Mayo 4, 2026

"This isn't a monument to my legacy. It's a gateway to yours."


It's "May the Fourth," and they've wheeled out Mark Hamill, who's stuck with a scripted role. He reads it woodenly, perhaps because he feels a little bad that he's required to be an egotist, and humor is wrung out of having Barack Obama insult him for being a narcissist. Why am I being subjected to this?, I wondered, and what is the point of using "Star Wars" to promote the Obama Presidential Center?

I guess it must be because the Center has been likened to certain "Star Wars" images, but not in a good way. I'm seeing this from last October: "Obama’s dour new Presidential Center is getting savaged on social media: ‘Death Star in Chicago'" (NY Post): "'Locating the Death Star in Chicago was a bold move,' Cruz (R-Texas) wrote on X... while reposting a video of the latest work on Obama’s Chicago presidential center.... Some posted videos with 'Star Wars' X-wing fighters closing in on the library building, while others Photoshopped the structure sideways to replace the torsos of the massive AT-AT walkers from 'The Empire Strikes Back.'"

So I think Obama's idea is to flip the criticism, to laugh at himself, and to show the haters what, through sheer force of coolness, he can do. He never says it but he wants you to say it: The force is with him. There, now I said it. Oh, that Obama. He's at it again.

132 komento:

Robert Marshall ayon kay ...

Hideous building.

baghdadbob ayon kay ...

It would have been funnier if Michelle had a cameo as a Wookie.

RideSpaceMountain ayon kay ...

Quality Legasy Center.

Josephbleau ayon kay ...

It’s not the Death Star from Star Wars, it’s a Klingon prison, from the Star Trek movies.

Enigma ayon kay ...

Mark Hamill, if coherent, would have played up his TDS and talked about "No Kings" and his disgust with the building.

Possible nicknames:

Space potato?
Space turd?
Giant fake boulder from Home Depot?

At least the left is obvious in its lack of artistic sense and love of bleak dominance. See half the buildings in the USSR and The Man in the High Castle.

RideSpaceMountain ayon kay ...

"Now they shall witness the egotism of this fully smarmed and operational prattle station!"

Sheridan ayon kay ...

It's not a Klingon prison, it's a Borg ship.

The Vault Dweller ayon kay ...

More meaningless theater kid drivel from the theater kid ideology. Is it any wonder that the use of performative, the word, as a pejorative is rising?

Dave Begley ayon kay ...

No, it is all about him.

Please leave us alone.

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

They're going after the male vote:
73% of men and 51% of women said they like Star Wars

PM ayon kay ...

Braun to sue.

Paddy O ayon kay ...

"He reads it woodenly, perhaps because he feels a little bad that he's required to be an egotist, and humor is wrung out of having Barack Obama insult him for being a narcissist... I guess it must be because the Center has been likened to certain "Star Wars" images, but not in a good way."

They wanted sequels Luke with all the sadness and ego and woodenness to insult. Fittingly. Is Obama Kylo Ren or Snoke?

Smilin' Jack ayon kay ...

"This isn't a monument to my legacy.”

Yes it is. And it’s perfect.

tommyesq ayon kay ...

So I think Obama's idea is to flip the criticism, to laugh at himself, and to show the haters what, through sheer force of coolness, he can do.

To laugh at himself??? He took what would have been a great spot for self-deprecating humor and instead made poor Mark Hamill the butt of the joke, being laughed at and lorded over by himself. Hell, they couldn't even get Hamill's whole head in the frame!

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

This video was also posted on X which skews male. 2025 polling data 63% male 37% female on X.

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

If they tie the center and Obama to Star Wars, that’s a plus for Obama and the Democrats. Also better than the whole Hitler thing. Good move for the Democrats.

bagoh20 ayon kay ...

There should be a lifetime achievement award for milking a role into obscurity over decades of irrelevance.

Paddy O ayon kay ...

Eva Marie, not when they're going for the Starkiller Base vibe. No one likes the sequels except people who hated Star Wars.

john mosby ayon kay ...

