A week after Obama flash ads appeared on starwars.com (I haven't seen them since), Zazzle starts selling t-shirts based on fanart. The new designs include a "mashup" of Luke Skywalker with the caption "A New Hope" based on the Barack Obama campaign posters designed by Shepherd Fairey. The "mashup" was originally created by a fan but it was featured on The Official Star Wars Blog and was quickly licensed by Lucasfilm to be used by Zazzle.

What's the harm, you ask? It's yet another not-so-subtle way of Lucasfilm taking advantage of a fandom to promote a particular candidate. They're trying to tell us who to vote for and that's not right.

I've invested 31 years of my life and lots of money into this fandom. I've gone to bat for SW online, in newspapers, at conventions, and anywhere else where I've had to draw my lightsaber in defense of all that's in the GFFA. But you know what? I've got my own brain. I don't care what Lucas or his staff or any of the actors think about politics. I have my own opinions and my own principles and I'm going to stick with them.

Lucasfilm, Republicans buy action figures too. Never take any fan's support for granted and don't assume that just because I lead a fannish lifestyle, I must somehow be a Democrat. As I told a fan who e-mailed me privately after my last post, I miss the good old days of the late 1970s-early 1980s when we didn't know what the official SW position was on American politics.

The last time I closed comments because I didn't want any trolls. This time, I'm leaving it open but I'm disabling it if it gets hairy.