September 1, 2011

Don't cry for me Qaddafi/Obama...

Look at what Drudge has going on right now.

First you've got the 2 leaders — Qaddafi and Obama — both frowning.



Qaddafi says "No surrender!" And Obama says — Drudge is paraphrasing — "OK, let's do it before the game." That is, he's surrendering to pressure and doing his speech before the Packers/Saints game.

Next, we get a symphony of hands: the painting behind Berlusconi (who's got a good rhyme for Italy — in English, anyway), Madonna (whose movie about the wife of a former king of England is apparently shitty), Hillary (who's happy in Paris), Margaret Thatcher (presumably in England), Venus Williams (like Thatcher, she's ill), and Cher (gripping the shoulder of her soon-to-be-dancing, former-daughter Chaz):



Now let's interpret this symphony. One clue is the link under Madonna, after the reference to "Death in Venice": "BOOK SHOCK: Evita 'kept Nazi treasure taken from Jews'...." Of course, Madonna played Evita in the movie "Evita," and if there's one thing we think about when we think about the musical "Evita," it's the hands in the air gesture that goes with the song "Don't Cry for Me Argentina."

Evita, of course, was the wife of President, and, of course, so was Hillary. Now, clearly, Drudge is picturing Hillary that way for a reason.

The hands make a graceful composition, guiding our eyes from left to right. The woman in the painting appears to hold a glowing globe in her hand. Madonna, her hand in a similar upcurved position, blows the kiss that symbolically had been place on her fingertips, and Hillary opens her arms to receive, receive, receive.

A step down, we see the elderly, elegant Thatcher reaching out, palm toward us, grasping nothing, and perhaps there is nothing left in her head as she drifts into oblivion. She is dappled with jewelry: earrings, necklace, brooch. The missing item of jewelry is a ring, and we shift our eyes slightly to right and see a ring. It's on the hand of Venus Williams, whose fingers are curved inward, grasping not a glowing globe, but a neon-colored ball. Venus is sick! She has Sjögren's syndrome. Take one more step and it's Cher, her fingers delicately curved over the shoulder of the offspring she's fiercely defending with Tweets.

36 comments:

Carol_Herman said...

No rolling eyeballs!

Obama's still the schlemiel.

And, Kadaffi (if he reads about Libya), can find out that Hillary is there ... telling the rebels that they better listen to America.

What? The rebels wouldn't be better off "listening" to the leaders of the 19 Tribes?

I don't think Libya's gonna get "disney-fied." It's not in the cards.

Carol_Herman said...

Evita Peron died before she turned 33. She was so sick from cancer ... they made a frame to hold her up ... when she "toured" and "waved."

And, Madonna's movie got trashed.

Levi Starks said...

The only hand I noticed was that of Chas. It seemes so small compared to that of his mom Cher

Geoff Matthews said...

I remember when Chastity Bono was attractive.
Sure, being attractive isn't everything, but I am very skeptical that she's happier as a lesbian in a 'male' body.

Carol_Herman said...

In the picture with Cher and her son, Sonny couldn't be there ... because he exited by hitting a tree.

Hillary, in Paris, was there to talk about Libya.

And, it seems Kadaffi is being given an extra week ... so he can give up.

Drudge's page is symphonic? REALLY?

Anonymous said...

I am just amazed that people here do not realize a set-up. Have you seen the movie, The Sting?

This is it.

The POTUS Obama is setting up the GOP. The Jobs speech was a set-up. Obama is going to unveil a plan that will remove socks of everyone, including the press.

Then for weeks, all we will hear is how the Obama plan is saving, has saved, will strengthen our nation.

This will be repeated on NPR, NYT, etc.

The K-street crowd is now telling me (this evening) that Obama WH is totally zeroed in on all of the GOP members, but especially Boehner, Perry, and Romney. They are confident that they can take entire GOP, House and win back everything.

What do I think? GOP: You are finished.

xnar said...

Sometimes...
a cigar is just a cigar.

ricpic said...

What I see is that the women are all gesturing, big with the hands, and the men are all clenched up. Meaning? I haven't the foggiest.

By the way I very much doubt that Berlusconi will make good on his threat to leave s**tty Italy and become a sad old powerless old man without the only country that will ever be a home to him.

jamboree said...

Andrew Sullivan has this up for his poseur alert.




(Made you look.)

David said...

Nice riff. Althouse's inner artist meets her analytical self.

Drudge is gay, right?

Maybe he is why Obama's views on gay marriage have not fully evolved.

Chuck66 said...

Drudge knows how to manipulate his website for best effect.

