Once the Intervention Begins, It's Painful

There's nothing more confusing than wingnut attempts at satire.

Here for instance is an emanation that recently made itself detectable over at NRO, where the zingers include advice, intended, if you please, as satirical, that the GOP might at some point begin filing "frivolous ethics complaints against all [Democratic] elected officials" (keep in mind that that this is supposed to be in the tradition of Swift (Ernie Swift, a guy I was in junior high school with, who liked to snort his own boogers for yuks)) -- something we're supposed devoutly to wish has never ever occurred to Republicans ever in the past (see also the 1990s, et passim) (and yes, this sentence is grammatical, motherfucker: the convoluted (but correct) structure mirrors the convolution of the logic being discussed, and so this sentence, in fine, exhibits a pleasing symmetry of content and form). We also learn that the election of Barack Obama, as well as the elaborate conspiracy to pull the wool over the eyes of the nation so that Sarah Palin always looks like an idiot whenever she talks, even though she's IN TRUTH Jesus, Buddha, Milton Friedman, and the Fucking Wizard of Oz wrapped into one magical moose-murdering package, is really all to do with a Sinister Hidden Agenda:

This is a deadly serious attempt to realize the vision of the 1960s and to fundamentally transform the United States of America. This is the fusion of Communist dogma, high ideals, gangster tactics, and a stunning amount of self-loathing. For the first time in history, the patrician class is deliberately selling its own country down the river just to prove a point: that, yes, we can! This country stinks and we won’t be happy until we’ve forced you to admit it.

Shazam!

"A Modest Proposal" relies upon the generally accepted opinion that it is wrong to eat babies. That is, if you will, the common ground upon which the satire rests. This NRO thing is not satire. The common ground upon which it rests is nonexistent. It is all, it emerges, my bum, and thoroughly unintelligible to the uninitiated, which is to say, to the sane. (The implicit, though still stirring motto here is "Give Me Liberty, Or Give me Death, But I Won't Say 'America Stinks.'" Wolverines!)

But this is not to say that there is no good wingnut satire in regards to the Sarah Palin psychadelia. Indeed there is, and it's some pretty high-grade shit, too. The unintentional satire is to be savored. To wit:

After the public finger-wagging directed at the McCain campaign for not being tech savvy enough, and the media’s awe at President Obama’s mastery of social media, it is interesting to note that Palin is leading the way in online communications among Republicans. By a lot. She is using Facebook and Twitter to communicate her agenda and message directly to her constituencies.  Her strength in this regard is obscured at the moment because that agenda and message is a mystery at present.

That last sentence is magnificent, and to be cherished. It is a golden gift and a jewel for the ages and I do not mind saying so in the least or the slightest. It is, in its way... Art, and evidence of quite extremely competent masterwork of the sort the US of A still leads the world in producing. God Bless America. Gorgeous. Just marvelous.

Comments

[CathiefromCanada]

Reminds me of the time, I think it was in 2006, that I heard a spokesperson for the Bush administration describe all their foreign policy achievements, including the capture of Bin Laden, which was called "a success that hasn't happened yet."
Breathtaking in its simplicity, really.

[coozledad]

Damn. Sarah quit as AK governor to work for uk dissertation help?

The pathetic argument I've been hearing from most of her supporters is the more people make fun of her, the more money they'll send her. It's the goddamn PTL club.

[ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®©]

Also, why is Thers spreading liberal hate, and trying to shut down debate? I thought lieberals were "tolerant" and against censorship?? LOL!
Nim, ham hock of liberty | 07.08.09 - 6:56 am |

I gotcher blog interaction right here.
~

[Mo MoDo]

For a real parody, wingnuts should study Maureen Dowd's Sarah Palin Diary today, only they probably won't get the joke.

[Libby]

I've never seen the FB page before. Fabulous. I could read stuff like this for hours.

Valerie Murden: I just had a vision...all of our forefathers who put their lives and families and blood on the line for this country...are standing up from beyond their graves and applauding Sarah.....she is well-backed and loved.....Go Sarah....

