Cain Punks America ... Brilliantly!
Last night Rachel Maddow knocked it out of the park, laying out a compelling case that Herman Cain’s presidential bid is essentially “Performance Art,” revealing the shallowness of American politics by satirizing the U.S. political process by subtly using phrases and ideas from Pop Culture.
Here’s what she demonstrated:
Cain’s closing remarks in the Republican Presidential Debate was lifted verbatim from “Pokemon” theme: Citing “a poet,” Cain says: “Life can be a challenge; life can be impossible; it’s never easy.”
999 is the operating tax structure from SIM City
Chapter 9 of his book is titled simply “45” (4+5=9)
Says he’s Hagen Dazs “Black Walnut” because it is “not your flavor of the month,”has “staying power,” “doesn’t go away,” according to Cain. Irony. Hagen Dazs has discontinued the flavor.
Cain volunteered that if asked who the president of “Uzbeki-Beki Stan-Stan” was, he would answer “I don’t know. Do you?” The “Uzbeki-Beki Stan-Stan” is no accident, but rather genius parody.
The quirky artsy-fartsy campaign videos not only satirize American campaign ads, but are so off-the-wall as to get media attention and countless replays.
Cain proudly says he’s “a Koch brothers' brother from another mother,” lifted verbatim from a Jackie Chan movie, “Rush Hour 3” in which Chris Tucker says “[I’m] his brother from another mother.”
As additional proof that Cain’s run for the Republican presidential nomination is performance art, and not politics as usual, Rachel shows a couple of clips in which Cain show’s total lack of political acumen and knowledge: a) Garbles pro-life and pro-choice re: abortion and b) Hasn’t a clue about what “The Palestinian 'right of return'” means. Moreover, he has not created anything approximating political organization in the key primary states, and spends his campaign time on a book tour, rather than the usual political events.
Brilliant exercise in performance stagecraft on Cain’s part! Excellent bit of insight by Rachel.
See it http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/45171907#45171907
I would add a couple of observations to Rachel’s analysis:
Cain is to politics what Andy Warhol is to art. Both gain attention by referencing popular cultural icons.
The ad with the campaign manager smoking is saying “We’re blowing smoke (up your ass)” and Cain’s slow, knowing smile is saying “Get it?”
Cain’s 999 is taunting the religious right for whom 999, the inverse of 666 the “mark of the beast” has special meaning — this from a guy named Cain, no less. See my “Is Cain Able?” below.
“Black walnut” is also another way of saying “I’m a black man with balls.”
With his “Uzbecki-Becki Stan-Stan” Cain riffs on candidate George W. Bush’s gaffe when asked if he knew who Pervez Musharraf was (“I don’t know? Do you?”). Cain volunteered that if asked who the president of “Uzbeki-Beki Stan-Stan” was, he would answer “I don’t know. Do you?”
Bottom line: Cain is punking us all brilliantly, especially Republicans.
The question is, will Cain pull it off all the way to the top?