U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Chevron-Oil-Tanker Riceas she appeared Sunday in a joint news conference at the
Quai d'Orsay with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.
In a rare Dada moment rivaling the finest of any from that advant-garde art movement of the early 20th Century, U.S. secretary of state Condoleezza Chevron-Oil-Tanker Rice took the opportunity in Paris yesterday to redefine for the Oxford English Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, etc., the meaning of the word "democracy."
Stealing a page straight from the Dadaists, The Oil Tanker Rice cited the situation in numerous places such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine, and noted why the need to update democracy's definition to "include a non-sense chief aesthetic value governments in the region need to strive for" in order that real peace be realized.
"Democracy is hard, and I see it as especially hard when there are determined enemies who try and strangle it. (Ignoring the U.S. role as being one of its main enemies.) "Yeah, it's really hard. It's hard for democracy to take hold in a place where it has not taken hold before," as she nervously reassured those present, "There is nothing wrong with the people of the Middle East."
She then explained how democracy will be achieved by revealing its newly redefined 21st Century definition:
de·moc·ra·cy (dĭ-mŏk'rə-sē), n., pl. -cies.
Government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives approved by the American government.
As she stepped away from the piédestal, curious members of the media begged her to expound but the Chevron-Oil -Tanker sailed arrogantly away with the audaciousness of Marcel Duchamp, turning only to say before disappearing behind a scène rideau, "Stick it in your Funk and Wagnalls!"
10 comments:
gosh darnit- I deserve some kind of warning if the Condasleeza is going to be on the menu....esp on a steamy hot sunday morning...now I will have to sit and chug mylanta before lunch....
just kidding...
Can you believe her name was on a Tanker ???? How appropriate and nauseating...
great post...it's just hard to curse and laugh while chugging mylanta....
Our town, Eugene Oregon hosted the *Eyes Wide Open* exhibit, this last weekend. It is a display that spotlights the cost of war (lives). A few years ago, the national display was here & held in a building @ the fairgrounds. Back then there were about 2000 pair of represtentative empty military boots, representing the US dead soldiers. Around the periphery of the boots, were a thousand pairs of civilian shoes, representing a fraction of the Iraqi lives lost. Such a display is so gripping... You really get the feeling of lives stopped short in their tracks. There were 4 huge racks of small cloth pieces, each cloth with the name of a deceased soldier & their age. the burgandy, gold & green flags danced in the wind. The one that REALLY got to me, was the representative pair of infant socks. At the end of the exhibit, the closing ceremony, each name was read as each pair of boots was packed for shipping. Because the display had become so large, they have split it into per state sections... Oregon had 82 dead soldiers.
After the soldiers names were read, I began to read a list of Iraqi names from the Iraq body count website. Surely the Iraqi people have suffered the greater loss, and it's because this country started it. The reading of those names gave this ceremony balance. I read about 15 names... 5 year old, 12 year old, & wife of the same family. Cleric, teacher, and the last one I could stand to read was the name of an infant. What a loss. The next reader of names would add "another needless death" or "killed in this needless war". Need less indeed. Earlier we had a silent meditation group there, afterwards one gentleman spoke about there having been wars for all of history. But that THIS war is under our OUR watch. How it is OUR responsibility to do what we can to make this stop.
I envisioned that in Iraq, there are flowers blooming. Even amongst this atrocity, there is still the life force that continues amidst the bombing and the bloodshed. War is the enemy of humanity- and the life force, if we look for it, continues, and prevails. We need our humanity restored.
*** If you have the chance to host the Eyes Wide Open exhibit in your State, it is an excellent opportunity. Ours was open air, in the middle of downtown. It caught people by surprise, and is an excellent awareness tool. ***
Dada: There must be a theme with ShrubCo and Rice-a-Roni as they constantly try to tell us how "hard" their jobs are. If they're that hard, give em up to someone who can do the job -- and do it well.
Obliviously on she sails the ship of state. Could Condi have actually watched Laugh-In (for the Funk and Wagnalls line)? Mais Oui!
Got Democracy, I choked up over your recounting the "Eyes Wide Open" exhibit. This is all beyond sad, it is criminally inhumanely unacceptable. ~~ D.K.
To Get Democracy:
I wish I had your email or blog- I wanted to learn more and I too cried when i read what you wrote...
it was so beautiful and sad...and NEEDED and yes, I would love to find a way to bring this to Ohio....or atleast blog on it to spread your experience....
your picture cracks me up!!! haa haa haa - thanks!!
got democracy? Thanks for sharing the Eugene version of "Eyes Wide Open". Downtown Eugene is a great venue for such an event.
Hi folks: Google Eyes Wide Open, or the web site is: http://www.afsc.org/eyes/
The exhibit will be in Ohio in July. It is mostly run by volunteers, so check it out & see about arranging for it to be in your area.
~ Fran
Whoah! Just noticed that Eyes Wide Open website is dated 2004 !!! Look throught he pther google selections or the Amercian Friends Service committe, as they are the parent group doing Eyes Wide Open.
thank you fran.....or got democracy.....live in ohio...will try to check it out.....really appreciate the heads up- also can post on blog over Watergate Summer.....tx..
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