Obama - Greek God of Politics

I think the Obamessiah's Thursday night speech is setting up to be a major P.R. disaster:

DENVER (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's big speech on Thursday night will be delivered from an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple.

The stage, similar to structures used for rock concerts, has been set up at the 50-yard-line, the midpoint of Invesco Field, the stadium where the Denver Broncos' National Football League team plays.

Some 80,000 supporters will see Obama appear from between plywood columns painted off-white, reminiscent of Washington's Capitol building or even the White House, to accept the party's nomination for president.

He will stride out to a raised platform to a podium that can be raised from beneath the floor.

The show should provide a striking image for the millions of Americans watching on television as Obama delivers a speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination.

Politicians in past elections have typically spoken from the convention site itself, but the Obama campaign liked the idea of having their man speak to a larger, stadium-sized crowd not far from where the Democratic National Convention is being held, at the Denver pro basketball arena.

Obama was taking a page from the campaign book of John Kennedy in 1960 when the future president delivered his acceptance speech to 80,000 people in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Once Obama speaks, confetti will rain down on him and fireworks will be fired off from locations around the stadium wall.

Democratic convention organizers said the theme for the evening is "Change We Can Believe In," which has been a consistent message of Obama's presidential campaign.

I can't wait to see the McCain ads that are going to come from this.

UPDATE: Rob Port adds this:

Apparently they thought a manger, some sheep and three wise men would have been too gaudy.

UPDATE 2 - a little background on Greek temples:

Most religious buildings today are intended for congregational worship, where groups of people get together on a regular basis to celebrate their god and receive spiritual comfort. Ancient Greek temples were rarely used this way. They were meant to serve as homes for the individual god or goddess who protected and sustained the community. It was the needs of the gods that were most important. They controlled the forces of nature— the sun and rain which nourished their crops and the winds which drove their ships. Although generally benevolent, the gods could be quite capricious and were liable to turn against the community— so it was in everyone's interest to make sure that they should feel completely at home. Their houses were the finest, equipped with a staff of servants to look after their every need. They received daily offerings of food and drink along with a proper share of the harvest and the profits of any trading or military activity.

The god or goddess was represented by a cult image— usually a seated or standing statue— which occupied the central place in the temple.

Pretty much sounds like the Democrat Convention to me.

UPDATE: An artist's conception of the Obamessiah entering Invesco Field to make his Greek Temple speech.