Empire burlesque: Iraq invasion through the looking glass -

March 23, 2002 10:42 PM

Empire burlesque: Iraq invasion through the looking glass - "MECCA, March 22, 2005 -- President Osama B. Laden today called for a 'regime change' in the United States, saying the military dictatorship led by unelected strongman George Walker Bush 'is an ever-present threat to world peace.'" Spot on or way off, I found it amusing, in a whistling-past-the-graveyard way, at least. (piece originally appeared in The Moscow Times)
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken (29 comments total)

Hee hee hee! Funny stuff....
posted by hincandenza at 11:33 PM on March 23, 2002

Wow. Guess it's okay to post Free Republic threads on MeFi now! I'll be sure to keep that in mind....
posted by aaron at 11:43 PM on March 23, 2002

What a hoot. Thanks for posting that. I've often thought about the apparent contradiction. We on one hand say only honorable governments should have nukes. Those less honorable should be forbidden. The question is of have we always been honorable in the past will we continue to be honorable in the future. Do we really have the moral high ground if we do what guarantees does the world have that we will maintain it. We are the only country in the world that has ever used a nuke in anger. Our president is now discussing circumstances under which we would use them in the future. I personally don't see any country in the world I would trust with nukes including our own, but what are you going to do. I suppose thats the point of the post. Nothing you can do so just enjoy the humor in the absurdity of it all.
posted by onegoodmove at 11:47 PM on March 23, 2002

If this isn't a troll post, nothing is.
posted by dagny at 12:42 AM on March 24, 2002

i'll second dagny.

*yawn*

troll.
posted by gangcandy at 1:11 AM on March 24, 2002

Alrighty. I'll just get back under my bridge, then, shall I?

Not sure precisely why this post would be construed as a troll, really, but perhaps I'm misunderstanding the word. My intention was not to 'troll' (as I understand it, deliberately say outrageous or provocative things in order to rouse others to anger and thus start a flame war - please correct me if I am mistaken), but I guess you'll just have to take my word for that.

I seem to be continuing my long string of unsuccessful posts. At least this one wasn't a double.

(*crosses fingers*)
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:27 AM on March 24, 2002

Hey don't feel bad, I thought it was funny.
posted by chaz at 1:42 AM on March 24, 2002

Chris Floyd is one of the few opinion writers who is fun to read. He had a great column a few months ago about how two sons of privilege have polarized the globe with two diametrically opposed world-views. I don't agree with him all the time; it’s his style that keeps me coming back.

Don't worry about MetaFilter’s conservative bias getting you down, stavros. Anyone with a dissenting, or just a liberal, viewpoint is pretty consistently called names and summarily dismissed. They just couldn’t contain themselves enough to ignore the obvious so they had to call you a name or blow smoke in effort to change the subject. Good show.
posted by raaka at 1:54 AM on March 24, 2002

Yawn.
posted by evanizer at 1:56 AM on March 24, 2002

Holy shit was this the worst, and most unoriginal, article I've read in a while. Stavros, this has nothing to do with you man, the writer and article itself was effing pathetic. Damn those conservatives, always trying to take over the world. Liberals only want the best, right? Gawd, I'm not surprised, but yeesh was it worthless.

(BTW, I also enjoy hearing tales of Liberals being commies; extremism at its best, IMHO)
posted by BlueTrain at 2:04 AM on March 24, 2002

Infinitly funnier and more interesting than lots of people saying '*yawn*' as though it were inciteful or worthwhile. Thanks Stavros.
posted by vbfg at 3:13 AM on March 24, 2002

I thought it was pretty good, not hilarious, but not much worse than a lot of the stuff the Onion publishes. But I'm no conservative; I suppose conservatives would be too miffed to laugh. Too bad for them.
posted by pracowity at 4:13 AM on March 24, 2002

I think our yawns have proven inciteful, seeing as how they have incited you to post something against them.

As for my yawn being insightful, well, you're right, it isn't. But this kind of snideness, whether from Ann Coulter or the dope who wrote this, isn't worth bothering about.

Feel free to be entertained. But I'm afraid it's trying to make a ham-fisted political point. On that count it fails.

Actually it fails the entertainment point for me as well.

So I suppose all that's left to say is...

