At last the question is asked. Brilliant high comedy. Via Henley.
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Does Obama Loom Like the God-King Xerxes?
02 Jul 2008 08:35 am
Comments (33)
If these righties emerge from their basements and from under their rocks to defend their comic book homeland from Islamofascisti and 'teh leff' wearing nothing but leather underpants and red capes, they may be able to have us all paralyzed with retching before we knew what had hit us.
It would be nice if these nutcases would at least identify with the Athenians rather than the Spartans. I guess something about anually declaring war on the labor force so that they can be killed with impunity appeals to them.
DTM and El Cid:
"May you live forever."
I'm glad the conservative movement has decided to add another movie to its canon to go along with "Birth of a Nation".
To quote something from actual Western Civilization, "Tired with all these, for restful Death I cry."
Homoeroticism meets violent nutcase politics.
Hellooooo, Nazis. New in town?
It would be nice if these nutcases would at least identify with the Athenians
The Battle of Salamis always seemed a little too effete, a little too wimpy, and required intelligence and planning to pull off. All of which is something these guys don't want to be associated with.
Though I guess they probably would have identified with the Athenians who voted to ostracize Themistocles, whose idea it was.
Hilarious.
That is a really hilarious post. Especially given the actual historical circumstances. The Spartans basically homo'd there way to near extinction (apparently it's not much fun to produce 'real' men) and their entire state was built around the existence of an enormous and perpetual slave class (so much for democracy). The Spartan body politic was driven by two competing, and nearly paralyzing, fears: a revolt by their slaves and having to leave the Peloponnese.
The Spartans were a fascinating military culture. But is nearly farcical how dysfunctional there society actually was.
I'm glad the conservative movement has decided to add another movie to its canon to go along with "Birth of a Nation".
You must not overlook "Red Dawn". I just wish I could find "The Poor Man" post where it was critiqued. That was one of the finest posts in blog history.
Hilarious. I heard Krauthammer was looking for a new research assistant. He should really check this guy out -- psychotic war mongering and pop culture references. It would spice up Charlie's editorials.
Ooooh, i love historical metaphors. So, the worlds most powerful empire invades a small much weaker nation and some of that smaller nation's men are ready to die rather than submit.
In this metaphor, what strange twists of logic makes one see the US as the Spartans and the insurgents as the Persians?
Anyway, my guess, Christopher Cook never owned a uniform except for 5th grade A/V squad.
So let me get this straight: a small, hardy band of warriors defends their homeland from invasion by the world's dominant superpower, a superpower fielding a much larger, richer, better equipped army, and puts up such a determined and unexpected resistance that the superpower eventually withdraws in defeat -- now, in this scenario, which one is America supposed to be????
Hankest and Stefan,
Um, we are the GOOD GUYS. And they (whomever we happen to be fighting) are the BAD GUYS. So that trumps your silly little factual points when deciding how to apply historical analogies.
Although less sarcastically, I agree with mpowell it has always been a little odd to see the Spartans as "good guys", and personally I never had much feeling one way or another about the Spartans versus the Persians per se (of course to the extent the Spartans did in fact by some time for the Athenians, then maybe they served a useful purpose).
XERSES NEVER CLAIMED TO BE A GOD OR GOD-KING!!!!!!
STOP SPREADING HELLENIC TALKING POINTS!!!!!!!!
DTM, another point is that the battle of Thermopylae was recounted by Herodotus for the specific purpose of drawing a parallel between Persia and contemporary Athens' rise as a hegemonic power.
People are too busy trying to identify with the heroes of the story that they forget that the villains are supposed to be a reflection of the audience, as well.
now, in this scenario, which one is America supposed to be????
Sorry, but you aren't thinking like a Republican. To them, the Caliphate could reassert itself any day now, effortlessly unifying everything from Casablanca to Islamabad as a single empire and having friendly relationships with much of southeast Asia and all of Europe. If you think of it like that, America certainly is an embattled vanguard on the verge of being swamped.
I wonder, though, how would a bystander to the Persian/Greek conflict feel about what was at stake? Certainly the Persians and the Greeks felt their civilization was at stake. Today we look back on the victory of the Greeks as a key victory of the "West" over the "East" -- and for liberty, justice and the "Western way" and all that jazz.
But what would have some bystander thought? You have two Indo-European powers fighting? What's the big deal?
It's funny because the Spartans are not free - they are a monarchy, and even their monarch is required to follow the rulings of a creepy religious class. And they practice eugenics through infantacide.
Hmmm...maybe the conservatives are right to draw these parallels
The Battle of Salamis always seemed a little too effete, a little too wimpy, and required intelligence and planning to pull off. All of which is something these guys don't want to be associated with.
They fought over salami? Not worth it to me, but I'd still never get between a rightie blogger and his sammich & cheetos.
