good stuff from a guy that lives in the Peoples DemocRATic Republic of Posted on 09/30/2006 6:00:51 AM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
September 30, 2006 - 08:31
If torturing analogies were a war crime, Maureen Dowd might soon find herself in the defendant's dock at the Hague.
In her subscription-required New York Times column of this morning, Dowd desperately seeks to associate herself with Sacha Baron Cohen, the brilliant British comic who yesterday took DC by storm.
First in his HBO series 'Ali G' and now on the big screen, Cohen has brought to life 'Borat,' his racist, anti-Semitic, misoygynistic, sex-mad alter ego from Kazakhstan. Borat's MO is to lure unsuspecting people into his bigotry, as when in an infamous Ali G episode he induced Arizona bar patrons to applaud and even join in his rendition of the supposedly Kazakh song 'Throw the Jew Down the Well.' On the occasion of yesterday's meeting between Pres. Bush and Kazakhstan's president, Borat turned up at the White House gates to extend his invitation to a private screening of his new movie, 'Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,' to be followed by a reception at Hooters.
So deep has Cohen penetrated under the skin of Kazakhstan's leaders that the country recently spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on four full-page ads in the New York Times to refute his unflattering depiction of their homeland. There were even reports that the Kazakh president might broach the issue with President Bush.
OK, back to Mo. Seeking to ride the wave of Borat-mania - and finding any occasion a good one to bash the Bush administration - Dowd put her sacroiliac in serious danger of dislocation, straining for these analogies:
- Borat likes to wrestle guys naked. Karl liked to show W. his battery-powered “Redneck Horn,” blasting obscenities and insults like “Hey, hogneck, who taught you how to drive?” in a Southern drawl.
- Family values in Borat’s comic portrait of Kazakhstan are reflected by his sister, an incestuous hooker, the town rapist, a cow in the bedroom, and the annual Pamplona-like “Running of the Jew.” Mr. Woodward writes about Bush family values, or the “Running of the WASP.”
- Borat had a fantasy life in which he would bag — literally — Pamela Anderson and yoke her happily ever after to a plow on his farm. Dick Cheney had a fantasy life in which he would bag Saddam’s W.M.D.
- Borat thinks Pamela is silly to object to animal torture, just as Vice thinks the press is silly to object to prisoner torture.
- After much chaos, Borat gives up on Pamela and marries a prostitute. After much chaos, and even though Laura wants Rummy out, W. sticks with him at Vice’s insistence.
Maureen would be well-advised to leave the humor - and the analogies - to the professionals. I doubt she'll listen. What's next? Dowd in the new HBO laff-riot . . . 'Ali-She'?
Note: NewsBusters is looking for a few good men - or women. NB is seeking: 1. military, ex-military and former intelligence community members to write about the media's coverage of military and intelligence issues; and 2. an experienced MySQL and PHP programmer (especially those who know about Drupal.org's software) who wants to help out the conservative cause. If interested, contact newsbusters@mediaresearch.org
Finkelstein lives in the liberal haven of Ithaca, NY. View webcasts of Mark's award-winning TV show 'Right Angle' here. Contact Mark at mark@gunhill.net
Maureen Dowd/NewsBusters down-the-well ping to Today show list.
MoDo sinks ever deeper in the slime the bottom feeders
plow.
Go to NewsBusters link for video of Ali G episode.
Mo Dowd... on how NOT to grow old, single and wrinkled... gracefully. One bitter, dried-up shrew.
Liberal logic. She is such a chimp.
Anyone actualy read Mo Dowd?
She writes for NY times?
The paper that is going down the tubes because no one reads it?
One of the best things the Times has done is to make Dowd's column available only for paid subscribers. I am much less bothered by her columns, fewer people read them, and she has been marginalized.
I'm surprised Times heavyweights such as Dowd, Thomas Friedman and Paul Krugman haven't successfully rebelled against this firewalling of their columns, which as you indicate must significantly diminish their influence.
It really went against my grain to send my money to the Times and subscribe, but as someone who tracks liberal media bias, and all joking aside, I considered it was my duty - and a good investment. It certainly is a treasure trove of MSM-think over there. Rarely a day goes by that it doesn't provide some jewel for me to write about!
I will, however, take your word for it. It is much easier on my nerves to read your paraphrasing of her column than to read her actual words. And every time you tell us about what she wrote, it reminds me that she and those others are in their little enclave and aren't read as much anymore, which makes me very happy.
If you click on the link to her column, does it at least give non-subscribers a synopsis?
http://select.nytimes.com/2006/09/30/opinion/30dowd.html
No...only a picture (shudder) and half of the first sentence. Makes me happy, happy, happy!
Thanks for letting me know. When Slate.com went to a subscription mode some years ago, I wrote then-editor Michael Kinsley to predict it wouldn't last, for the same audience-killing reasons in play for the Times columnists. It didn't.
I for one wish to thank you for your service. Because you do this, putting your mental health in harm's way, I don't have to! Thanks again and stay safe.
Some would say my mental health was already long gone, but in any case I sincerely appreciate the encouragement. Writing about MoDo & Co. is truly my - twisted - pleasure.
Gee, Mo, that was really funny. Ha, ha. You have never written anything funnier. You forgot to get Barney, the First Dog into that gut-wrenching humor piece. How about this? Barney is watching Borat on TV. Borat says, "I don't like Jews." Then Barney says, "I don't like the President." Ha, ha! Isn't that funny, Mo? Can I help you write more humor. Oh, boy! We'll have a barrel of laughs. Maybe we could make a song, "Throw the President down the well". Oh, that is hilarious and really creative.
Ali G is without a doubt the funniest and most innovative comic i have ever seen, I LOVE EVERYTHING HE DOES!
i'm not normally such a fan, but that guy is pure gold!
good stuff from a guy that lives in the Peoples DemocRATic Republic of " Karl liked to show W. his battery-powered “Redneck Horn,”
Maureen should avoid writing about things that are battery powered...
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