Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Maureen Dowd raves and prophesises doom
The ever dependable Maureen Dowd, reprinted in today's "Sydney Morning Herald" thinks that "Troy" offers some important parallels and lessons for the Bush Administration (Dowd of course is not the first one):
But wait, the parallels continue:
Dowd ends her convoluted lesson by comparing Colin Powell to Cassandra. Methinks it's Dowd who fancies herself as the ignored prophetess who's in the end proved correct by the events. Alas, when Troy fell to Greeks, Cassandra was enslaves and taken by Agamemnon himself as a trophy. She ended up getting her head chopped off by Agamemnon's wife.
Now, let's thank God that Laura Bush is not a violent person.
|
"Oblivious of the consequences, the impetuous black sheep of a ruling family starts a war triggered by a personal grudge. The father, a respected veteran of his own wars, suppresses his unease and graciously supports his son, even though it will end up destroying his legacy and the world order he envisioned.Ah, so the Trojans are really the Americans, with King Priam as Bush Sr and Paris as Bush Jr. This might come as a surprise to the Yanks who so far haven't noticed 1000 Arab ships landing on their shores bearing invasion force.
"The ferocious battle in the far-off sands spirals out of control, with many brave soldiers killed, with symbols of divinity damaged, with graphic scenes showing physical abuse of the conquered, and with devastatingly surreptitious guerilla tactics."
But wait, the parallels continue:
"The Greek warriors question their sovereign's reasons for war, knowing that he has taken an incendiary pretext (Paris's stealing Helen from Sparta) to provide emotional acceleration to his real reasons - to settle old scores and forge an empire through war."So now it's the Greeks who are the Americans. Well then, "Troy" is truly full of lessons for the Bush Administration: all along we've been really fighting with ourselves. Or something... Whatever. That's the beautiful thing about Dowd's history: one event can provide many different lessons - all contradictory and all together meaningless.
Dowd ends her convoluted lesson by comparing Colin Powell to Cassandra. Methinks it's Dowd who fancies herself as the ignored prophetess who's in the end proved correct by the events. Alas, when Troy fell to Greeks, Cassandra was enslaves and taken by Agamemnon himself as a trophy. She ended up getting her head chopped off by Agamemnon's wife.
Now, let's thank God that Laura Bush is not a violent person.
|
