- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,956
- 250
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Here's a White House short-story about democratic imagination (inspired by Dave).
I wonder who'd like this sort of story more, President Trump or the First Lady Melania?
Signing off,
====
A group of kids from China visited the White House as part of a tourism media event leading up to the World Cup soccer tournament in Russia in the summer of 2018. The kids wore ski-masks and ran around the White House lawn playing with water-guns on a bright and warm summer day in June. They were joined by the President and some local Washington elementary school kids on what was a special 'diplomacy youth activity' at the White House. President Trump wanted to press the fact that commerce for tomorrow is choreographed by the inspiration of children today! The kids were encouraged to discuss why water-guns dissuaded people from violence and real guns.
Americans love toys and American toy companies (e.g., Mattel, Hasbro, Fisher-Price) are arguably the best in the world. The green transparent plastic water-guns used that day for the White House water-gun kids' fight were specially brought in and approved by the President himself. Water-guns are very popular in the summer months in America, and they're found in Toys 'R Us stores and other American stores and hence are terrific consumerism 'trophies.' CNN journalists were on-hand to cover this diplomacy event leading up to the World Cup, and the Trump Administration wanted to highlight how competitive sports encouraged international peace.
As the kids played, President Trump also showed them copies of Superman (DC Comics) comics which presented images and stories of Bizarro, the eerie and evil cyborg-like nemesis of the heroic Superman (America's favorite comic book superhero). Trump told the kids that Bizarro would tempt humanity to use real guns instead of water-guns, and the kids were intrigued by the characterization of what exactly would be the 'opposite' of Superman! Bizarro of course represented all the anarchy and malice that threatened the vitality of modern democracy across the globe.
After all is said and done, there's nothing simple/straightforward about marketing values-centric toys and stories to kids in today's consumerism-centric world which caters more to conveniences and recreation than ethics and education. Trump didn't want to be considered a 'celebrity-president' or a 'casino-diplomat' or a 'consumerism-cheerleader' so he wanted the kids at the White House to think about why images of heroism as well as crime/terrorism in modern arts and crafts represented a human fascination with real virtue.
As Trump played with the kids and thought about the value of the diplomacy event on that bright summer day at the White House, he thought about his own appreciation of ethics-loaded comic books and comic book adapted films such as Flash Gordon which presented images of valiant crusaders (defenders of democracy) and tyrants/terrorists (adversaries of peace). Trump thought about the popularity of comics-adapted media in the modern age and why Hollywood (USA) made so many darn comics-adapted films in the new millennium. Trump was very pensive about the upcoming World Cup and wanted to ensure the world that democracy would be safeguarded from the anarchy that created global terrorism.
Americans love stories about liberty and revolution --- it's in our blood(!). Images of Zapatistas, movies about the IRA such as The Devil's Own (Alan J. Pakula), and folk-tales about the American Revolution (e.g., Patrick Henry) reinforce the democratic notion that negotiations about liberty and intellectual freedom create positive feelings in Americans interested in political reform (and social improvements). That's why terrorism, which sometimes seems meaningless, is such a threat to serious peaceful deliberation. President Trump wanted to use the media to separate the facts from the hype, and he wanted to use that White House summer kids' water-gun fight to suggest the idea that active involvement in the lives of consumers promoted real political passion.
After the water-gun day came to an end, one of the visiting kids from China presented President Trump with a nice painting of a bicycle on the beach which a Chinese artist made for this special White House diplomacy event. Trump thanked the youngster for the cool painting and promised he'd keep it somewhere special in the White House. The youngster told Trump that the bicycle symbolized a new 'hope' regarding human liberty and imagination (and why bicycles were much safer than tanks and submarines!).
GOD: That was a successful diplomacy-event at the White House!
SATAN: I agree; the kids got the right message about toys/water-guns.
GOD: I liked the bicycle-painting the youngster from China presented to Trump.
SATAN: Yes, it was very...cheerful.
GOD: Do you think comics and games and toys these days encourage peace?
SATAN: We have to be wary of war-toys and images of violence in modern media.
GOD: Americans do love horror-films...
SATAN: Yes, but they also love cartoons and children's books!
GOD: Here's a story about the American comic book superhero Batman (DC Comics).
SATAN: What's it about?
GOD: Batman (the masked vigilante tackling criminal-insanity) is imprisoned...
SATAN: By whom?
GOD: His lover but adversary Talia al Ghul (an eco-terrorist).
SATAN: What does Batman learn during his imprisonment?
GOD: He discovers that Talia is both revolutionary and sensitive.
SATAN: Ah, so he must decide if Talia is an enemy or a friend...
GOD: Precisely; modern folklore should focus on the 'intrigue' of social contracts!
SATAN: Perhaps democracy itself is a 'negotiation.'
GOD: That may be the best way to characterize it; let's watch WarGames on Neflix!
