November 05, 2009
Benen: V for... Bachmann, or Something
It seems the stress of the health care debate is getting to the delicate Steve Benen of The Washington Monthly today, as he hysterically tries to explain to us that those protesters descending upon Capitol Hill today to do rhetorical battle against the Democratic Party's government-rationed health care bill may as well be terrorists targeting Congress with bombs.
And when has Bachmann scheduled her Capitol Hill soiree? This afternoon -- November 5 -- a date widely known as Guy Fawkes Night. (You know, "Remember, remember, the fifth of November.") In other words, Bachmann wants to rally right-wing activists, label them an "insurgency," and encourage them to roam the halls of Congress deliberately "scaring" members of Congress, on the infamous date that marks an attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament.From a security perspective, if Capitol Police aren't operating at a heightened state today, they're making a mistake.
Apparently in Benen's mind the dagger-wielding fictional character "V" played by Hugo Weaving in 2005's V for Vendetta is pretty much the same as a real-life middle-aged Congresswoman from Minnesota, and protesting a bloated bill that drags a sixth of the U.S. economy into a raft of 111 new bureaucracies subject to the whim's of government rationing is the same as blowing up the Houses of Parliament.
I suppose it isn't worth noting that the character "V" was created by a power-mad government conducting medical experiments upon its citizens.
I haven't seen V for Vendetta. I think Benen was specifically referring to the plot to kill King James I and various members of the government in England in 1605.
Posted by: Will at November 5, 2009 04:06 PMWow, I'm relatively well-educated, know who Guy Fawkes was, and know about the Gunpowder plot, but really; does Benen think that "Remember, remember, the fifth of November" is taught in schools here?
"One if by land and two if by sea," yes, because it's our history.
But to expect that it's common knowledge to recall a bit of doggerel about a plot to blow up a government building thousands of miles away and hundreds of years past? Methinks the guy doth protest too much, and is vastly over-reaching to make a non-existent point.
And now I've got "Try to Remember" going through my head.
Posted by: Stoutcat at November 5, 2009 05:14 PM>>"And when has Bachmann scheduled her Capitol Hill soiree? This afternoon -- November 5 -- a date widely known as Guy Fawkes Night. (You know, "Remember, remember, the fifth of November.")"
I suspect that the only people who "know" this are transplanted Brits. I've never heard of "Remember, remember, the Fifth of November".
"a government building thousands of miles away and hundreds of years past?"
Heard of Jamestown?
Posted by: luther blissett at November 5, 2009 05:30 PMFor what it's worth, Ron Paul invoked Guy Fawkes just two years ago as part of his presidential fundraising drive.
http://www.thisnovember5th.com/
Paul and Bachmann shared a stage in Minnesota in September:
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/09/25/bachmann-paul/
The two make for an odd couple.
Posted by: luther blissett at November 5, 2009 05:38 PMBachmann's technique for scaring the members of congress is to take pages from the bill, tear them into two pieces, pass them to the crowd and ask that everyone go to their congressman and ask him to explain the language. From what I have seen of the bill, that would scar me. I got this information from her interview this afternoon on Hannity.
Posted by: David at November 5, 2009 05:53 PMHeard of Jamestown?
Where is that again? Just outside London, England?
Ron Paul invoked Guy Fawkes just two years ago as part of his presidential fundraising drive
Only if you think Ron Paul owns that web site.
Luther, yes of course I've heard of Jamestown. Could you please relate what Jamestown has to do with a "writer" comparing Rep. Bachmann to guy Fawkes, please?
Posted by: Stoutcat at November 5, 2009 06:26 PMLiberals really liked the V for Vendetta movie because the liberals who made it had the bad guys be a British right wing Christian fascist party. Because England has so many evangelical Christians. Never mind that it is Labour who has been putting up CCTV cameras everywhere and passed bills abridging many traditional English liberties. There was also a healthy does of Trutherism (the Norsefire party committed the terror attacks which led to their takeover) and of course a reference to the Iraq war. Liberals loved V for Vendetta, it was 2 hours of cheering for their cause.
It's strange that the things which liberals claim to be most afraid of bear a remarkable resemblance to the actual liberal agenda.
Posted by: Steve at November 5, 2009 08:01 PMThe Confederate Yankee: It seems your audience is smarter than you! They immediately understood Steve Benen's article to be reference to Guy Fawkes Day, not to a movie based on a comic book based on Guy Fawkes Day.
Britt: On that note, it's sometimes helpful to understand that many movies were first books, as was V for Vendetta. The original 1985 book was not a heavy-handed Bush-era allegory, but a very loose Thatcher-era allegory. The way it originally went, after a nuclear war in 1993, Britain becomes reclusive and weird, and the Tories become fascists. V was not a symbol of liberalism or revolution, but simply anarchy. It was much less topical and much more interesting.
Steve: The extreme right, fascism, resembles the extreme left, authoritarianism. What a coincidence!
Posted by: Donavon at November 6, 2009 10:00 AM