I was wondering what that noise was. Now I know. Applause from the dead. Gotta love it.

[Dr Dick]

Her strength in this regard is obscured at the moment because that agenda and message is a mystery at present.

I am sure that just as soon as she gets around to mastering the English language all will become clear and we will be blinded by her brilliance.

[Fleas correct the era]

I am sure that just as soon as she gets around to mastering the English language all will become clear and we will be blinded by her brilliance.
---------------------

Mock at your peril. She can see the English language from her window.

[Fleas correct the era]

I am sure that just as soon as she gets around to mastering the English language all will become clear and we will be blinded by her brilliance.
---------------------

Mock at your peril. She can see the English language from her window.

[actor212]

Oh. My. God.

They really posted that last graf????

That's like saying "My car gets me around town and gets 45 mpg! And once I fill it up..."

[Silleigh]

Sorta off-topic:

...(and yes, this sentence is grammatical, motherfucker: the convoluted (but correct) structure mirrors the convolution of the logic being discussed, and so this sentence, in fine, exhibits a pleasing symmetry of content and form).

Ye gods, I love you.

[SteveB]

Wasn't David Kahane the screenwriter who got offed by Tim Robins in The Player? So he's still sending anonymous death threats through the mail?

And I did like this bit:

Tina Fey turned Palin into a see-Russia-from-my-house joke...

Because, you know, Palin did claim "I can see Russia from my house!" as a foreign-policy qualification, but it was totally unfair of Tina Fey to make a joke of it. You'd almost think someone was paying Fey to do so. Wheels within wheels, people.

[Itchy Brother]

She is using Facebook and Twitter to communicate her agenda and message [...]
that agenda and message is a mystery at present.

We have achieved peak Zen wingnut. The sound of one hand clapping is perfectly clear. I will demonstrate this when I find a microphone that can amplify the sound.

[karen marie]

This from Fred Barnes the day before yesterday fits right in:

Palin's limitations were evident in the vice presidential debate last year. I thought she won that debate, almost purely on the basis of her personality and likeability. But she could have taken Joe Biden apart while demonstrating her own knowledge and brainpower had she known more about national issues.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/07/02/opinion/main5130484.shtml

[Fleas correct the era]

... she could have taken Joe Biden apart while demonstrating her own knowledge and brainpower, had she had any

Fixed.

[Snarki, child of Loki]

Her strength in this regard is obscured at the moment because that agenda and message is a mystery at present.

It's actually a riddle. But it's wrapped up in a mystery. Inside an enigma. In the secret compartment of a dusty cabinet in an out-of-order lavatory in the sub-basement of an abandoned building in a deserted village somewhere in eastern europe. With a sign on the door that says "beware of tiger".

With any luck, we'll never hear of it again.

[Dr Dick]

But it's wrapped up in a mystery. Inside an enigma.

I think you meant "enema" there.

[Caliph Garrett]

Shorter Barnes w/ Groucho Marx glasses & 'stache: If only we had some ham, we could make ham and eggs, if only we had some eggs.

[topsy part one]

"... to communicate her agenda and message directly to her constituencies."

As Palin is soon to be out of office, who are these "constituencies" of whom they speak?

[Righteous Bubba]

This is the fusion of Communist dogma, high ideals, gangster tactics, and a stunning amount of self-loathing.

I find it's the self-loathing that makes me covet the snail darter.

[J Neo Marvin]

For the first time in history, the patrician class is deliberately selling its own country down the river just to prove a point

How...um...unprecedented. We certainly had nothing of the sort during the previous eight years. Where would these chucklefucks be without projection?

[Tehanu]

Her strength in this regard is obscured at the moment
Because that agenda and message is a mystery at present.

Poet and don't know it!

[Dr Dick]

who are these "constituencies" of whom they speak?

Those for whom the stars burst.

[julia]

I to this day don't understand how you stomach this shit.