Back when Cindy Sheehan was a tool of the left, she got herself arrested outside the Bush white house. Drudge ran a picture of her being carried away, legs first, with this headline below the photo:

A cunning stunt.

A. Shmendrik said...

I still say that every time I see Qaddafi, I see Richard Boone.

Will Cate said...

Brilliant analysis, Ms. Althouse.

Irene said...

"Compoodley complicato," as Baci would say.

yashu said...

Heh. Drudge's juxtaposition of Obama & Qaddafi reminds me of Woody Allen's documentarian character in Crimes & Misdemeanors, intercutting scenes of Alan Alda's character with scenes of Mussolini & Mr. Ed.

Of course, the inferences to be drawn from Drudge's juxtapositions are much more indirect & subtle; they're always deniable. Drudge must have a lot of fun putting them together.

edutcher said...

Lady T is the only one who actually seems happy and is reaching out to the audience.

Hillary looks as if the Pope absolved her of her sins.

Little Zero OTOH is starting to actually look like Carter.

And Muammar better hope he doesn't look any more like Paladin.

PS Tough to be sympathetic to Mrs Simpson. This is a woman who crawled between the sheets with (among many others) Joachim Ribbentrop to help ensure her husband would be made king if Hitler ever took the British Isles.

Paul said...

So what's your problem Ann?

Drudge is just showing us how much of the world is a farce.

viator said...

"Madonna's W.E. is a bold and confident story about an American woman's obsession with the Windsors."

UK Telegraph

"Madonna makes us all fall in love with Mrs Simpson"

UK Mail

paminwi said...

From an inside source (or maybe you already know this) Madonna will be on tour next year. She actually put her tour on hold until 2012 since the man who does all her choreography had a commitment to the Michael Jackson tour/retrospective that is in the planning stage.

This man is from little, old Verona, Wisconsin.

chickelit said...

Seeing Madonna fail brings me Schadenfreude!

Jose_K said...

So, you were rereading Vance Packard

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Excellent read.

Carol_Herman said...

Why does Madonna look pregnant? I thought she worked on her body like nobody's business?

Carol_Herman said...

You know, everybody's working so hard trying to figure out what Obama could possibly say about getting jobs going.

Well. He could start by saying he knows of a job opening in Libya, if anyone's interested?

Carol_Herman said...

Burlusconi was recorded saying stuff in English? Really.

I think we're getting reports of "recorded conversations" ... that only translate OUT into stuff that sounds like English.

I think Burlusconi was order a pizza. With black olives. But he said it all in Italian.

Anyway, it wouldn't count if he didn't say "dreck" ... Or "pisano ... don't give me dreck-y."

Leep said...

Drudge you magnificent bastard!

Roux said...

I think Obama should do his speech during the game. The site of congress critters watching the game on their smart device would be worth the laugh. Obama keeps setting himself up for the laugh line. It's just getting too easy to make fun of this guy. So easy that it's not funny anymore.

Robert Burnham said...

Alan Rickman should play the Daffy Colonel in the movie.

gerry said...

People on the left coast are lucky to miss the coming speech fail so completely.

Of course, California is totally boned, anyway. It may not worth listening to anything there, anyway.

Obama's ridicule of the office of the presidency has become an amusing rationale justifying ridicule of the shrinking man Obama. Will he go too far?

gerry said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
gerry said...

The mere threat of Obamalamadingdong touching jobs with a speech has worked that old Obamalamadingdong magic, folks: ZERO gain in jobs for for August (they were expecting +70,000).

Plus this bonus: June and July jobs revised downward, 56% lower and 27% lower, respectively.

Bring on the jobs speech!

Peano said...

Listen to your doctors. Take the Lithium.

Steve Austin said...

Doesn't it seem like Obama is essentially a teen idol?

Like a MacCauley Culkin or David Cassidy?

Basically a celebrity that large portions of the public swooned over but then realized there is nothing there so they've moved on?

His trying to do this big jobs speech reminds me of Leif Garrett trying to mount a comeback but finding that he can only play to empty nightclub audiences.

Anonymous said...

Bali welcomes The National Touring Company of The Wiz

and Barack Obama.

raf said...

Composing Drudge's web page may or may not be an art form, but interpreting it obviously is.

SunnyJ said...

You missed the line on Drudge noting August was his highest hit month ever...like in the billions...just ridiculous! But to your point:

Not sure @Althouse's interpretation is the only one, but it was a very good, clever and interesting view. All of which is true when you view Matt Drudge's page. So, touche'.

I do take one exception to @Althouse comment and it was your line regarding Thatcher's head content due to her medical diagnosis.

Like running up the score on an opposing team (see thread), that seemed like excessive scoring, dirty play with an attempt to hurt and opponent not able to fight back and win.