No, really: This quote really does provide an appropriate motherf***ing metaphor for Frank Rich's column today, wherein he explores how the Republican stranglehold of fear has finally fallen away from the country (and as a result the "no fear" acts as a "barrier" against the "snakes" which, in this case and entirely coincidentally of course, represents fearmongering Republicans. Hey, sometimes metaphors are just really aspt.
Here's the money quote:
As the election campaign quickens, genuine nightmares may well usurp the last gasps of Rovian fear-based politics. It's hard to ignore the tragic reality that American troops are caught in the cross-fire of a sectarian bloodbath escalating daily, that botched American policy has strengthened Iran and Hezbollah and undermined Israel, and that our Department of Homeland Security is as ill-equipped now to prevent explosives (liquid or otherwise) in cargo as it was on 9/11. For those who've presided over this debacle and must face the voters in November, this is far scarier stuff than a foiled terrorist cell, nasty bloggers and Ned Lamont combined.
Full Rich column available here (or here for non-TimesSelecters).
Update: We erred in the following paragraph:
(NB: Note that Rich opts to refer to "the cross-fire of a sectarian bloodbath escalating daily" rather than a "civil war." Also, a pretty big misstatement: "As its fifth anniversary arrives, 9/11 itself has been dwarfed by the mayhem in Iraq, where more civilians are now killed per month than died in the attack on America" (emphasis added). The numbers of Iraq war dead are fast approaching the number of people killed in World Trade Center. Suffice it to say that 'cut and run' rhetoric will probably not be enough to distract people from their anger on that day.)
We blanked on the word "civilians" and considered only American soldiers. Our mistake and apologies to the totally correct and well-face-checked Mr. Rich. That shocking statistic regarding dead Iraqi civilians is unfortunately all too true.
from Amazon.com
This is how I found out that Irishman Sean McCarthy was claiming to have discovered a totally free new energy source: I went to Technorati to search for "Snakes On A Plane," expecting it to be the top search term of the day. Instead, there was something I'd never heard of: the word "Steorn." Snakes was #2, but it was Steorn I was interested in. By this point, I've figured out that if it's high on Technorati it is or will be a big story. So I clicked through and learned that McCarthy'sDublin tech firm has figured out how to generate "clean, free and constant energy from the interaction of magnetic fields" — totally in opposition to the law of thermodynamics — or so they claim via their challenge to the scientific community (aka, "Bring it!") and yesterday's posted 5-minute video. Naturally these claims have met with some skepticism (Australian scientists are so not smelling what Steorn is cooking; and as an astute commenter at MetaFilter points out, the Google vid has been tags like "hoax," "snake oil," "scam," "bs," "not possible," "lies," "crap," and "blarney") but that's not really my point here (though it does make one wonder what kind of viral marketing campaigh Galileo might have busted out with). The point is, this is just one example how the blogosphere is an incredibly sensitive instrument, nimble and reactive, and usually smarter than you are, or at least we are (and, I might add, smarter than George Allen: the 7th most popular search term is "macaca").
That's all, you may return to trolling YouTube now. Lord knows I'm going to.
Update: Here's an interesting response to this post.
Ankush Khardori
It's not often that one's jaw actually drops while reading the newspaper, but I had that experience Sunday afternoon as I read a piece on The New York Times op-ed page by Richard Armitage and Kara Bue about how we must, as the title says, "Keep Pakistan on Our Side." Armitage has the distinction of being one of the few competent officials to have worked on foreign policy for the Bush administration,...
from Salon.com
With much fanfare, internet anticipation and YouTube mash-ups, "Snakes On A Plane" debuted on Friday night, promting many snake headline puns and new associations with the phrase "objects in the overhead bins may have shifted in flight. At this point, most news outlets are reporting that it slithered to the number-one spot (no, seriously, they are reporting that it "slithered") but according to) Nikki Finke "Snakes" was actually in the number two spot, owing to the sneaky inclusion of Thursday-night preview audiences. Either way the consensus seems to be that the opening was a lot weaker than anticipated. Why? Because, it seems, not only was the hype reflective of internet excitment that may not have translated offline (despite probably the biggest grassroots viral marketing movement in film history) , but also because as it turns out, the movie isn't all that good. EW's Owen Gleiberman asks "Is "Snakes on a Plane" a cheesy fun bad movie or a bad movie, period? I'd say about half and half" (NB: nowhere in that equation is the phrase "good movie"). Says Salon's Stephanie Zacharek: "I'd urge anyone who's even remotely interested in "Snakes on a Plane" to see it this weekend, when the curiosity level will be at its highest, and with the biggest, rowdiest audience you can find. Because while "Snakes on a Plane" barely stands up as a movie, it definitely qualifies as an event." Interestingly, both Zacharek and Gleiberman describe the mood in the theater as Snake-heads hissed other trailers and delighted in the oft-quoted "motherf**ing snakes!" line. Well, you'd swear too if a rattler was lunging for your privates.
That said, even the bad reviews seem good (I guess everyone likes an excuse to make snake jokes and sneaking in the word "Motherf***ing"). Perhaps most aptly put (or, asply put, har har) by Kyle Smith at the New York Post: "If loving S.O.A.P. is wrong, I don't want to be right." No more asp puns, I promoise. Woldn't want to rattle you. Hyuk hyuk.
Update: A first-person account of the "Snakes On A Plane" experience, courtesy of ETP's Melissa Lafsky. You can't get this from YouTube, my friend.
