Barack Obama, Art Critic

Reading over the President’s remarks at the dedication of the newest addition to Washington’s collection of solemn memorials, I get the distinct impression that while the President is obviously on board with the general idea of honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., (Dr. King “belongs on this Mall,” he said), he doesn’t have much use for the Kim Il Sung-style statue that is the memorial’s centerpiece. He was subtle about it, of course, but I don’t know how else to interpret this line:

This sculpture, massive and iconic as it is, will remind them of Dr. King’s strength, but to see him only as larger than life would do a disservice to what he taught us about ourselves.

Or this one, even more pointed:

It is precisely because Dr. King was a man of flesh and blood and not a figure of stone that he inspires us so.

Quite. King was a great leader, not a Great Leader.

Photograph: National Park Service.