Controversial Obama Chias back on shelf

Chia Obama is back.

CVS stores have started selling the controversial Barack Obama Chia pottery plant kits that Walgreens dropped last April amid protests.

Now, Joseph Enterprises Inc. is prepping to move the 500,000 kits that it had stored in four Chicago-area warehouses since Walgreens bailed and other retailers decided to stay away.

"Everybody was afraid that it might be considered racist," said Joseph Pedott, president of the San Francisco-based company.

Pedott, a Chicago native, said he was inspired to create the Obama figure, which sprouts foliage in the space where an Afro would be, to honor the nation's 44th president.

Turns out, Obama's a fan.

"I presented it to him [at a reception after his commencement address at Notre Dame], and he said, 'Gee, I've got green hair,'" said Pedott, who also provided heads for first daughters Malia and Sasha Obama. "Everybody laughed. I was on Cloud Nine."

Presidents George Washington and Abraham Lincoln have been added to a patriotic line that includes the Statue of Liberty. Also in the works is a Hilary Clinton Chia.