“Bush,” the God Who Failed
September 06, 2005
Wilfred McClay has some thoughtful remarks about the “SOMEONE MUST BE AT FAULT!” syndrome washing over the nation in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I would simply add that we would do well to consider the weeks leading up to the hurricane which saw the unprecedented (at least since the 70s) zeal in the media for dignifying the profanity-laced rage of Cindy Sheehan and her ilk. There appeared to be a new rash of journalistic absurdism wherein aggrieved commoners were asked leading questions–“Do you have a message for the president, What would you like the president to know,” etc. Some journalists took to referring to the head of state as “Mr. Bush,” and among the rabble, it is increasingly just “Bush!” with the one finger salute appended, recalling similar devolutions of presidential signifiers like “LBJ.” A colleague of mine opines that this “Bush” “has become a god proxy for people who believe intently in a failed god at whom they are very angry.”
This is “Bush,” the God Who Failed in The Japery, a part of The New Pantagruel. Previously: Against Instant Publishing | Next: Rhetorical Pluralism | TrackBack (0) | Comments (0)
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