Los Angeles:
A number of posters have appeared throughout Los Angeles portraying US President Barack Obama as "The Joker" -- the creepy villain from the Batman movie "The Dark Knight".
The posters have the word "socialism" printed in black above and below the face of Obama.
They show the President, who incidentally celebrates his 48th birthday on Tuesday, decked out in the kind of scary makeup Hollywood actor Heath Ledger used in the latest Batman motion picture, media reports said.
Obama's face is painted white, his eyes have dark circles around them and two red scars curl up from the corner of his mouth.
It is unclear who is producing and distributing the posters. They surface as Democrats and Republicans continue to battle over health care reforms, which some critics feel will lead to a government takeover of the health care system.