In this metaphor, what strange twists of logic makes one see the US as the Spartans and the insurgents as the Persians?
Well ... the Persians are more religious and authoritarian and Sparta, or at least Greece, is more democratic. I liked the scene where Leonidas taunts Xerxes.
But yeah, the film is very homoerotic and it's funny to think of some of these in-denial, Larry Craig-type conservatives getting off on it. (see Kids in the Hall's Brain Candy) It's also a very violent and graphic film which would make our children violent if they were allowed to watch it, accoring to some censorious, protect-the-kids conservatives.
Sparta, or at least Greece, is more democratic.
Sparta? Democratic???
Tell it to the victims of the 30 Tyrants. Tell it to the Helots.
No Persian would say such a thing--they were taught to shoot straight and tell the truth.
Sparta? Democratic???
Tell it to the victims of the 30 Tyrants. Tell it to the Helots.
No Persian would say such a thing--they were taught to shoot straight and tell the truth.
Posted by rea
YOU TELL TONY BLAIR! YOU TELL TONY BLAIR!
"If you're on the left—with your warped and twisted way of seeing everything..."
If the world looks to right wingers like "300," there is more irony in this statement than I could ever express.
What I find particularly bizarre/disturbing about this post are the last few lines:
"And so I say to the left:
We are the tip of the spear. We will fight you. We will never yield.
This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this."
That final line is a quotation from the movie. But those words aren't spoken by a hero fighting for freedom. They come from one of the movie's villains. He says them to the heroine, before raping her.
This is the same heroine who this author glorifies, the one who asserts that freedom isn't free, who "bravely" donates her husband's life to war.
I can't quite wrap my mind around this: That this author could hold up the heroine as an example of what every woman should be... and then proudly, unironically repeat the violent promises that her attacker whispered in her ear as he pushed her against a wall.
What I find particularly bizarre/disturbing about this post are the last few lines:
"And so I say to the left:
We are the tip of the spear. We will fight you. We will never yield.
This will not be over quickly. You will not enjoy this."
That final line is a quotation from the movie. But those words aren't spoken by a hero fighting for freedom. They come from one of the movie's villains. He says them to the heroine, before raping her.
This is the same heroine who this author glorifies, the one who asserts that freedom isn't free, who "bravely" donates her husband's life to war.
I can't quite wrap my mind around this: That this author could hold up the heroine as an example of what every woman should be... and then proudly, unironically repeat the violent promises that her attacker whispered in her ear as he pushed her against a wall.
Thanks to Gauss Bonnet for the contextualization, because I wasn't able to make it more than about 10 minutes into the movie without bailing.
Tell it to the victims of the 30 Tyrants. Tell it to the Helots.
No Persian would say such a thing--they were taught to shoot straight and tell the truth.
At least in the movie. Even there it is shown as corrput. Is Greece not the "birthplace" of democracy?
THIS IS EXCELLENT NEWS! FOR EPHIALTES OF TRACHIS!!!
Actually, I'm surprised it took them this long to make this analogy so explicitly. The wingnut interpretation of 300 seemed obvious to me when I saw the movie, and I think the movie was made to relate to a twisted wingnutty version of the present intentionally by the producers. Note that the whole subplot involving Leonidas' wife and the traitorious, raping surrendercrats in the senate does not appear in the graphic novel upon which the film is based.
Anyway, if I read the last line of that blog entry correctly, it appears that conservatives are going to rape us with the tips of their spears. And we will not enjoy it. Eeeew. But I guess it beats 'kneeling' before that swarthy, effeminate god-king, barack HUSSEIN obama.
Actually, I'm surprised it took them this long to make this analogy so explicitly. The wingnut interpretation of 300 seemed obvious to me when I saw the movie, and I think the movie was made to relate to a twisted wingnutty version of the present intentionally by the producers. Note that the whole subplot involving the queen and the traitorious, raping surrendercrats in the senate does not appear in the graphic novel upon which the film is based.
Anyway, if I read the last line of that blog entry correctly, it appears that conservatives are going to rape us with the tips of their spears. FOR FREEDOM. And we will not enjoy it. Eeeew. But I guess it beats 'kneeling' before that swarthy, effeminate god-king, barack HUSSEIN obama.
Apologies for the double-post. Might I note that whatever server is managing this comments section absolutely sucks?
Fumphis wins the thread - but he had competition.
As for Obama "looming", I'd say he's more along the lines of "lurking with intent to loom".
Lackluster: "Might I note that whatever server is managing this comments section absolutely sucks?"
No shit.
Whenever you get a server error, cut and paste it into an email to Matt. If he gets enough of them, maybe he'll get off his ass and complain to the Atlantic management.
Comments closed July 16, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
Funny how these warmongers never seem to end up risking their own lives (or even the lives of their own children) in the modern equivalents of Thermopylae.
Posted by DTM | July 2, 2008 9:01 AM