Postmodern War Posters

I'm a big fan of the classic propaganda posters put out by the U.S. government during World War II. Everything about them - the graphic design, the messages, the context - is compelling. As you can see from the posters published online by Northwestern University Library, they're fun to look at - and they're even better to use in research and teaching, as a few of my favorites suggest:

• Hon. Spy
• Is Your Trip Necessary?
• The Knockout Blow
• United We Win
• Free Labor Will Win

On the opposite side of the divide between good and bad propaganda are the horrible updated versions on Michelle Malkin's webpage. I'm sure she thinks they're funny and cutting, but they're just idiotic. The genuine articles were never so baselessly divisive, never so eager to heap calumny on fellow Americans.

And for god's sakes, World War II was far more expansive and high-stakes than either the war in Iraq or the War on Terra. Moreover, in contrast to W., President Roosevelt both worked more effectively with the domestic opposition (he had a Republican secretary of war!) and faced far more vituperative opposition from isolationists like the pro-big business senator from Ohio, Robert A. Taft, and the crypto-fascist hero Charles Lindbergh).

And if FDR had an easier time maintaining control of the press - if he didn't have to bludgeon it like Malkin's faux posters try to do - well, that's because he did a better job working with it. Unlike W. and his lapdogs, FDR didn't thrive on feeling that the press was somehow out to thwart him, and he made sure to collaborate with the papers and the radio networks to cogently present the administration's take on the war. Hell, FDR even (eventually) let the media show dead American bodies. As Malkin will never understand, the Times' brave reporting is just another instance of W. reaping what he'd already sown.