On Jul 23, 3:28=A0am, Marko Amnell <marko_amn...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> On 23 hein=E4, 04:10, animamin...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Jul 22, 1:44=A0pm, Marko Amnell <marko_amn...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > > On Jul 22, 7:57=A0pm, "*Anarcissie*" <anarcis...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > > > Madness and Shame
>
> > > > By BOB HERBERT
>
> > > > Published: July 22, 2008
>
> > > > You want a scary thought? Imagine a fanatic in the mold of Dick
Che=
ney
> > > > but without the vice president=92s sense of humor.
>
> > > More im****tantly, Dick Cheney *is* funny. And he
> > > is easy to depict in cartoons, with his twisted
> > > mouth, square gl***** and potato-like head.
> > > Actually, that twisted mouth led to one of the
> > > best observations about Cheney I've read:
>
> > > "Shelley's "Ozymandias," written two years after
> > > Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo, has been
> > > used again and again to illustrate the vanity
> > > and hubris of an empire gone to ruin. A traveler
> > > speaks of "two vast and trunkless legs of stone"
> > > standing in the desert, with a "shattered visage"
> > > lying beside them in the sand.
>
> > > "They say you get something new from a poem every
> > > time you read it, and I had not noticed before
> > > how exactly Shelley described Vice President Dick Cheney:
>
> > > =A0 =A0A shattered visage whose frown
> > > =A0 =A0And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
> > > =A0 =A0Tell that its sculptor well those passions read.
>
> > >http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/22/opinion/edgreenway.php
>
> > > Now Obama! there's a tougher nut to crack.
> > > You can't make fun of the guy. The New Yorker
> > > tried on its cover this summer and got burned.
> > > Actually, I think the various jokes comparing
> > > Obama to Osama, and the various people who've
> > > mixed up the two names in public, are the best
> > > attempts so far to find something funny about him.
> > > Maybe they'll think of something better when
> > > he's the Prez.
>
> > The New Yorker wasn't making fun of Obama, they
> > were making fun of the dimwits who think he's a
> > Muslim.
>
> Ah, right you are. Nevertheless, the episode
> does highlight the difficulty Obama presents
> for political satire and humour. The cartoonists
> have yet to find a standard depiction of him.
> They will have to if he becomes the President.
They seem to be focusing on his ears.
> I have tried to find an analogy for Obama in
> Anglo-American political history. But if he
> becomes President I can't think right now
> of a better analogy than Disraeli and even
> that isn't a very good one. Obviously,
> Dizzy was a conservative and Obama
> is centre left, but there are some parallels.
I think Obama can be considered a
conservative. Those who call themselves
"conservatives" in the United States usually
mean "rightist", and may be actually pretty
radical about changing the established
order, as by starting adventurous wars or
expanding the power of the government
to surveille and repress. In general I think
the analogy is a very good one.
> Both were true outsiders, in more than
> one sense. Dizzy was not only a Jew, and
> thus an outsider in British high society
> and government (entry into the first was
> more im****tant for him), but as a baptised
> Jew he was also an outsider to the Jewish
> community (to the extent that he espoused
> conspiracy theories about Jewish bankers
> whose true actions he did not understand).
> Obama is black, but his father is from
> Africa. Thus is an outsider to the black
> American community. Both Obama and Dizzy
> are intellectuals; they have written books,
> their speech is cerebral. Both are the rare
> individuals who were able to transform their
> outsider ethnic status clearly into a political
> advantage. Both became very popular among
> ordinary people.Both were very good speakers
> and have a kind of innocence about them that
> allows them to speak openly about issues that
> other politicans could not. Obama's famous
> speech on race is an example of this.
> Both Dizzy and Obama also possess
> a sort of magic touch; they created a political
> phenomenon that people want to be a
> part of. Dizzy was called "the Potent Wizard"
> and I think Obama's amazing success indicates
> he is practising some political alchemy of his own.
> Despite recent accusations that Obama is
> op****tunistic, one main difference I can
> think of is that Dizzy was the consummate
> actor, a charlatan who nevertheless took his
> role very seriously. Obama seems more
> genuine, but there are those hints of
> op****tunism.
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