Wrong movie reference. He should have had Jackie Earle Haley: “Obama’s not locked in here with us - we’re locked in here with him!” CC, JSM

boatbuilder ayon kay ...

Playing second fiddle to C-3PO is not a good look.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi ayon kay ...

How much did Iran donate?

boatbuilder ayon kay ...

Good Lord that is one ugly building! I thought it was maybe the angles used by people who wanted it to look bad. But no, it really looks like that. On purpose!

bagoh20 ayon kay ...

My X follower demographic is 52% female, and half are over 65. That's weird.

Joe Bar ayon kay ...

Ugly, that building is.

Aggie ayon kay ...

Lines so bad, Kathleen Kennedy must have been involved. By the way, I think it's a giant penis to show Chicago who's Boss: Obama (in case you were wrongly thinking 'Michelle').

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

Also Obama looks young in comparison to Hamill. There’s the resurrection of Hope - which doesn’t sound old and tired. And for everyone dressing up for today - very appropriate. I like it.

bagoh20 ayon kay ...

Looks like a Soylent Green factory. I've heard it high quality and gluten free.

Mike (MJB Wolf) ayon kay ...
Naalis ng may-ari ang komentong ito.
Mary Beth ayon kay ...

What inside is a gateway to anyone's legacy? It looks like a shrine to Obama.

Mike (MJB Wolf) ayon kay ...

But it literally IS a giant monument to his legacy. Overpriced, poorly thought out and a public nuisance in #d.

Mike (MJB Wolf) ayon kay ...

Ol' Barry just isn't very good at these things. Mark is best known presently for shitting all over Star Wars fans on Twitter who complained about the extreme woking of the story. It was so bad SouthPark made a whole episode about it and the phrase "put a chick in and make it GAY!" became a viral meme.
And yes, every comparison to "Star Wars" was a stinging criticism of Barry's behemoth. He knows that. He thinks that springing hasbeen Han Solo butt buddy Hamill on the public will be a big laugh and maybe take the stink off. It won't.
I doubt Obama will move the needle on the monstrosity, and he isn't doing Hamill any favors either since we all know how well an Obama endorsement usually works out.

Michael Fitzgerald ayon kay ...

I believe the term currently applied to such douche-ridden video masturbation is "cringe".

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

I have no idea what the reception is, but the play for the male vote is there.

Hassayamper ayon kay ...

Good Lord that is one ugly building! I thought it was maybe the angles used by people who wanted it to look bad. But no, it really looks like that. On purpose!

The kind of people who love government for its own sake, and are diligently working to create a communist prison-planet, also LOVE LOVE LOVE brutalist concrete architecture. The more intimidating, oppressive, soulless, and gloomy, the better.

Wilbur ayon kay ...

It's just two guys holding a beer summit.
Cooling off those racial tensions, you know.

RideSpaceMountain ayon kay ...

Aggie said, "By the way, I think it's a giant penis..."

I dub it The Chode.

Hassayamper ayon kay ...

To a first approximation, any politician who would approve a design like this for a public building is a heap of shit and an enemy of liberty.

Mason G ayon kay ...

"I dub it The Chode."

Yeah, that'll garner the male vote, for sure.

Fred Drinkwater ayon kay ...

That's a mere imperial outpost. The HQ is in San Francisco:

https://www.haas-architecture.com/our-work/deyoung-museum

Chest Rockwell ayon kay ...

a star wars classic

jim5301 ayon kay ...

lots of ODS here.

JaimeRoberto ayon kay ...

I had hope that once the landscaping was in place the building would look better, but no.

n.n ayon kay ...

The Empire Strikes Out

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

That video proves my point. All the Democrats have to do is say, “We like you and accept you the way you are,” and these friendless apolitical guys will follow.

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

oops, the video CR posted.

Deep State Reformer ayon kay ...

