There are countless variations on this, depending on context. One of them is the Sizzle is more important than the Steak, which is used by soulless Marketing geeks to describe the importance of branding. Branding, of course, means the creation of perception about something that trumps reality. Like Nikes improving your sports performance, BMWs making you a better driver, or Chanel clothing making you sexier. It's why you see so many label whores walking around.
And it’s the axis around which the capitalist world revolves, Skippy. If you don’t like it you can shove off to
Perception
Reality
Astonished? Then you haven’t been paying attention to life for the past few decades. Particularly not American politics. Nixon was a master at it, though he wasn’t subtle (his Pink Lady smear campaign was a ham-handed bit of slander). LBJ also had an instinctive understanding of it. (Most elegantly expressed in an anecdote from an early, local campaign. Johnson, facing stiff competition, ordered his minions to spread a rumor that his opponent fucks pigs. His staffer replied that no one would believe it, but Johnson, understanding the power of perception, replied, “Yeah, but make him deny it.”) Kennedy, Clinton, Reagan - they all knew it too.
Perception. Packaging. Illusion. Style over substance. Hype. Whatever you want to call it, Americans have pretty much perfected the art of putting lipstick on a pig, or pissing on your shoes while claiming it’s sweet summer rain. I mean, how else can one explain the mad rush and overwhelming public support for our Idiot Boy-King’s invasion of
God Bless the United States of America If you can’t see that, well, then the terrorists have already won.
Ook ook
9 comments:
I think everything tastes better in a cupcake wrapper.
None of that chicanery would work if people weren't so stupid. Ack.
What I'm wondering now, in light of the executive privilege rot, are Bush et.al. playing out their fantasy government banking on the sheer stupidity in equal sheer numbers? Or are they just exceedingly arrogant in that they can simply bulldoze their will over the likes of Congress, the US citizens and the rest of the world. Arrogance, or delusion?
How can anyone not find vestigial doodle so damned funny.
Back to the serious stuff. I was unsure back in pre-Iraq War days if the support for War in the USA was due to a media that refused, for whatever reason, to question the evidence being presented by the boy-idiot and his cronies.
I still am not sure if it is a case of the media not presenting the truth or people not wanting to hear the truth.
I recently had a discussion about Special Rendition flights with a few Americans and they denied all knowledge of them until i provided a link, and then they still tried to justify them.
As the support for the war is dropping daily there, somehow the message is getting out.
Vestigial doodle, great stuff.
Or are they just exceedingly arrogant in that they can simply bulldoze their will over the likes of Congress, the US citizens and the rest of the world.
So far so good.
Spanking of funny stuff, what exactly is that nestled in sexy Ms. McD's cleavage?
Classic stuff as usual, Fez. And I rekcon everyone should re-read '1984' nowadays too. The first time I read it (like millions of others, I'm sure) was actually in 1984, and although I liked it, I didn't really fully get it, partially because I was only 12 of course, but also partially because I didn't buy the 'perpetual war for perpetual peace' idea. It was hard to see the parallel in the read world, back then.
However, I re-read it last year, and the shock of recognition almost caused my rectum to prolapse (not quite though, you'll be pleased to hear). Strong stuff.
On a related topic, here's an fascinating (though lengthy) story in today's Guardian:
http://politics.guardian.co.uk/bookshelf/story/0,,2143929,00.html
In a nutshell, it's an excerpt from Drew Westen's new book, 'The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation'.
The central thesis: "The data from political science are crystal clear: people vote for the candidate who elicits the right feelings, not the candidate who presents the best arguments".
Westen is convinced that Clinton is the only modern Democrat who has truly understood this.
Condiments, O'Tim.
Miz UV: Sometimes I think things taste just fine without adornement - but to each their own.
RL: I don't know that stupidity, per se, can explain the war. Fear-mongering, propaganda, race-hatred, and self-righteous victimization all added to it - but behind it all was just a slick marketing campaign. As for now, well, it's plain arrogance.
Lucy: I think, initially, the media were far too subservient due to fear of seeming cold or uncaring about the attack. Once that wore off, and it became clear Price George and the Neocons had Iraq in their sights, there were plenty of news sources pointing out the folly and/or lies - but by then the public had been sold.
O'Tim: Two all-beef patties, special sauce, melted cheese, pickles, and onions.
Cheezy: I am convinced that Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, and the rest of the Neocon cabal have used 1984 as a text book, because they are following it perfectly. Josef Goebbles would be so proud of these guys.
Ook ook
Painting 'McDonald's Nation' by Vancouver artist Chris Woods http://chriswoodsartist.com/
Post a Comment