November 16, 2001

4:52 PM

At the risk of reopening this recount thread - The Economist is running this rather sarcastic correction in their current edition, along with this strange little 'What if Gore Was President' article. Does this signal that the Age of Irony is not, in fact, dead - or did someone at The Economist just not get the memo?
posted by anastasiav (9 comments total)

Just a snippy conservative newspaper trying to be humorous. And, no, the age of irony is not over. It must remain cause nothing left but that. Unless you become a born again.
posted by Postroad at 4:56 PM on November 16, 2001

E.J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post, Lessons of The Long Recount:
"In any event, wasn't the election so close that we can never really "know" who won? The ... question is valid, but it begs a more important one. Could we have known far more, much earlier, if the Bush campaign had not resolutely tried to block recounts and if the U.S. Supreme Court had not intervened at all? The answer is yes. That's why the court's final decision will always deserve to be seen as anti-democratic in the small-d sense. Given a choice between getting to a quick result and getting to a more accurate reading of the wishes of Florida's voters, the court chose speed."
posted by Carol Anne at 5:14 PM on November 16, 2001

The age of irony is alive and well; the universe is shoving it in our faces daily.

Things like the fact that the starving multitudes of Afghanistan were best served by stepping up the bombing, which deposed the Taliban, which opened up the routes for importation of food.

Or the fact that the missionaries in Afghanistan were rescued by American Special Forces helicopters at night, which homed in on a fire which the missionaries made, and what they burned was the burqas that the Taliban had insisted that the six women wear.

There's plenty of irony in the world. However, fashionable cynicism has gone out of style.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 5:16 PM on November 16, 2001

What fires? There were no fires. The missionaires were locked into a container.
posted by caraig at 7:03 PM on November 16, 2001

They were moved inside a container to Ghazni, where they were confined to the local jail. Then the war caught up to them and the Taliban were chased off. Northern Alliance soldiers released them from the jail, and somehow word was gotten to the US Special Forces where they were. They then went to an open field near Ghazni to be picked up by US Special Forces helicopters at night. In order for the helicopters to know where the land, the missionaries lit a signal fire.

The women burned their burqas to make that fire.
posted by Steven Den Beste at 7:18 PM on November 16, 2001

irony is not dead, however claiming that irony is dead, is dead. or should be.
posted by mcsweetie at 7:46 PM on November 16, 2001

God, I love The Economist. What I really like is the depth of coverage of world events every week. It's my guilty pleasure that I purchase every time I pass through an airport.
posted by warhol at 8:35 PM on November 16, 2001

I am constantly amazed at the sheer stupidity of all those who called the death of irony on September 11th/12th... how could they not foresee the irony inherent in the statement?

Irony is a large multi-national treaty that accomplishes little but photo ops, but is touted as the thing that will save the world. Irony is not a president who is seen as a man of the people using a last-day chance to pardon a billionaire fugitive -- that's cynicism on the man's part. The Economist articles, on the other hand, are a urine-poor attempt at sarcasm.
posted by clevershark at 10:42 PM on November 16, 2001

Or the fact that the missionaries in Afghanistan were rescued [They were moved inside a container to Ghazni, where they were confined to the local jail. Then the war caught up to them and the Taliban were chased off. Northern Alliance soldiers released them from the jail, and somehow word was gotten--via the Red Cross-- to the US Special Forces where they were] by American Special Forces helicopters at night, which homed in on a fire which the missionaries made, and what they burned was the burqas that the Taliban had insisted that the six women wear.

Call me a cynic, but that is so poetic.

Even without mentioning GPS or night vision goggles.
posted by y2karl at 10:46 PM on November 16, 2001