nine years on, America astounds once more

They said that America would rebound from 9/11 and astound us all once more. And they were right. 

And the media worked very hard to push the case that Jones was part of a debate. Now, Quran burning was an election-year issue, for which every candidate had to answer. And they even went so far as to ask Jones repeatedly, "What if President Obama told you not to do this? What if former President George W. Bush told you not to do this?" They were literally brokering negotiations between an idiot cult leader and some of the most powerful and important people in the world! 

I know that talk of decadence is usually just so much reactionary harrumphing but if America had gone the Caligulan route and appointed a horse as first magistrate and then staged a dialogue between the horse and Pastor Jones on fucking Twitter, it would have seemed entirely appropriate to the situation.

As things stand, a substantial collection of what are supposed to be the most powerful people in the world, from President Smartest Guy in the Room, through the country’s most senior soldier, the secretary of Defence and the head of the State Department have felt the need to cajole and plead with an individual with all the credibility of the protein man who used to parade up and down Oxford Street denouncing peanuts. And he’s been parading all over international television dealing with them as equals. It would have been much, much better if they’d just told the cretin to go ahead and burn the damn book if he wanted to make a fool of himself or better still not said anything at all. 

I suppose it could be argued for various reasons that they had no choice, but if anything that’s even worse news from the American perspective. They've reached the demagogue event horizon: the most obvious vulgar chancer thrown up by the whole War on Terror nonsense is taken with absolute seriousness by people who everybody else is supposed to take seriously. 

And that’s the sitrep on blowback day plus nine years

Comments

[Cian]

Well yes, but it could just be seen as a reversion to the norm. Mencken wouldn't have been surprised.

[Alex]

Hey, check out the rally pics. Silly as the EDL guy with the L on the wrong way is, you'll note that he looks positively sane, reasonable, and in general good health compared to the other demonstrators.

The Shanghai National Museum of American Decline will want the complete TPM archive.

[jamie]

Mencken would have loved it but I think the difference between then and now is the fact that his targets were by and large pretty major or at least significant demagogues: Bryan, Dr Townsend, Gerald Smith etc, whereas this is a guy in a shack.

I'd give a lot to have seen the diplomatict traffic about this over the past week, especially from Washington to Asia.

[Cian]

He must have done. Certainly there were plenty of nutjobs like this guy. The odd period in American history is between WWII and the 80s. What we're seeing now is pretty typical. Even the financial crisis and the affects is pretty familiar if you know your American history. The Republicans really are conservatives, its just what they wish to conserve is insanity, backwardness and stupidity.

The obesity is pretty new though.

[johnf]

Malcolm Muggeridge - cringe - did a book on the 20's called The Aspirin Age in which he described a Mid Western town which was suddenly swept by a rumour that the Pope was coming into town on the 3.20 train. A lynch mob descended on the station, but the only guy on the train was a vacuum cleaner salesman who was eventually able to persuade the mob that he wasn't the Pope.

Perhaps its got to do with the fact that America - being a continent-sized country, is inherently unstable due to its incredible size. It uses this fear-mongering and lunacy to keep itself in one piece. Other continent-sized countries like Russia or china tend to be autocracies.

[chris y]

johnf, you may have something there. India, the other continent sized non-autocracy, seems to have similar outbursts of religion based public lunacy.

[Alex]

Isn't this also a case of Ajay's argument that mayhem is easy, it's order that's difficult?

Frankly, I can imagine that Pope story happening tomorrow. All it would take would be some comments on the right blogs. Pamela Geller would freak right out. "Pope of Islam coming to your suburb TONITE???"

[Phil]

Something that crossed my mind yesterday was that, if the country is Britain, "the first/biggest/smallest/best X in the country" is always accessible without too much trouble: if I suddenly decided I absolutely had to see King's College Chapel or Ben Nevis or St David's Cathedral, I could be there and back in a day. You could spend your life on the {East|West} Coast of the USA without ever seeing the various superlatives on the {West|East} Coast - and you could spend your life in the Mid-West without ever seeing either. That must do something to your mind.

[ejh]

Maybe, but I'm reminded of something a friend said to me after he worked at the Expo a couple of years ago in Zaragoza. The locals came in their thousands - and they all piled straight into the pavilion exhibiting Aragon.

[Cian]

I was talking to one of my mother in law's in-house carers, and she'd come from somewhere small in the south. Until she'd gone to college she'd never gone much more than 50 miles from where she had been born (very similar), and the college she went to was mostly comprised of people from similar backgrounds. I'd guess (from similar conversations over the years) that she's very typical of much of the South and Mid-West. Even in remote parts of Scotland its hard to be that provincial here.

Two other things to remember. There's way more variation in the quality of education in the US than there is here. There are school's in my wife's state that are (no exaggeration) at a third world level. There are other schools in (wealthy white areas) that are very good indeed. So if you grew up poor, the likelihood is that you're going to have had a fairly limited education.

Secondly, the centre of people's social lives tends to be the church. They provide sports facilities, day-care, kid's soccer/baseball leagues, social events, its where people often meet their spouses to be. So it gives pastor's a social power/prestige and importance far bigger than anything you see in the UK (or Ireland for that matter, where priests used to matter a lot more).

[johnf]

In some poor areas in the States now, children are having to take it not only their own pens, writing paper, food etc, but even their own toilet paper.

[johnf]

They used to Burn Catholic Churches, now they Burn Mosques

http://tinyurl.com/2gy9gt5

Schama: Islamophobia Recalls anti-Catholic, Anti-Jewish Nativism of America’s Past

http://tinyurl.com/27gdu73

[johnf]

Skateboarder Foils Would-Be Koran Burner In Texas

http://tinyurl.com/37zyele

[Alex]

I note that it turned out in a recent CT thread that something like a third of all US headteachers are PE teachers. Suddenly everything became clear.

[ejh]

The real Nazis run your schools
They're coaches, businessmen and cops
In a real Fourth Reich you'd be the first to go

My God, I didn't even have to look that up...

[Richard J]

Dead Kennedys or Napalm Death version?

[Phil]

I'm sure there are plenty of thoughtful and imaginative PE teachers, somewhere.

[ejh]

I had one who was named Vaughan Williams, after Vaughan Williams. He was good. Also taught maths, mind.

[Richard J]

One of mine was, no joke, a Richard Head.

[Phil]

Have a good sense of humour, did he?

[Tom]

"The obesity is pretty new though."

There's a case for saying all the Republican/moron class took away from the Golden Age between 1950 and 1980 was, indeed, obesity.