Obama Makes Early, Unflattering Appearance on Mount Rushmore

Mount Rushmore is the kind of monument reserved for only the best U.S. presidents. The likenesses of only four—Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Lincoln, and Jefferson—appear on the South Dakota rock structure. But environmental-activist group Greenpeace, both famous and notorious (depends who's asking) for its bold environmental protests, figured Barack Obama deserved to be there. Yet not quite for the reason you might think. Right next to the Lincoln sculpture, Greenpeace climbers unveiled a face-sized banner (65 by 35 feet) of Obama's face with the words "America Honors Leaders, Not Politicians: Stop Global Warming." The message was crafted to call out Obama for dragging his feet on global climate policy as he heads into the G8 policy conference this week in Italy. “While President Obama’s speeches on global warming have been inspiring, we’ve seen a growing gap between the president’s words and his actions,” Carroll Muffett, who heads Greenpeace campaigns, said from the scene.

The move was an impressive feat of daring. Newsweek has learned that a team of 12 experienced climbers prepped conspicuously for months planning for different scenarios to ensure that the action could be completed safely. The group also promised there would be no damage to the actual monument, which is solid granite. And all involved planned to spend several weeks behind bars.

Of course, the protest was aimed to get the attention of Obama and other world leaders, currently on the other side of the world. Asked whether the president or top advisers were aware of the protest and accompanying message, the White House had no immediate comment.