wrubbish

[realthog]

There aren't that many political columnists better than Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi, so it's a treat to find his article joining David Sirota (http://realthog.livejournal.com/34071.html) and Ishmael Reed (http://al-zorra.livejournal.com/291233.html) in flaying the nincompoopocracy for their infantile hysteria over the Wright "controversy":

The word "squeeb" is a crude mix of squid and dweeb, and by inventing it I mean no disrespect to the squid, which in most respects is an excellent and admirable animal. In the ocean there's almost nothing you'd rather be than a squid, one of nature's most perfect predators -- fast, resilient, ruthless, more intelligent by leaps and bounds than your average fish, and able to squeeze into impossibly tiny cracks. In the ocean, there is no hiding from a squid, I tell you.

But on land, a squid is about as useless as it gets. It's a spineless, squishy little hunk of seafood that wouldn't stand a chance in a cage match with a baby squirrel. It has no heart, and its first instinct when trouble comes is to hide in a cloud of its own excretions. This is why a squiddy word like squeeb seems to me to be a good way to describe the American voter during a presidential election season.

That's especially true now, during a "controversy" like this latest flap over Barack Obama pastor Jeremiah Wright. This Wright business is a perfect example of the American electorate at its squeeby worst -- panicky, gutless, acting more on reflex than thought, incapable of retaining information for more than a few minutes at a time. It's also a great example of how the presidential election process has become more about enforcing the attitudes of a cultural orthodoxy than a system for choosing leaders.

Through scandal after idiotic scandal, the election process has become a painfully prolonged, deeply irritating exercise in policing conventional wisdom, through a variety of means keeping the public in a state of heightened, dumb animal panic, and ultimately turning the election itself into a Darwinian contest -- survival of the Squeebiest.

There's more -- a joyously large amount more -- at http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/80577/.

Comments

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

I passed this one along too, with the Sirota piece, on the topic I'd posted for Reed on my more overtly political blogspot.

Reed out word-slings the other two, though, in my opinion.

Love, C.

[quilterbear.livejournal.com]

squeeb is a wonderful, descriptive word!! Brilliant!

[realthog.livejournal.com]

So, how did things go on your big Expotition, K? Been thinking about you.

[quilterbear.livejournal.com]

I giggled at your message... Bear and I say that all the time (Expotition). I'm tired!~ Have P. send you the email i sent her, as there has been a problem with me being able to spend time on my computer. But I'm not so sure how beneficial the Expotition was, actually. But we are home... and I hope to be able to have time to download my pics and then upload them on my journal, and tell the story soon. Thanks for asking!