SATAN: I think consumerism and commerce just might create...refinement.
====
I wonder who'd like this sort of story more, President Trump or the First Lady Melania?
Signing off,
====
A group of kids from China visited the White House as part of a tourism media event leading up to the World Cup soccer tournament in Russia in the summer of 2018. The kids wore ski-masks and ran around the White House lawn playing with water-guns on a bright and warm summer day in June. They were joined by the President and some local Washington elementary school kids on what was a special 'diplomacy youth activity' at the White House. President Trump wanted to press the fact that commerce for tomorrow is choreographed by the inspiration of children today! The kids were encouraged to discuss why water-guns dissuaded people from violence and real guns.
Americans love toys and American toy companies (e.g., Mattel, Hasbro, Fisher-Price) are arguably the best in the world. The green transparent plastic water-guns used that day for the White House water-gun kids' fight were specially brought in and approved by the President himself. Water-guns are very popular in the summer months in America, and they're found in Toys 'R Us stores and other American stores and hence are terrific consumerism 'trophies.' CNN journalists were on-hand to cover this diplomacy event leading up to the World Cup, and the Trump Administration wanted to highlight how competitive sports encouraged international peace.
As the kids played, President Trump also showed them copies of Superman (DC Comics) comics which presented images and stories of Bizarro, the eerie and evil cyborg-like nemesis of the heroic Superman (America's favorite comic book superhero). Trump told the kids that Bizarro would tempt humanity to use real guns instead of water-guns, and the kids were intrigued by the characterization of what exactly would be the 'opposite' of Superman! Bizarro of course represented all the anarchy and malice that threatened the vitality of modern democracy across the globe.
After all is said and done, there's nothing simple/straightforward about marketing values-centric toys and stories to kids in today's consumerism-centric world which caters more to conveniences and recreation than ethics and education. Trump didn't want to be considered a 'celebrity-president' or a 'casino-diplomat' or a 'consumerism-cheerleader' so he wanted the kids at the White House to think about why images of heroism as well as crime/terrorism in modern arts and crafts represented a human fascination with real virtue.
As Trump played with the kids and thought about the value of the diplomacy event on that bright summer day at the White House, he thought about his own appreciation of ethics-loaded comic books and comic book adapted films such as Flash Gordon which presented images of valiant crusaders (defenders of democracy) and tyrants/terrorists (adversaries of peace). Trump thought about the popularity of comics-adapted media in the modern age and why Hollywood (USA) made so many darn comics-adapted films in the new millennium. Trump was very pensive about the upcoming World Cup and wanted to ensure the world that democracy would be safeguarded from the anarchy that created global terrorism.
Americans love stories about liberty and revolution --- it's in our blood(!). Images of Zapatistas, movies about the IRA such as The Devil's Own (Alan J. Pakula), and folk-tales about the American Revolution (e.g., Patrick Henry) reinforce the democratic notion that negotiations about liberty and intellectual freedom create positive feelings in Americans interested in political reform (and social improvements). That's why terrorism, which sometimes seems meaningless, is such a threat to serious peaceful deliberation. President Trump wanted to use the media to separate the facts from the hype, and he wanted to use that White House summer kids' water-gun fight to suggest the idea that active involvement in the lives of consumers promoted real political passion.
After the water-gun day came to an end, one of the visiting kids from China presented President Trump with a nice painting of a bicycle on the beach which a Chinese artist made for this special White House diplomacy event. Trump thanked the youngster for the cool painting and promised he'd keep it somewhere special in the White House. The youngster told Trump that the bicycle symbolized a new 'hope' regarding human liberty and imagination (and why bicycles were much safer than tanks and submarines!).
GOD: That was a successful diplomacy-event at the White House!
SATAN: I agree; the kids got the right message about toys/water-guns.
GOD: I liked the bicycle-painting the youngster from China presented to Trump.
SATAN: Yes, it was very...cheerful.
GOD: Do you think comics and games and toys these days encourage peace?
SATAN: We have to be wary of war-toys and images of violence in modern media.
GOD: Americans do love horror-films...
SATAN: Yes, but they also love cartoons and children's books!
GOD: Here's a story about the American comic book superhero Batman (DC Comics).
SATAN: What's it about?
GOD: Batman (the masked vigilante tackling criminal-insanity) is imprisoned...
SATAN: By whom?
GOD: His lover but adversary Talia al Ghul (an eco-terrorist).
SATAN: What does Batman learn during his imprisonment?
GOD: He discovers that Talia is both revolutionary and sensitive.
SATAN: Ah, so he must decide if Talia is an enemy or a friend...
GOD: Precisely; modern folklore should focus on the 'intrigue' of social contracts!
SATAN: Perhaps democracy itself is a 'negotiation.'
GOD: That may be the best way to characterize it; let's watch WarGames on Neflix!
SATAN: I think consumerism and commerce just might create...refinement.
====
