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Designs on the White House

An article on presidential design. We allow bad designers into the White House at our own peril.

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You know the story. President starts war. President appears on aircraft carrier dressed in a pilot costume and declares in front of a “Mission Accomplished” sign that war is over. President goes home and watches in denial as 3,000 more Americans die in so-called finished war. It’s been told and retold a thousand times, like a creation myth in reverse. But there is one aspect we have ignored all this time.

Remember that infamous sign? The one that was supposedly a spontaneous act by sailors aboard theĀ USS Abraham Lincoln? (An utterly believable claim, by the way, since, as we all know, aircraft carriers are designed for two things: war and large-scale-banner printing). There are clues buried in its awkwardly out-of-place font, secrets in the over-the-top patriotism that oozes from its plastic sheen. The bizarre and horrific design is not only representative of the Bush presidency but also a warning to us, the American people: We allow bad designers into the White House at our own peril……more on Good.is