It's the Metaphor, Stupid!
The Cheney shooting story isn't about to die down. I predict that the press is going to run with this story for days, if not weeks--and it has very little to do with the possibility of Cheney's being drunk, or with the 18 hour delay, or anything else. And this story is going to be much bigger than what we've seen so far in the White House Press Briefings.
It's because this story is a perfect metaphor for this administration's foreign and domestic policy. It says everything you need to know about Dick Cheney personally, and the way this entire administration operates.
And the press does this all the time: they run with little things that display flaws in character: Al Gore's "Internet" quote to highlight his weakness for exaggeration; Kerry's "Voted for it before I voted against it" to highlight his weakness for equivocation.
In this case, we have Cheney and the entire Bush Administration foreign and domestic policy in a nutshell. Especially in Iraq and Katrina.
In this case, Cheney and friends were killing innocent creatures who were trapped in a pen with no hope of escape.
Overeager, Cheney hunted with a shoot first, ask questions later mentality, and managed to strike his own partner, and send his friend to intensive care.
It later appears that Bush and his situation room (or so they said) had no idea what was going on on the ground there. They waited an entire day to even report the story, even though they obviously knew what happened. Hell, someone else had to force them to report the story, because they sure weren't going to unless they had to.
The official story then has Cheney blaming the victim, saying it was the victim's fault he got in Cheney's way.
It starts to become clear there was a pretty big hush-hush coverup job about it, but that the truth couldn't help but get leaked, despite the Administration's best wishes. There is even speculation that Cheney was possibly intoxicated, and not using his best intelligence before he started shooting.
And, of course, they couldn't afford to admit the truth, because the truth would probably be an impeachable offense.
It's a perfect analogy for the way they have conducted their entire administration--and all the biggest flaws of this presidency are on display in one little vividly portrayed story.
A little story that has tremendous sway because, let's face it: THE VICE PRESIDENT JUST ACTUALLY SHOT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING. The imagery is clear and potent--and not subject to the typical political "he said, she said."
There is no way to play the usual equivocating politics with a story about the vice-president ACTUALLY SHOOTING SOMEONE.
And that's why I guarantee you this story isn't going away: It's a perfect way for the press to indict the entire Administration through the perfect metaphor.
And they'll be able to do it without retribution, or accusations that both sides aren't being fairly presented.
And it's going to haunt these assholes for a long, long time, if my hunch is correct.
It's because this story is a perfect metaphor for this administration's foreign and domestic policy. It says everything you need to know about Dick Cheney personally, and the way this entire administration operates.
And the press does this all the time: they run with little things that display flaws in character: Al Gore's "Internet" quote to highlight his weakness for exaggeration; Kerry's "Voted for it before I voted against it" to highlight his weakness for equivocation.
In this case, we have Cheney and the entire Bush Administration foreign and domestic policy in a nutshell. Especially in Iraq and Katrina.
In this case, Cheney and friends were killing innocent creatures who were trapped in a pen with no hope of escape.
Overeager, Cheney hunted with a shoot first, ask questions later mentality, and managed to strike his own partner, and send his friend to intensive care.
It later appears that Bush and his situation room (or so they said) had no idea what was going on on the ground there. They waited an entire day to even report the story, even though they obviously knew what happened. Hell, someone else had to force them to report the story, because they sure weren't going to unless they had to.
The official story then has Cheney blaming the victim, saying it was the victim's fault he got in Cheney's way.
It starts to become clear there was a pretty big hush-hush coverup job about it, but that the truth couldn't help but get leaked, despite the Administration's best wishes. There is even speculation that Cheney was possibly intoxicated, and not using his best intelligence before he started shooting.
And, of course, they couldn't afford to admit the truth, because the truth would probably be an impeachable offense.
It's a perfect analogy for the way they have conducted their entire administration--and all the biggest flaws of this presidency are on display in one little vividly portrayed story.
A little story that has tremendous sway because, let's face it: THE VICE PRESIDENT JUST ACTUALLY SHOT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING. The imagery is clear and potent--and not subject to the typical political "he said, she said."
There is no way to play the usual equivocating politics with a story about the vice-president ACTUALLY SHOOTING SOMEONE.
And that's why I guarantee you this story isn't going away: It's a perfect way for the press to indict the entire Administration through the perfect metaphor.
And they'll be able to do it without retribution, or accusations that both sides aren't being fairly presented.
And it's going to haunt these assholes for a long, long time, if my hunch is correct.
posted by thereisnospoon at 8:23 PM
6 Comments:
Wow! This is the best liberal parody blog I've ever read. Keep up the good work!
go crawl back to whatever hole you crawled out of, kirk.
I don't read LGF--why were you at Kos? Afraid?
There is no spoon -
That Pastor John blog has been universally acclaimed by readers of Dailykos and dozens of other major blogs (including Jesus General). Google "I love Pastor John" and you'll find tons of hits.
Hi i was given a link to this article in my blog, I wanted to post my reply that is somewhat critical of your metaphor....
"Luke, the link you offer is interesting, but if you want to make a methaphorical, allegorical, symbolic, or any other allusion to something via a situation, it is not something that is rare or necessarily insightful... I agree with much of the allegory - and while I do not argue with the content of the metaphor - I critique the spirit of the predictable metaphors, humors, satire, and so on from the other side of either wing (left or right)
Such rhetoric reveals a problem - i.e. the problem of partisan polarization that is suffocating the fabric of our democracy...
Metaphors are great and I liked the one you mention, but would he make a similar one for ted kennedy or bill clinton?
Regardless, welcome to DR&P!"
www.debaterelatepontificate.blogspot.com
Concerning Pastor John: Pastor John got 15 heavily troll rated comments on Kos. His blog isn't remotely funny, and is bad satire at best. It's not even close to Jesus' General, and should not be mentioned in the same breath.
Concerning the metaphor: the validity of the metaphor really isn't my concern, actually. I think the metaphor is very apt, but it also matters little what I actually think.
The important thing is whether the PRESS sees the metaphor as valid--and I guarantee you that it does. I would point to the 2/13 Rob Corddry/Jon Stewart segment on the Daily Show that confirms this metaphorical view of the situation, as well as many political cartoons.
Thereisnospoon-
Jesus General himself linked to Pastor John and said that he was amazing. You don't know good satire.
In fact, in Virginia, Pastor John caused such a stir during last year's governor's elections that he was reportedly approached by several newspapers (including the Post) to do a story. He was taking shots at legislators, and whenever he'd mention one, they'd get acknowledged on the floor.
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