THE TKC SPECIAL SATURDAY COMMENT!!! KANSAS CITY POLITICAL SCIENCE PROF DEBUNKS BERNIE'S BIRD CAMPAIGN TRICK WITH EPIC FOWL CASTRO COMPARISON!!!
It's really NOT my bag but a little bird flying out of the sky and seemingly blessing Democratic Presidential contender Bernie Sanders sparks many to note that the American electorate is without any sense of history or context when it comes to political discourse.
And so . . .
SPECIAL THANKS TO A KANSAS CITY POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR WHO SENT US A QUICK NOTE ON THE LATEST ELECTION 2016 CAMPAIGN SENSATION THAT'S MAKING THE PUBLIC LOOK DUMB AND DUMBER!!!
Here's the word . . .
"I don't know if it has come up on your blog but I'm getting really tired of correcting my students and facing fights with my colleagues because they don't know the history of the Americas.
I was amiable toward the Sanders campaign and believed they did a great job of outreach locally. So many young people working in this election is an encouraging sign. Yet a recent campaign stunt sent shivers up my spine. Bernie Sanders engaging a bird is reminiscent of a stunt that Fidel Catro often used in order to lend religious significance to his brutal dictatorship.
We're on Spring Break so I can't lecture my students on this topic so I think your blog might help raise awareness. What does this obvious political stunt say about our nation. An obviously trained bird is causing a social media sensation with very little context or frame of reference? Why isn't the media making this comparison and working to inform their readers? Didn't they go to college? There are no questions or discussions of the larger significance of this bird stunt in an era where we are supposed to be more connected and informed. I hope you can help. I've include a some reading materials for your consideration."
First of all, screw you professor . . . NEVER talk down to TKC.
I looked through the litany of stuff this d-bag sent and here's the only thing worth a peek:
Religious Symbolism in Cuban Political Performance
A note from the abstract . . .
"The spectacle of white doves in Castro's speech is one in a long history of examples in which Caribbean leaders publicly use symbols from local religions. Coded performances in the Caribbean political arena often have dual implications: One is geared to impress upon the international press and those with capital invested in the country that the speaker is popular and will maintain the status quo; another is geared to the local population by using icons from their religious practices. Because these symbols often derive from secret religions, their use dramatically implies that the leader is privy to local secrets and esoteric power. By sharing a symbolic language created from the legacy of African bondage, their use demonstrates a leader's ties to the local population. The intimacy of this discourse implies that a leader is 100 percent Cuban (to use a phrase from the Cuban Revolution) and not a puppet figure sent from Washington, DC. Analogous to Bakhtin's "double-voiced word," symbols are here used to speak "doubly"--one message to the leaders of the First World, another to the general Cuban population."
I know Sen. Bernie Sanders is smart but this alleged political stunt in trying to get the Black vote might be over the heads of many. The Clinton's seem more effective when they just write big checks.
Nobody knows if Bernie was in on this possible bit of political history with deep roots in the discourse of the Western Hemisphere but I have to agree with the nutty professor and remind folks that what's worse is that nobody even notices the reference and only a precious few are willing to ask questions.
Sadly, there are those who don't want to believe that the Bernie bird isn't just another political stunt and signals a stunning bit of cynicism in American political discourse.
Real talk: I guess the TKC community college and then UMKC city college education isn't so paltry after all given that this topic is flying over the heads of even some of the most well educated and informed political pundits yet our blog community has plucked the information from the sky. Natch.
Sadly, just look at the other side of the aisle and a reality show contestant winning far more hearts and minds to realize that this could be the worst American election EVAR and the public is far to misinformed to notice.
Developing . . .