> thoughts?
Nationalism and the Theft of Enjoyment meets Totem and Taboo
Elian is the sinthome, the catalyst of American National identity, beyond which no further identity can be thought. This situation, which has come to appear strange, has served as a remarkable reversal for the typical Democratic and Republican traditions. The Republicans, running on a family-values platform, now finds itself defending the sovereign right of a nation to secure democracy (sic) over family. And the Democrats, never big on family-values, find themselves defending a more traditional Republican position. Something is amiss here that defies normal comprehension. What has Elian come to symbolize in the political consciousness of those involved? (was that a bandaid on his arm - THEY'RE GIVING HIM DRUGS!!! BRAINWASHING HIM ALREADY!!!). The nonsense has hit the roof and blow out into the furthest reaches of the universe. Elian is the stain of desire that cannot be removed. He has come to symbolize the heart of the American dream as it sees itself in its own retrospection. The pilgrim seeking a new way of life, religious and economic freedom...
The Republican Imaginary: We have a mothers dying wish, a mother killed by the father while trying to provide for her son a better life. She has made the greatest sacrifice a woman can make, her own life for the life of her son. The other sons and daughters (the American family) have taken in Elian, who now, as a sinthome (symbol, image, symptom) - represents a sacred child, a virtual christ for the American dream. We have the typical dead-beat-communist dad cum (according to the son) psychopath, whom, for all intents and purposes, is the servant of the Communist Father - ie. the Father of the primal-socialist horde (who keep all the women for themselves!). The sons and daughters of the Revolution are rising up again to kill the primal father, and ignite the regime of the brother to replace the worn down patriarchy, and to bury it where it belongs. The primal father, who has killed the mother (the ambiguous love object of the American dream) of this special child must be vanquished for his sins, against his children and against the mother. The primal father stole the m(Other), his theft of enjoyment was the beloved love object of the Masculine American Dream (MAD). Father must die! (love live the Republic!)
The Democrat Imaginary: the son should return to the father, like all sons should return to their fathers. Cuba is the lost son of democracy, communism is not the primal horde, things are reversed, democracy is the Father. And communist the son who has run away from home. By returning the son to the father, the son (Cuba) will return to the fold of the United States. The father loves the son, but it is a tough love, which sometimes requires scary men with guns in the night. The mother, as always, is a good mother because she found the lost son and tried to bring him home.
<insert your psyche here>
could be better, ken