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News & ArtsWednesday, September 30, 2009
Politics Mythology Today
Posted by Charles Mudede on Wed, Sep 30, 2009 at 8:38 AM
The next image from the White House's official photostream
What is it we are supposed to see in this image of the "President Barack Obama and NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson... in the Diplomatic Reception Room of the White House"? We are supposed to see not what is there but what is not there—an absence. What is very present in this image is the absence of any difference between the popular president and the popular driver. They have the same expression, the same mood, the same mode. If a foreigner (fresh from the middle of nowhere, fresh from some desert place) were to by chance enter the reception room and look at the two men for the very first time, he/she would instantly see that the strangers before him/her were shaped by the same nation, the same culture, the same language, the same foods, the same gods. Here, the name Barack and the name Jimmie dissolve into one substance: the American. "Everything is turning out the same."
2
Nice try.
Jimmie Johnson started racing at age 5. Barack Obama has never raced anything. Johnson's sponsors include Lowe's and "Kobalt Tools." Barack Obama doesn't spell anything with a Krazy Low Klass "K." Unlike Locke, he's never tried to show off having tools or using tools either, he's a bit more cerebral. Johnson has invested his massive racecar winnings in a car dealership, and on his radio show he had an endless stream of jocks. Barack Obama wrote an erudite book and taught law.
Where is the meaning to be found in the endless stream of mumbo jumbo? It is to be found in Foucault's theory of the prison, or in Hegel's theory of thee watchamacallit, which if expressed incoherently can sound like it means something, but doesn't, entertaining the intellectuals in the know with the not so subtle irony of subtle vanity-comedy (Althusser's "vanitencomedericht")and fooling the rest, producing utils of Seattlefraude (inner mild bemusement at one's superiority to others, masqued by an outer fraudulent shell of purported modesty).
Jimmie Johnson started racing at age 5. Barack Obama has never raced anything. Johnson's sponsors include Lowe's and "Kobalt Tools." Barack Obama doesn't spell anything with a Krazy Low Klass "K." Unlike Locke, he's never tried to show off having tools or using tools either, he's a bit more cerebral. Johnson has invested his massive racecar winnings in a car dealership, and on his radio show he had an endless stream of jocks. Barack Obama wrote an erudite book and taught law.
Where is the meaning to be found in the endless stream of mumbo jumbo? It is to be found in Foucault's theory of the prison, or in Hegel's theory of thee watchamacallit, which if expressed incoherently can sound like it means something, but doesn't, entertaining the intellectuals in the know with the not so subtle irony of subtle vanity-comedy (Althusser's "vanitencomedericht")and fooling the rest, producing utils of Seattlefraude (inner mild bemusement at one's superiority to others, masqued by an outer fraudulent shell of purported modesty).
4
They actually don't have the same expression at all. Obama's got a real depth to his face, while the driver just looks like he wants to have something to eat. It seems as though someone just entered the room with a tray of pastries and that is why the men are so intently gazing.
6
Good Morning Charles,
Wow, you really like that site? No problem. Pres. Obama has yet to have a bad picture. He's quite handsome. However, it is indeed mythology not reality.
BTW, I don't think Obama needs to go Copenhagen to lobby for the Chicago Olympic bid. There are far more pressing matters.
Wow, you really like that site? No problem. Pres. Obama has yet to have a bad picture. He's quite handsome. However, it is indeed mythology not reality.
BTW, I don't think Obama needs to go Copenhagen to lobby for the Chicago Olympic bid. There are far more pressing matters.
7
Obama has a nicer, well tailored suit. But you're right, to an 'outsider' just walking into the room they would look the same. To an American who has been living in a vacuum they would look pretty much the same. Nice cultural analysis.
I think it is interesting how we notice the nuances within our own culture that someone else would be oblivious to. Gender specific clothing is a good example. There are clear differences in a woman’s pair of jeans or a woman’s t-shirt compared to those made for men. We notice these distinctions but to a space alien we pretty much all look the same.
I think it is interesting how we notice the nuances within our own culture that someone else would be oblivious to. Gender specific clothing is a good example. There are clear differences in a woman’s pair of jeans or a woman’s t-shirt compared to those made for men. We notice these distinctions but to a space alien we pretty much all look the same.
9
America... Fuck Yeah! With all the shit from the far right teabaggers to the far left PETA anarchists (yeah, I said it, fuck you), this picture is something for the MAJORITY of the country, those who actually want everyone to get along and accomplish something to make the country better for everyone. Both men strove to be the best at what they do, achieved it, and came together, color/race/beliefs/religion be damned. This post is Charles' best by far. And sometimes, I admit, I am a hater.
11
@8
So was I. Took me by surprise. The expressions both have on their face are pretty genuine too. You don't often see photos capturing a moment like this.
So was I. Took me by surprise. The expressions both have on their face are pretty genuine too. You don't often see photos capturing a moment like this.
12
Thanks Charles. This series really brings out the best in you. I would like to see the world through your eyes.
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