Would NeoCons be at home on Serenity?
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Monday, November 10, 2008 23:38
VIEWED: 5479
PAGE 8 of 9
Whacky fun. A real person on a real ship speaks of life onboard with neocons:
Ship of fools: Johann Hari sets sail with America's swashbuckling neocons
The Iraq war has been an amazing success, global warming is just a myth – and as for Guantanamo Bay, it's practically a holiday camp... The annual cruise organised by the 'National Review', mouthpiece of right-wing America, is a parallel universe populated by straight-talking, gun-toting, God-fearing Republicans.
By Johann Hari
Friday, 13 July 2007
I am standing waist-deep in the Pacific Ocean, both chilling and burning, indulging in the polite chit-chat beloved by vacationing Americans. A sweet elderly lady from Los Angeles is sitting on the rocks nearby, telling me dreamily about her son. "Is he your only child?" I ask. "Yes," she says. "Do you have a child back in England?" she asks. No, I say. Her face darkens. "You'd better start," she says. "The Muslims are breeding. Soon, they'll have the whole of Europe."
I am getting used to these moments – when gentle holiday geniality bleeds into... what? I lie on the beach with Hillary-Ann, a chatty, scatty 35-year-old Californian designer. As she explains the perils of Republican dating, my mind drifts, watching the gentle tide. When I hear her say, " Of course, we need to execute some of these people," I wake up. Who do we need to execute? She runs her fingers through the sand lazily. "A few of these prominent liberals who are trying to demoralise the country," she says. "Just take a couple of these anti-war people off to the gas chamber for treason to show, if you try to bring down America at a time of war, that's what you'll get." She squints at the sun and smiles. " Then things'll change."
I am travelling on a bright white cruise ship with two restaurants, five bars, a casino – and 500 readers of the National Review. Here, the Iraq war has been "an amazing success". Global warming is not happening. The solitary black person claims, "If the Ku Klux Klan supports equal rights, then God bless them." And I have nowhere to run.
From time to time, National Review – the bible of American conservatism – organises a cruise for its readers. I paid $1,200 to join them. The rules I imposed on myself were simple: If any of the conservative cruisers asked who I was, I answered honestly, telling them I was a journalist. Mostly, I just tried to blend in – and find out what American conservatives say when they think the rest of us aren't listening.
I. From sweet to suicide bomber
I arrive at the dockside in San Diego on Saturday afternoon and stare up at the Oosterdam, our home for the next seven days. Filipino boat hands are loading trunks into the hull and wealthy white folk are gliding onto its polished boards with pale sun parasols dangling off their arms.
The Reviewers have been told to gather for a cocktail reception on the Lido, near the very top of the ship. I arrive to find a tableau from Gone With the Wind, washed in a thousand shades of grey. Southern belles – aged and pinched – are flirting with old conservative warriors. The etiquette here is different from anything I have ever seen. It takes me 15 minutes to realise what is wrong with this scene. There are no big hugs, no warm kisses. This is a place of starchy handshakes. Men approach each other with stiffened spines, puffed-out chests and crunching handshakes. Women are greeted with a single kiss on the cheek. Anything more would be French.
I adjust and stiffly greet the first man I see. He is a judge, with the craggy self-important charm that slowly consumes any judge. He is from Canada, he declares (a little more apologetically), and is the founding president of "Canadians Against Suicide Bombing". Would there be many members of "Canadians for Suicide Bombing?" I ask. Dismayed, he suggests that yes, there would.
A bell rings somewhere, and we are all beckoned to dinner. We have been assigned random seats, which will change each night. We will, the publicity pack promises, each dine with at least one National Review speaker during o
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That was somewhat unsettling.
Chrisisall
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Ok, Rue.
We get it.
Bitter, angry, ect ect.
Obama won.
Let it go.
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Chris,IsAll
It was from 2007 but it was so unusual I kept it. Anyway, I thought it would be an interesting angle on the thread.
***************************************************************
Silence is consent.
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Quote:Definitely!
Originally posted by rue:
It was from 2007 but it was so unusual I kept it. Anyway, I thought it would be an interesting angle on the thread.
And I remember reading it back then...
Chrisisall
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Quote:Shut up, Wulf!!
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
Ok, Rue.
We get it.
Bitter, angry, ect ect.
Obama won.
Let it go.
Chrisisall
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Again, the winner/loser mentality. Why can't we have equal say (except for your beloved Islamic Fascists, who are not a world power)?
Anyway, do you not watch the show? The US & China will come out on top.Chrisisall
Did Stalin allow for 'equal say' ? DId Mao ' ponder the voice of the people ? " . The mere fact that you even suggested an " equal say " nonsense w/ those 2 nations is a devastating display of your ignorance.
It is not those who use the term "Islamo-Fascism" who are sullying the name of Islam; it is the Islamo-Fascists. - Dennis Prager
" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "
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"Shut up, Wulf!!"
HA!
NEVER!!!
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Quote:Yes. You're right of course. Stalin & Mao must be kept from working their mojo on todays' world stage....
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Did Stalin allow for 'equal say' ? DId Mao ' ponder the voice of the people ?
Chrisisall
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Quote:
Originally posted by asarian:
Would Mal see a Conservative as some some sort of Independent? Most certainly not! Inside of ten minutes Mal would understand that the kind of freedom a Conservative talks about...to accumulate as much wealth as he can, having to share it with as few people as possible.
Did you even watch the show? They were always after the big score.
And one could argue that "the crew" is his "share it with as few people as possible" mentality at work.
Every character on that ship was a conservative. It was the "better world" liberal Alliance types that were the problem. There's a reason why liberals are concentrated on Universities, in cities and in the American northeast and conservatives are out in what was the frontier of the American west.
"Would NeoCons be at home on Serenity?" That's a good question...can I sleep in Kaylee's bed? If so, move over Doc and count me in. Hmm...come to think of it Zoe's single now...
H
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