NPR interview pisses me off

Email Print posted by Spinny 01/30/2008 08:07:11 AM EST

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The topic was the return of "Captain America" to comics, with a new body in the old suit, but that's not what galled me.

I couldn't care less about comics, nor about this character.  Still, the radio was on, and I listened.  They talked briefly with a writer for the comic, who was trying to make a case for his being non-partisan while under pressure from various sources to take some sort of stand.

I'm paraphrasing, so bear with me.  He said that on one hand, liberals want him to portray Captain America standing on a soap box outside the White House, yelling bad things about Bush.  On the other, right-wingers (his term) want him to be in Afghanistan punching Osama bin Laden in the face like he punched out Hitler on the cover of the first issue.

Does anyone else object to such blatant stereotyping?  I mean, he could have been reading from a neocon talking points list, for all of me.  The limp-wristed liberals just want to yell impotent insults, while the conservatives are all about ACTION!

What about the liberals who want bin Laden brought to justice just as badly as anyone?  Who believed going after him in Afghanistan was the right thing to do and who are appalled that he then abandoned his mandate and went adventuring in Iraq?  Who aren't interested in yelling at Bush, rather in seeing him in chains and being prosecuted for his many crimes?  This country is full of liberals who want to KICK ASS, damnit!

What about us?

Man, I'm steamed.

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NPR interview pisses me off | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 hidden)
I could see several people in the MSM (none / 0)
using that same frame actually.  Especially Chris Matthews.

by ihavenobias on 01/30/2008 09:09:58 AM EST

Politics of superheroes (none / 0)
Cap, according to the experts, is a "Truman Democrat."

by jarett on 01/30/2008 09:58:06 AM EST

LOL (none / 0)
That is great stuff.

by z1p101 on 01/30/2008 11:51:40 AM EST

[ Parent ]
That was fun. Thanks! (none / 0)
Unlike Spinny, I actually do care about comic characters. I had the Avengers issue (#4) which featured Cap's revival. I was mightily saddened to hear of his passing.

And I gotta disagree a little bit with David Campbell. Steve Rogers was a Roosevelt Democrat. He was given his Super Soldier serum at the beginning of WW2 and frozen prior to FDR's death.

How could he be a Truman Dem? He slept through the Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy administrations! I mean, really!

...no sense of history, whatsoever, this younger generation....

by MedfordTim on 01/30/2008 12:02:23 PM EST

[ Parent ]
You know... (none / 0)
In the post 9/11 run of Cap he was surprisingly unpatriotic.  He actually questioned some of our foreign policy decisions and stuff.  But then again, it just so happened that the writer at the time was a danged foreigner.

Also, when he was killed, the whole Marvel universe was coming off&nb sp;of a "Civil War" that entailed superheroes fighting for their rights to keep their secret identities hidden (i.e. Patriot Act).  The subtext was blatantly obvious, so in reality, the whole thing was political even if Cap's individual book wasn't so much at the time.

Anyways,  I'm a geek with entirely too much time on my hands.

by Spencer on 01/30/2008 04:20:10 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Now add "old"... (none / 0)
...and ya got ME!

by MedfordTim on 01/30/2008 05:41:24 PM EST

[ Parent ]
Osama is in Cabo enjoying an early spring break (none / 0)
Osama Bin Ladin? I haven't heard that name in ages. Bush doesn't talk about him much anymore. He should be in iraq protecting the oil fields from the armies of islamofacist terrorists. According to Rush Limbaugh, the Dems are in league with Bin Ladin and want terrorists to win.

by Chinese Democracy on 01/30/2008 10:55:02 AM EST

NPR interview pisses me off | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 hidden)
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