Presidential libraries are a f****** scam. They are moments to ex-presidents egos and a way for them to grift from the taxpayers and donors one more time. All of their work product, every single piece of paper, every single email already belongs to the taxpayers and should be stored in the Library of Congress by law, but like congressional insider stock trading it's an "open secret" and blindly adhered to by the presstitutes in the coporate media. Bah humbug.

Two-eyed Jack ayon kay ...

I hope the campus has a cafeteria and a gift shop. I also hope that the monstrous building is completely hollow inside. Someday, perhaps it will share the fate of Cabrini-Green. Can't wait to visit.

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

I just thought of something: that Cole guy - someone said who did he take that selfie for? The answer - young women.
18 -29 women 52% Democrat, 20% Republican
The ads write themselves, don’t they?

Humperdink ayon kay ...

“Guests are encouraged to arrive 10 minutes ahead of scheduled entry time. Tickets are $30 for adults and $23 for children 3 to 11. Children under 2 may enter for free. For Illinois residents, tickets are $26 for adults and $15 for children 3 to 11.”

mccullough ayon kay ...

Obama should have sought Trump’s advice on choosing an architect. That monolith abuses the landscape.

rehajm ayon kay ...

A gateway to my legacy? The one where I'm stuck paying for leftie crap until I drop?

JAORE ayon kay ...

At my age I am often made aware that time has, largely, passed me by. Neither the light bringer or the light saber guy seem aware enough to notice their time is long gone.

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

“My X follower demographic is 52% female, and half are over 65“
That’s your mom.

Enigma ayon kay ...

With this massive tower, I suspect that visitors will climb a ramp past lots of 'inspiration' floor after floor before they reach utopia at the top. This concept strikes me as duplicating the D.C. African American Smithsonian museum. It's a big dark block that you must climb from the bottom. Rise up rise up. Be king of the world. Be a beacon for all to see.

Designed by Party committees for maximum heavy-handed messaging.

bagoh20 ayon kay ...

You mean I have to pay to get into the gateway to my legacy?
What happens to it if I don't visit? Do I have to feed it?

narciso ayon kay ...

Hamill has gone full sith to exogol

bagoh20 ayon kay ...

"That’s your mom."
Nice.
I'm sure she laughed at that too.

J Scott ayon kay ...

What a great actor. The other one does quality voice acting.

narciso ayon kay ...

They blew up that place in rogue one

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

Personally, I can't wait to visit the Eleanor Roosevelt Fruit and Vegtable Garden, complete with Ruth Bader Ginsberg Gooseberries and Elizabeth Holtzman zuchini.

R C Belaire ayon kay ...

I doubt I'm going to live long enough to see The Structure torn down. Pity.

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

Website says it will have a 58000 square foot lawn which sounds very modest and climate friendly. BTW, that's about 1 acre to you and me.

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

Yeah, that's so ugly it could be a modern art masterpiece.

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

It puts the brute in brutalist.

bagoh20 ayon kay ...

O.T. It's back on.
BREAKING: US Sinks Seven Iranian Small Boats Harassing Cargo Ships in the Strait of Hormuz – Trump Threatens To ‘Blow Mullahs Regime off the Face of the Earth’.

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/05/breaking-us-sinks-seven-iranian-small-boats-harassing/

Achilles ayon kay ...

Has there been a more worthless person to become president than barrack Obama?

Pretty sure every other president did something for someone else in their life. He seems to be the only person I can think of who never did anything for anyone other than himself.

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

I was hoping that the George Bush library would've stuffed and mounted Dick Cheney complete with Cowboy hat and shotgun. But no, they just buried him.

RCOCEAN II ayon kay ...

Its sad seeing Mark Hamill. We've all so Goddamn old. It seemed like yesterday when he was that spunky farm kid. Oh well, at least he lived to see Trump re-elected.

Aggie ayon kay ...

'I doubt I'm going to live long enough to see The Structure torn down. Pity. '

I dunno, those TIE fighter pilots are pretty darn plucky, and I'm told there's this small air conditioning vent around the backside.....

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

Sorry about that, the set up was just too easy.

Jim at ayon kay ...

lots of ODS here.

