Re: "The American People"

Conrad,

I've been waiting for HUAC to revive. In the mean time, I'm well  
practiced with my opening line: "I am not now, nor have I ever been, a  
member of the Republican or Democratic parties."

Sorry about the unavailable-in-your-country link. Since Viacom is the  
last media outlet in the known universe that is not owned by Rupert  
Murdoch, they probably figure that some old fashioned nationalism is  
in order. The video was a series of clips of different politicians  
declaring what "The American People" want. After exploring the  
contradictory wants, Stewart speculated how dumb we (the American  
people) must be, followed by clips of politicians declaring how smart  
the American people are and how the American people "get it."

Maybe you can get The Daily Show on one of the websites that feature  
gun camera footage and David Hasselhoff talking to his daughter.

Gunnar
----------
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Greenville NC 27858
USA

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On May 30, 2010, at 6:07 AM, Conrad Taylor wrote:

> Thanks for the pointer to Jon Stewart, Gunnar, but in a beautifully
> ironic twist I got the error message: "Sorry, Videos are not
> currently available in your country".
>
> Thanks for also remending me of the adjectival phrase "un-American".
> From 1938 to 1975 you had the House Un-American Activities
> Committee, which I guess did a great job of cracking down on
> outbreaks of Morris Dancing, Mongolian throat-singing and cricket.
>
> Conrad
>
>
> On 30 May 2010, at 10:47, Gunnar Swanson wrote:
>
>> Conrad,
>>
>> Jon Stewart can explain it better than I can:
>> http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-may-5-2010/american-apparently
>>
>> The phrase is interesting rhetorically because it can be used
>> grammatically in the plural (to avoid fascist overtones) while
>> functionally in the singular (to imply unity.)
>>
>> "High vigilance" is a difficult phrase to make sense of so we don't
>> want to confuse foreigners with it. As The Daily Show points out, The
>> American People "get it" (and, by implication, you un-American people
>> don't.)
>>
>> Gunnar
>> ----------
>> Gunnar Swanson Design Office
>> 1901 East 6th Street
>> Greenville NC 27858
>> USA
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