Mitch was right to draw my attention to the new Newsweek cover:
By the many arms of Shiva, that’s a very interesting twist on Obama/god theme, of which Newsweek has been a most faithful standard-bearer. The choice is rather revealing. Shiva, after all, is but one of a multitude of gods. The message seems to be that if the many hands of Obama aren’t enough to solve America’s problems, then other gods ? Obama’s multitude of czars with their delegated sort of godlike powers ? need to step it up.
Newsweek ultimately doesn’t question the necessity of the presidency getting personally involved in the seemingly infinite number of areas “burdening” him.
Compare that image of a necessarily burdened deity with the one adopted almost as a mascot by the Tea Party ? Atlas, also one among many deities, and this one overtly tasked with bearing the weight of the world. Note too that in the modern political context Atlas comes with a very key proviso:
(The picture is of a T-shirt being sold on Zazzle.com.)
Note: Originally I had cited Vishnu as the god referenced by Newsweek (Vishnu, after all, is also depicted with many arms), but as the cover art is most reminiscent of the iconic image of the dancing Shiva, the latter is more correct.