Criticizing a butt-ugly building isn't ODS.

And if the jug-eared son-of-a-bitch would simply shut up and go away, I can guarantee you not a single one of us would ever think about him again.

Sweetie ayon kay ...

Which floor is the 'roll back the oceans' exhibit on?

tolkein ayon kay ...

The building is hideous, ugly, an insult to everyone who has to look at it.
And the ugliness is a choice. It didn't have to be hideous, but Obama doesn't care. He, presumably, had the pick of archite ts, but chose those who designed this.
This is what Obama wanted.
Ugliness.

Mr. D ayon kay ...

I am hoping somewhere inside the monolith there's a "Teachable Moment" rathskeller for beer summits, complete with an animatronic Joe Biden to preside.

WA-mom ayon kay ...

Cringe!

n.n ayon kay ...
Naalis ng may-ari ang komentong ito.
hanuman_prodigious_leaper ayon kay ...

Isn't that = Jesus Obama saying I'm the way

Clyde ayon kay ...

The DARK SIDE of the Force is with him. FIFY.

n.n ayon kay ...

George, you were birthed under a Rainbow sign. You had two fathers. I am not one of them.

Clyde ayon kay ...

RideSpaceMountain at 1:04 PM FTW!

Iman ayon kay ...

Jug-eared BIG Zer0 is still clueless and a failure.

gspencer ayon kay ...

"Why am I being subjected to this?, I wondered, and what is the point of using "Star Wars" to promote the Obama Presidential Center?"

Because of the theme song of the Obama and Biden cabinets,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPelOnd7Sik

Clyde ayon kay ...

Eva Marie, Obama should look younger than Hamill because he IS ten years younger. But neither 64 nor 74 is young.

bagoh20 ayon kay ...

His legacy should be in large letters at the top of this monument: "SCoaMF"

Goldenpause ayon kay ...

I guess the only saving grace is that this building has displaced the FBI headquarters in DC as the ugliest large building in
America.

Bob B ayon kay ...

Fitting as both Obama and Hamill were poor actors fronting for the force.

Bob Boyd ayon kay ...

"This isn't a monument to my legacy."

Trump's arch will be a monument to Obama's legacy.

Iman ayon kay ...

jimmy numbers… 👈lots of bullschiff there

Bob Boyd ayon kay ...

According to my sources, one of the chief design parameters for Obama's PL was, "Make it really hard to hit a window with a rock."

Iman ayon kay ...

Brutalist architecture for Mr. Momjeans… Mr. Sancho Pansy.

Saint Croix ayon kay ...

Has there been a more worthless person to become president than barrack Obama?

Joe Biden!

Ain't getting a library
not even an ugly one

the dumbest DEI hire in history

you know what you got here?

you underestimated his ability to fuck things up

maybe he gets a special corner in the monolith

Achilles ayon kay ...

I guess Obama did do something for somebody else. He passed Obama care and made insurance companies billions and billions of dollars they made sure to donate heavily to This library. He also pushed net neutrality for his Netflix paymasters.

But it seems like everything that he actually did he was only doing for money from his corporate pay masters, so I don’t think that really counts.

Achilles ayon kay ...

Saint Croix said...
Has there been a more worthless person to become president than barrack Obama?

Joe Biden!

I think Joe at least gave his daughter a massage in the shower.

He was a family man after all.

gspencer ayon kay ...

If he can re-purpose Cousin Eddie's RV then Biden can get a Presidential Bookmobile,

https://townsquare.media/site/49/files/2024/12/attachment-Colorado-Christmas-Vacation-RV.jpg?w=1600&q=75

https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/unionleader.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/7/00/70004be0-b3dc-11ef-9d6f-3ffb53c69b2c/675306d27b431.image.jpg?resize=1396%2C1030

n.n ayon kay ...
Naalis ng may-ari ang komentong ito.
Christopher B ayon kay ...

A couple a weeks ago it could have been celebrated as Der Fuhrer's flak tower.

n.n ayon kay ...

