Barack America At the Gap

I was in Manhattan yesterday for a little walking, shopping and a really, really bad dinner at a crappy joint on the corner of 48th and 7th. But it's my own fault for eating in a tourist area in the first place. Anyway, that's not why you're here.

I was amazed at the amount of Barack Obama merchandise I saw. The irony of the Socialist-Elect spawning so much old fashioned capitalism was not lost on me. There were tee-shirts, cool posters for three bucks on the A train up near 125th Street, and coffee mugs at a open-air market at 72nd and Broadway. I saw scarves and expensive looking leather coats, all emblazoned with the official Obama seal.

I have never experienced anything like this. My best friend in high school had Fonzie socks that his mother bought him that he wore because he didn't want to hurt his mom's feelings, and of course there was the late 80's Barbara Bush scuba attire that was all the rage, but I think it is probably a good thing on some level for a President to have his seal on a wool ski cap. I just don't know what that level is.