From: "Jim Devine" <jdevine03 at gmail.com>
To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org>
>
> how does the LAPD/bear joke not make sense? In LA it makes total sense
> (though it's also been told about the NYPD).
The "In LA" is precisely what I'm getting at. I didn't say it didn't make sense. But relative to the vague "Bear" advertisement in question it makes sense in the about same quantity and quality. That is to say that it relies on unstated assumptions on the part of your audience. I found the joke funny buy I am pretty familiar with discussions of the LAPD brutality; but, outside of a general disdain for all police forces, it is possible that twenty years from now this joke won't resonate in quite the same way. That is probably a fairly obvious statement, I suppose.
My problem was that I don't want to assume I understood what those assumptions were supposed to be in the advertisement. I guessed it was supposed to be the USSR, but I could also imagine it being "big government" or socialism in general as an idea, all of which the GOP is supposed to protect us from. I just wondered if I was on the right track or if there might be some other referent to the metaphor that was more concrete at the time (like Willie Horton). None of the other ads make any mention of the USSR and the only policy I can see the ad referring to is something like the Star Wars program. But in that case, why not mention that policy?
"though it's also been told about the NYPD"--is the other quality of both arguments. Like most jokes, one can alter the cast of characters to fit the situation (coming from Texas, the substitution of "Aggie" for the more dated "Pollack" was a common practice, even if people didn't realize it). Likewise, the advertisement could likely be replayed with no alterations for every Neo Conservative campaign (hence Doug's comment). In this case, the joke is actually a more ethical argument because at least it gives a referent that can be debated and discussed; even if it is reductive and contextual, it is more evident what claims are being made. The "Bear" advertisement, even if it did have a vague connection to the Soviets, could be interpreted as being whatever danger or threat you wanted it to be. Which, again, brings us back to the "Paranoid Style in American Politics."
-s