Friday, November 17, 2006

ö Workers of the World? "That's All, Folks" [YouTube] I don't know why this brilliant toon mashup is titled with "illustrated by Disney" since there's a lot of WB and others in it too:  Communist Manifesto illustrated by Disney Displaying a broad range of Golden Age Hollywood animation, Manifestoon is a homage to the latent subversiveness of cartoons. Though U.S. cartoons are usually thought of as conveyors of capitalist ideologies of consumerism and individualism, Drew observes: "Somehow as an avid childhood fan of cartoons, these ideas were secondary to a more important lesson - that of the 'trickster' nature of many characters as they mocked, outwitted and defeated their more powerful adversaries. In the classic cartoon, brute strength and heavy artillery are no match for wit and humor, and justice always prevails. For me, it was natural to link my own childhood concept of subversion with an established, more articulate version [Marx and Engels' Communist Manifesto]. Mickey running over the globe has new meaning in today's mediascape, in which Disney controls one of the largest concentrations of media ownership in the world."  permanent link #     ^ TOP ^  what is this place?

ö outrage fatigue It's Friday and I haven't posted since Monday, maybe a new low. I'm not sure I can agree with Bob Reich on strategy, he may be right about McCain, but this outrage fatigue sure rings a bell, especially now that even Conyers has joined Dean, Pelosi et al in ruling out impeachment:  American Prospect Online - What the Dems Should Do Now - Robert Reich Some Democrats want to expose the malfeasance and nonfeasance of the Bush Administration -- find out who really knew what and when with regard to weapons of mass destruction, Abu Graahb (sic), Katrina, payoffs to Abramoff, and all the other rot. That's understandable, but it would be far better if Democrats used their new-found power to lay out a new agenda for America. There's no point digging up more dirt. Bush isn't running again. John McCain, the Republican's most likely choice to replace him, has distanced himself so far from the administration that no amount of dirt will soil him. Besides, the public and the media are already suffering from outrage fatigue. And the Democrats wouldn't be credible, anyway. It will be easy for Republicans to dismiss their efforts as more of the same old partisan bickering. The fact is, the public is sick of mud-slinging. Instead of dwelling on what's gone wrong, Democrats should focus on what to do right. For example: more  permanent link #     ^ TOP ^  what is this place?