On Obama
In regards to the many criticisms of Obama as an unproven spinner of fine rhetoric: I said this before and I'll say it again here - what Obama holds out, for me, is indeed Hope. And I don't mean that as some sort of abstract concept, like "Golly gee-willikers I hope things will be better tomorrow than they were today. I hope someone takes care of this stuff..."
No I mean in the sense that I again have hope that what I say and do, and what every fellow citizen around me says and does matter. He is a populist in this sense. Since the Reagan years I have seen a steady divorce of citizens from their government here in the US. Kennedy's admonition to "..ask what you can do for your country" is merely a Hallmark card these days, given lip-service, but little else. There is so much cynicism and distraction, and it's a cynicism not born of the populace but beaten into it.
Shakespeare, Pulp Fiction Style
Inspired by this incredibly funny bit of writing I flipped the script and give to you, without further ado, a scene from Hamlet as done ala Tarantino:
GRAVEYARD SCENE. Enter HAMLET and HORATIO
HAMLET: This skull is motherfuckin Yorrick's. I knew this motherfucker. [picks up skull] First guy to crack a joke, and a good one. And now? Look at this shit. He's a fucking skull. It makes me want to throw up. Right here man he had lips and cheeks and shit. Where are you're motherfucking jokes now, man? Your righteous rhymes? The ones that had all the brothers in stitches. See, he's a skull now man. He can't tell any jokes. He's just a motherfucking skull. Damn shame. Tell me Horatio, one thing...
HORATIO: Anything man. What is it?
HAMLET: Do you think that Greek guy, the old one, Alexander. You think he's just a motherfuckin' skull in the earth now?
HORATIO: Damn straight he is.
HAMLET: You think he smells like shit? [puts down skull]
HORATIO: Damn fucking straight.
HAMLET: We all turn to shit, eh? I can't even imagine trying to find all the rotted pieces of that Alexander dude now. Bits of him must be fucking everywhere. You couldn't even put enough of him together to hole up your ass after a meal at Taco Bell.
HORATIO: You trippin' man. You Are Trippin'.
Hemingway: On Style & Symbolism
A tip of the hat to the ever enlightening Kottke.org for this interesting Time Magazine read on the immortal and inimitable E. Hemingway.
Symbolism: "No good book has ever been written that has in it symbols arrived at beforehand and stuck in," says Hemingway. "That kind of symbol sticks out like raisins in raisin bread. Raisin bread is all right, but plain bread is better." He opens two bottles of beer and continues: "I tried to make a real old man, a real boy, a real sea and a real fish and real sharks. But if I made them good and true enough they would mean many things. The hardest thing is to make something really true and sometimes truer than true."
Style: "The right way to do it--style--is not just an idle concept," he says. "It is simply the way to get done what is supposed to be done. The fact that the right way also looks beautiful when it's done is just incidental."
Ain't Gonna Happen: Episode #1
Today's Theme: "We'll Stand Down When They Stand Up."
HOST: Hello and welcome to another exciting episode of...[POINT TO AUDIENCE]
[CUE AUDIENCE] AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!
HOST: And on today's show...
[CUT TO VIDEO NEWS REPORT] "A company of Iraqi soldiers abandoned their positions on Tuesday night in Sadr City, defying American soldiers who implored them to hold the line against Shiite militias. The retreat left a crucial stretch of road on the front lines undefended for hours and led to a tense series of exchanges between American soldiers and about 50 Iraqi troops who were fleeing."
HOST: So, when will the Iraqi's stand up? Audience? [POINTS AGAIN TO AUDIENCE]
[CUE AUDIENCE] AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!
HOST: Our audience, right again. We'll be right back after this commercial...
A Pig by Any Other Name
Interesting, those that are called "neo-conservatives" in American political thought/journalism are called "neo-liberals" in Europe and South American political discourse. Once I discovered that, lots of things made more sense.
In either place, by either nomiker, they are considered a shifty and self-serving lot who dish out pseudo-intellectual bullcrap, but it all seems to start with the premise that we should never appease Hitler.
And all enemies are by default, Hitler. All good guys are Winston Churchill (Never FDR, cause he was, in fact, a dirty communist) and all domestic political opponents are either "communists" or "dead end marxists" (in Europe), or just plain old "liberals" (in the US, or known as ""libruls" by the dumbed down media shills who ply their trade for the neo-cons). All domestic opponents are inevitably Neville Chamberlain. In other words, they're fighting a war that ended well over fifty years ago and won't let it die.
For more interesting elucidation on these matters, do listen to this.