Biden was socially progressive, the very model of a feral liberal, a sik fuk, fit for Tik Tuk, YouToob, or an exhibit at Epstein's island.

Enigma ayon kay ...

I expect Joe Biden's library to be a converted dressing room at the Wilmington pool famous for the Corn Pop duel.

- The site of Biden's greatest lifetime achievement.

- It'll be too moist for books, which distracts from the fact sleepy Joe lost the ability to read long ago.

- It has shower to be shared with others.

- Sniffing opportunities abound.

Paul ayon kay ...

Hahahahahaha.... no folks... it's an atrocious building that mimics the atrocious ex-President Obama... no more, no less. The only 'legacy' is what $$$ goes into Obama's pockets.

Peachy ayon kay ...

did you hear about the judge who just kissed the left wing democratic's leftist ass?

Martin ayon kay ...

Mark Hammel being there makes sense The Obama library looks like a gun tower along the trench on the Death Star.

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

According to Perplexity’s analysis of public X info:
For the Obama May the 4th post
955k views is huge
3.6% total engagement rate is very strong for a big public-facing account
reposts healthy to above average
I wanted to know the male/female breakdown but that isn’t known publicly.
I asked if engagement cane from bots - again not public info
But Perplexity said “The ratios look believable: about 2.6% likes per view, 0.58% reposts per view, and 3.6% visible engagement overall.” So does not look like bot behavior.
Let me just add: what a perfect cheap way to figure out what approaches hit with males/females and age brackets.

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

“did you hear about the judge who just kissed the left wing democratic's leftist ass?”
Democrats want this behavior to continue.

Lem Vibe Bandit ayon kay ...

When I look around all the perspectives I get impression it's trying to convey a barely started, wholly unfinished piece of material, waiting to be sculpted. The finished product is unrealized.

ai: "You can break a statue but the Revolution is Alive!" — A frequently used sentiment in communist literature to represent that the ideas (the movement) are more permanent than the physical monument."

The work, the revolution, is never done.

Peachy ayon kay ...

3:15 Bagoh

Iran's theocratic war machine had 6 Gilligan's Island type tour boats.
Trump is surely finished now.

Peachy ayon kay ...

But Jan 6th! - out of a judges mouth. hack.

Peachy ayon kay ...

Obama's Crook Joe Puppet ruined the US.
I have zero respect for Obama. Hope his new over-priced monument for his ego gets a ton of ugly graffiti.

Eva Marie ayon kay ...

Comments on the post uniformly negative

Achilles ayon kay ...

Eva Marie said...

Comments on the post uniformly negative

I wonder how much of the billion dollars or so ended up going straight into the pockets of Chicago democrats.

Now Chicago taxpayers have to maintain this city park with this abusive ugly monument to graft in it.

If you put bar codes on mail in ballots and had pictures matched to IDs to submit a ballot democrats don't clear 40% nationally.

Josephbleau ayon kay ...

Who is the better builder, Obama or Trump. An Obama ball room would look like the old FBI building

Mason G ayon kay ...

"If you put bar codes on mail in ballots and had pictures matched to IDs to submit a ballot democrats don't clear 40% nationally."

Wouldn't that be racist? I mean- it's widely known that minorities have a harder time getting a picture of themselves than normal people do. /s

Leland ayon kay ...

It's a gateway to yours [legacy], which works as a statement for prisons.

LibertarianLeisure ayon kay ...

I may be incorrect here, if so, let me know but I remember commentary on this structure. One, this library has no books, and this structure was built on a former public space so took away play areas, walk areas from local residents. Lastly, this structure cost a lot.
Its Brutalism style reminds me of Boston's City Hall. Boston's City Hall is famous for consistently making the ' ugliest public building' list.

TickTock1948 ayon kay ...

barf

Michael Fitzgerald ayon kay ...

Josephbleau said...
"Who is the better builder, Obama or Trump. An Obama ball room would look like the old FBI building"

This is what an Obama built ballroom would look like:
https://youtu.be/lOInjX5B0m8?si=3NjMzqX3QSmiXzmm

narciso ayon kay ...