Yawn.
posted by evanizer at 4:16 AM on March 24, 2002

For every story that appears, doesn't everybody automatically assume that the stories of the enemies or the disenfranchised are not being told by the media? Doesn't everybody conjecture what those missing stories might be? In this case the missing story was fairly obvious.
posted by otherchaz at 4:28 AM on March 24, 2002

> But this kind of snideness...

That's not snideness.

> ...isn't worth bothering about.

Yet it continues to bother you; you stay up yawning feigned yawns over it. You'll probably answer this comment, indicating your continuing interest in the topic.
posted by pracowity at 4:29 AM on March 24, 2002

Wow, we're really in the shit if the funny/unfunny fault line now coincides with the left/right divide. Though there's nothing worse than a thread consisting almost entirely of "yawns" and "hee hees", I agree with StWC - it's amusing. Sunday stuff - what's the big deal?
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:29 AM on March 24, 2002

it sounds pretty normal to me.
posted by trismegisto at 6:20 AM on March 24, 2002

The article itself was ok...nothing spectacular or original, but I found the links at the bottom of the article fairly interesting.

I didn't see the thread as a troll. And sure, I'm just as willing to read conservative stories, post at will if you think people can learn something or will enjoy themselves. Really, if you don't take the time to hear all sides, how can you make an informed decision?
posted by dejah420 at 8:23 AM on March 24, 2002

Don't worry about MetaFilter’s conservative bias getting you down, stavros.
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
*ahem*
posted by darukaru at 8:32 AM on March 24, 2002

I thought it was funny myself, my fine feathered freind. Although a large "SATIRE" warning would've been nice. In my hungover state, I momentarily thought I had slept for four years and everything had gone straight to hell in my abscence.
posted by jonmc at 8:43 AM on March 24, 2002

good link stavros. it may be unoriginal and lacking but there is a point and provides an interesting twist on contradictions in us policy
posted by sixtwenty3dc at 8:54 AM on March 24, 2002

i've come over all regal and danish, for no reason:

regarding the 'this is a troll/not funny' contingent - 'the lady doth protest too much, methinks.'

regarding the article - 'Suit the action to the word, the word to the action, with this special observance: that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature. For anything so overdone is from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the fist and now, was and is to hold as ‘twere the mirror up to nature, to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure.' [Hamlet, III.iii. 16-23]
posted by asok at 8:58 AM on March 24, 2002

thanks for the post wonderchicken -

i had not seen smrkngchmp - enjoyed it - and will forward the site to friends whom i am sure will enjoy it and do the same -

dont hesitate to share your finds in the future.

speaking of yawn:

Timbuck2 is a webshop which lets you build your own messenger bags online. ???
posted by specialk420 at 9:34 AM on March 24, 2002

A personal history of stapling, by an "an avid amateur staplist and collector of classic Swingline staplers. " That's a *yawn.*

How could any PC vegetarian possibly laugh at a "ham-fisted political point?"
posted by sheauga at 9:44 AM on March 24, 2002

Good entertainment Stravo. You know it is a good story when people call it a troll but don't have the capacity to contradict it ;-)
posted by RobertLoch at 10:22 AM on March 24, 2002

SpecialK420: I confess to having a Mild Storage Fetish. One of the way that manifests itself is with bags, briefcases, etc. I had timbuk2.com build a couple bags for me, and they are most delightful and amazing pieces, useful for carrying stuff.

Cause, y'know, your stuff always needs carrying.
posted by ebarker at 10:24 AM on March 24, 2002

It's not a troll, but it's not the Onion, exactly. Much too easy, too obvious. Humor can fall into the category of "elegantly simple" but this doesn't.
posted by raysmj at 11:38 AM on March 24, 2002

Oh, what it needed was some over-the-top bit, at least a hint of delirium. It's more like an editorial here.
posted by raysmj at 11:40 AM on March 24, 2002

You mean, like Operation Infinite Purity – White House declares war on masturbation?

Myth: There are bigger problems than masturbation, like drugs and AIDS.
Reality: Experts estimate that there are at least 150,000 Americans masturbating RIGHT NOW! Masturbation costs American businesses at least $3.14 billion in lost productivity every month! ...

Now see, Chris, if you hadn't made the post, how would we have found out about this?
posted by y2karl at 12:33 PM on March 24, 2002