I think that any satarist faces the twin demons
of whether he truly understands that which he is
poking fun at, as well as whether or not his audianece
will actually understand that which is being Poked.
Some may recall that after the 'revelation' of the
Pentagon Papers no small amount of fun was had about
how the Air Force should have been bombing the North
Vietnamese Textile Industry, as this appeared to be
the primary logistical component that had been identified
as having come south.
So the notion of any writer, such as Tom Wolfe, providing
a 'relevant criterion' for Target Selection, seems, alas
as reasonable as any that was done by the DOD/WhiteHouse
crowd during the time. And thus I hope everyone understands
that in the Wolfe illustration, the target of the Poking
is as much the Target Selection Committee, as what is actually
being overtly said.
Having agreed on this facet, I hope, returning to the less pleasant
context of RippingOff the vietnam war for mere Marketing, seems to
be running counter to the notion of 'political commentary'. I must
say that the idea of festooning any garment for mere shock value is
fine in one's adolescence when one knows no better, but to have the
alledged mavan's of HauteQuayZine engage in such PimplePicking is
an afront to good taste, BEFORE they begin selecting their imagry.
In like manner we have the ongoing debates about things like
'flag desecration' - and my eternal hope that some day the
NewNeoCons will pass their AgendaItem and we can take out a
wide range of Trendy Little Upscale Stores under the Federal
Seizure Laws, for their nasty Habits. Clearly reselling them
will get us more money than anything we might have been able
to Steal from the Poor Kids wearing 'peace flag' patches during
the sixties. Which of course leads to the question of the Really
Trendy Folks who were ever so conversant and concerned DURING the
sixties, and how much of that NLF flag waving was just so much
pretension at being 'involved/concerned/committed' and how much
of it was just flat out being TRENDY. For myself, one of the Great
Horrors of the Sixties was the unpleasant fact that we created such
a useless 'idle rich' class of people as could float around being
ever so trendy about this that and the next 'concerned social issue'
like so many gadflies.
{ It should go without speaking, that since I still have my American
Flag sewn to my denim colours, for my black motorcycle jacket, that
you can Have My Colours when You RIP THEM OFF MY DEAD BODY. }
In the Personal Irony Catagory I find it amazing to watch NewNeoCons
try to seperate themselves from the Good Old John Birch Society, and
listing the 'antiwar' position of the JBS as being a part of the defense
for denouncing the JBS as being Unpatriotic. In spite of the remaining
live members of the JBS who will recall their Open Support of the War
Efforts and Our Troops. Clearly the Wealth of the Eighties has again
brought us a class of 'idle rich' who have nothing better to do with
their time than 'adjust history' were it does not conform to current
ideological requirements. I really would prefer that if they must be
gastly in public, that they at least display their poor taste in the
simpler realm of bad fashion sense.
ciao
drieux