Bush on your mantle?

G.I. Bush coming to a store near you
By DANA MILBANK
Washington Post
Holy photo op, Batman! The president of the United States has become a military action figure.

When President Bush landed on the USS Abraham Lincoln three months ago in a naval flight suit, many commentators believed the image of the vigorous president on the aircraft carrier would figure prominently in his re-election campaign.

What the commentators did not predict is that Bush would become his own G.I. Joe doll.

Coming soon to a store near you: a foot-tall likeness of the president called "Elite Force Aviator: George W. Bush -- U.S. President and Naval Aviator."

Blue Box Toys, a Hong Kong-based company, will be distributing the Bush dolls through KB Toys starting Sept. 15.

"Exacting in detail and fully equipped with authentic gear, this limited-edition action figure is a meticulous 1:6 scale recreation of the Commander-in-Chief's appearance during his historic Aircraft Carrier landing," states the promotion.

For just $39.99, you get a plastic model of Bush wearing a flight suit, survival vest and parachute harness, and jauntily carrying a helmet and oxygen mask -- just as Bush did on May 1 after climbing out of his S-3B Viking aircraft.

The Bush doll joins many other Navy SEALs, Blue Angels and World War II aviators in Blue Box's "Elite Force" series.

Bush is the first president to be so honored, "and maybe the last," said the company's spokeswoman, Lauri Aibel, who notes that some complaints have already been received.

"We don't condone or endorse the president, but he fit the criteria of our Elite Force collection. It would have to be somebody in uniform, a military hero of some kind, or depicting a military uniform," Aibel said.

Aibel said advance orders for the Bush doll are coming in at a record clip, though Blue Box has done no publicity or advertising.

Blue Box Toys did not request permission from the White House for use of Bush's likeness, and a White House spokeswoman had no comment on Monday.

The company recommends that only those 14 and older use the Bush doll, which it says is an "adult collectible item" and emphatically not a toy.

It may, in fact, pose a choking hazard for the president's Democratic opponents



The toy industry even gets their slice of the military-industrial complex..