(no subject)

[lapsedmodernist]

Either in The Bush Dyslexicon (which I've read) or in The Fortunate Son (the nearly-burned bio of The Shrub that I have flipped through and read sections of) it mentions that Dubya can't process the world except in terms of sports. So he is kind of like Andrew on Buffy, (except Andrew has only killed one person, and is infinitely more likeable, with his decentered sexuality and his crush on Xander) if analyzed through Batesonian assessment of schizophrenia as a state where the patient is incapable of differentiating metaphorical frames from literal ones. Andrew can only process things in terms of comic book narratives; he constructs imaginaries of past and current events within that framework, he creates flowcharts and diagrams inspired by that aesthetic, and he is incapable of explaining anything to anyone without finding a one-to-one analogy with some obscure (to me, at least) comic book. I think Bush is like that with sports and games. Uh, I guess all warhawk presidents are briefed on possible reprocussions of US foreign policy in terms of war game simulations (as in GAME THEORY), but this is a good example of where the signifier "game" should be taken metaphorically. And not as a mandate to create a fucking deck of Iraq's "most wanted" CARDS to give to soldiers. Earlier today I read a headline about how France was going to be "sidelined" for its opposition to the war.
But the real kicker was the new designation of Syria, Libya and Cuba are the
Junior Varsity of the Axis of Evil!

What's next? US: 1 - Iraq: 0? The referree has been deemed UNnecessary? Bush crowns himself Quarterback of the World? And we get the instant replay on CNN, over and over and over again. Goal? Goal!!! Scare? Score!!!

Comments

from the horse's mouth

[(Anonymous)]

ok, another excuse to mention buffydom:

http://www.buffy.nu/article.php3?id_article=743

Meanwhile, as the series has been building to a violent, all-or-nothing war between spirit forces at the end, some critics have pointed out that the characters on "Buffy" are going through much the same turmoil people in the real world have experienced with war with Iraq.

"The last thing I ever wanted in the world was for any of 'Buffy's' rhetoric to be compared to anything [President Bush] was saying," Whedon says.
"Yet he goes to war and ostensibly we have a war on 'Buffy,' " Whedon said.
"So I think it was very much a concern to the writers and myself that we try and stress the pain and the uncertainty and the emotion of it as opposed to the gung-ho 'let's-go-get-'em' of it.
"None of us advocates the idea of war and I certainly didn't support the decision to go in during this particular action [in Iraq]," he said.

you've likely seen these already, but maybe not...

http://www.wireimage.com/GalleryListing.asp?navtyp=gls====26075
http://users.pandora.be/patsie/buffy/

-mjm

Re: from the horse's mouth

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

no, i actully had not seen that article (the buffy/war one), so thank you very much for it! it confirms my interpretation of it, to some extent...at least as far as author intent goes.

btw, is it just me, or does Dawn look pretty skanky in those pictures? like, dress your own age, dude.

Re: from the horse's mouth

[(Anonymous)]

i think that was pnts assessment of dawn, too :)

and why didn't warren, reilly, faith, or buffy show up?

-mjm

"keep it short"

[(Anonymous)]

since the "election", shrub is rarely allowed to speak extemporaneously to the public. now almost all of his public utterances are from written speeches where all of the sentences are kept short, with short words. they're scared to death that if he went around speaking his mind like he did before the "election", he'll become a laughingstock.

yes, just days after syria is sort of declared off limits for criticism, we hear threats made to iran. keep in mind that this is their "strategery" -- every time that the polls start falling at home, they'll try to change the subject and distract the public with something else. when should other countries be worried? not until the polls start to fall or when some other domestic problem arises. until then, they'll simply talk.

-mjm

Re: "keep it short"

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

or until summer 2004, to kick those approval ratings into high gear before the elections...no changing horses midstream, blah blah, too bad the stream is one made of shit.