus trip will make him more appealing to clingers. Why doesn’t he just stay home and crunch budget numbers?
I personally can’t see the reasoning behind a bus trip at all. So his solution to the issue of jobs is to drive around the country talking about them, and promising yet another major speach on jobs in September, and promising Republicans that if they oppose him, he’s going to call them a “do nothing” congress? At what point does he plan on actually doing anything besides talking?
I wonder if the interior is decorated with US flags or the dreaded “O” symbol (like he did with his 2008 campaign plane http://tinyurl.com/43fn8au).
# Jim Miller Says:
August 17th, 2011 at 4:50 pm
…
It’s odd because Air Force 1 solved the problem years ago; it’s currently white and blue, with an American flag on the tail.
Somehow, I doubt the American flag would fly with this guy.
(And, YES!, I mean that in more ways than one.)
–
I look on this as a positive. Of course BHO is on a campaign tour, that’s all he does beyond golf, hoops, and vacations. However, I don’t object to the bus. Its bound to be cheaper to cart him around in that ugly RV than fly him around in AF1. And, this is a much slower means of transport which translates into less face time campaigning.
I’d love to see him take it to NY City, and find it on cinder blocks the next morning.
I think it’s great they’re giving Obama’s bus all kinds of media play. It’ll set up nicely when the Mossad kill him and make it look like Islamic extremists.
Just watch.
Sorry – I just realized I wasn’t particularly diplomatic – or PC – when I said ‘Mossad’.
If we’re going to say “Islamic extremist” than it’s only fair to say “Zionist extremist”, instead of ‘Mossad”.
Thanks.
br548,
Being un-PC is the least of the problems with what you wrote. The problem is more in the way of the risk of tinfoil overdose involved.
In 1975 I had the pleasure of flying the king of Sweden and his entourage around the Midwest (Denver, Lindsborg, KS, and Rock Island, IL). There was a Secret Service detail assigned and you have no idea how those people operate. Those were relatively peaceful times with no major threats anyone knew about. You would have believed that terrorists were lieing in wait to assassinate the King at every turn. It was like being under the control of paranoid prison guards convinced that everyone was a killer. So, considering how much more serious and ubiquitous the threat is today, I imagine the bus and the way it operates is very much a reflection of the Secret Service’s modus operandi.
That said, I agree that the optics are awful, and I love that. Thank you Secret Service!
Dear Neo,
I think you have the right church but the wrong pew. In this case the wrong fictional character.
What sprang to mind when I saw the thing was Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter.
A Voldsmobile?
Somebody, somewhere, somehow must, must, stuff many mannequins under that bus (grandma, Jeremiah Wright, ad infinitum), and get just one priceless picture.
The bus looks like it belongs to Samuel L. Jackson and his team from S.H.I.E.L.D. as they back up Tony Stark and Iron Man. Too bad Tony Stark can’t run for president.
Black and Red, colors for the Socialist Revolution.
The same C-5/C-17s will be used to tote thse monsters . No money saved , and frankly it continues to highlight Baby Doc and his raging hypocrisy
I think the problem here was deciding which emblem to paint on the side of the thing. You see, he has so many.
Should he use the Seal of the President of the United States? (Traditional, but so old hat.)
Or possibly the Seal of the President-Elect, designed just for him?
Or his “vero possimus” (Latin for “truly, I am a possum”) campaign-era seal?
How about his own rising-sun logo? Or the Soviet-era HOPE poster?
Cap’n Rusty: I agree in re the imagery. But it’s not necessary to run afoul of the Secret Service for this. A big, black, blank bus… it’s begging to be photoshopped.
respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline
The first time the bus popped up on the news, my husband and I were left breathless with the giggles. Deathstar Bus Tour, indeed! And as for the observation that Darth Vader only traveled in white vehicles, perhaps we should look at it from the standpoint of “what if Darth Vader were a Transformer?” Seriously, who is in charge of PR over there? Remarks about being thrown under the bus by Obama have become common in the last few years and the comparisons to Sarah Palin are inevitable whether he chose the bus or not. Furthermore, a campaign bus tour (he can call it what he likes but it looks like a campaign tour to everyone but the most ardent Obama partisans,) reinforces the criticism that he’s more interested in running for president than actually BEING president. Honestly, one almost feels sorry for stupidity — utterly clueless, the lot of them.
By the way, from the “Special” Ed Schultz responses — I’m going to be saying “Fly free not-so-little-Moonbat, fly free!” for the rest of the day. Thanks for the laugh!
So………. Does the O’man have to ride in the BACK OF THE BUS!!!!
What would the Freedom Riders say???
That bus should be painted with the top half white to reflect the suns rays to lower the cost of fuel that run the air conditioners that cause global warming.
Has he no respect for the planet?
I would attempt to photoshop Rev. Wright, Obama’s granny, and a handful of others under that monstrosity of a tour bus, but I’m laughing too hard over “Fly free not-so-little-Moonbat, fly free!”