Because we love star wars and we have seen what disney has done to it

Saint Croix ayon kay ...

"I don't believe a library will ever be built unless it's a bookmobile from the old days." -- Biden mega-donor.

also

"I want an $800,000 refund."

He's so mad he didn't even want to be anonymous.

narciso ayon kay ...

Its more like base on scarifs with erasable records

narciso ayon kay ...
Naalis ng may-ari ang komentong ito.
Saint Croix ayon kay ...

May the farce be with you!

MadTownGuy ayon kay ...

"He reads it woodenly, perhaps because he feels a little bad..."
Reminds me of Lightning McQueen's half-hearted "Ka-chow" during the obligatory shill for Rust-Eze.

Lazarus ayon kay ...

This is Obama's Kenny G. moment. If you thought Bill Clinton was cool you were disabused of that notion when Clinton referred to "my friend Kenny G." Obama couldn't even get Harrison Ford or the wookiee to show up for him. The best he could do was the guy who's been waiting for the phone to ring for 50 years. The last time Mark Hamill picked up the phone, the Star Wars coven had him glued to some space creature's milky breast. That image follows him wherever he goes now -- even to Chicago.

Rustygrommet ayon kay ...

If any of you recall. Before he even ran I warned you that he was a political disaster. That if you elected him you'd get Chicago politics in the White House. And what did we get? Chicago style graft and corruption for eight years.
Chicago deserves that monstrosity. I hope it last forever. They can move Picasso's dog in front of it.

Just an old country lawyer ayon kay ...

Total cringe performance that is almost as ugly as the building. Did any of you music mavens the scrap of the thoroughly British " I vow to thee," interspersed in the sound track. Bagoh20 what is your X handle? I will follow you, if not anywhere, at least on there.

JIM ayon kay ...

In true Obama fashion, even his Presidential Library has a bloated bureaucracy, Loyalists getting high 6-figure salaries for doing nothing, its over budget, it's a design right out of '1984', and of course he brings in a celebrity to bring some shine.

wildswan ayon kay ...

Admission to the Obama Presidential Center Museum is not free for the general public, but Illinois residents can visit for free every Tuesday.
Free Days: Illinois residents can visit the museum for free every Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT.
Proof of Residency: To gain free admission, Illinois residents must present a valid photo ID, such as an Illinois driver's license or state ID, at the ticket desk.

So it's harder for an Illinois resident to get into the Obama Library for free than it is to vote in Illinois. ID is required at the Library aka The Obama Gateway ... but I thought ID was Jim Crow.

But if you don't have ID then you can just buy your way in to The Gateway. Prices are as follows:
Adult (ages 12 and above) $30
Children (ages 2 and under) Free
Adult (Illinois Resident) $26

(Not sure what happens to children from 3-11.)

M Jordan ayon kay ...

“ Oh, that Obama. He's at it again.”

Mr. Magoo?

Enigma ayon kay ...

@wildswan on admission costs

I suspect that many of the 'paying customers' will be school children from Chicago regional schools on formal annual field trips. I suspect that many will receive "low income assistance" payments from the school district. I suspect a deal was created as a funding plan per coordination between Obama, Mayor Brandon Johnson (as backed by the teachers unions), and the teachers unions proper.

Also see the bulk children's book sales, prosecution, and imprisonment of former Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh.

Blue cities. Routine methods. One hand washes the other.

Rustygrommet ayon kay ...

Except, wildswan, your car may not be there when get out.

lonejustice ayon kay ...

May the 4th be with you!

NKP ayon kay ...

Will we finally get to know the "real" Obama in his "library"? Perhaps most of his history will remain "sealed".

I hope there's an entire section containing nothing but statues of American "journalists" taking an eight-year nap.

gadfly ayon kay ...

Lazurus: Obama never had a "KennyG" moment as Bill Clinton did. Clinton played the the saxaphone, Obama never did.

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