“what the f**k is juice?”

If you, like me, frequent the “internets,” it’s likely you’ve seen or read about the controversial “high fructose corn syrup” commercials (paid for by the Corn Refiners Association, of course) that egregiously endorse consuming the one thing in this country that has contributed most to childhood obesity and late-onset diabetes.

What gets to me most about these infomercials is not so much the idiocy of their message — namely, the “sweet surprise” of HFCS is that it’s good for you! – but the strange use of race in delivering it. A conscientious yet naive white woman rejects the purple drink that her black counterpart liberally pours into cups bound for the children around them. “You don’t care what the kids eat, huh?” asks sarcastic and morally shocked white mom, as she stares disapprovingly at irresponsible black mom. But of course, the Corn Refiners Association knows better and ends the commercial by positioning black mom as the more informed and enlightened one, which in my mind immediately invokes some watered down version of the archetype of the Magical Negro. (OK, so maybe I’m stretching it here, but still I’m a firm believer that these race archetypes persist even in the most nuanced of ways). White mom is stereotyped too — her rather plain hairstyle and outfit clash with black mom’s more “colorful” ensemble. By the end of the ad, both moms are friends again, small-talk, HFCS and all (with dull white mom even dishing out compliments out of some sort of, um, white guilt?) But I digress. See for yourself:

Of course, a far more incisive look at the juice wars can be found here:

think think wonder and think

“I mean, come on, they must think you’re stupid.”

– Barack Obama, Indiana political rally 9/6/08

So I found myself thinking a lot about Paul Wellstone during the RNC. He, you may recall, was the popular and outspoken (dare I say pit-bullish?) senator from Minnesota who died in a plane crash (with his wife and daughter) just before an important election that he was expected to win, even after voting against the Iraq War when everybody and their brother were too cowardly to do so themselves. Wellstone wasn’t your typical spineless democrat. He had moxie, voted progressively, and had the good fortune of winning elections in the process. He was known by many as the “conscience of the Senate.” Wellstone had originally planned to step down from office, pledging earlier in fact to limit his terms to two. But the corruption behind the Iraq war — a war he saw as nothing more than oil profiteering made manifest — convinced him to run again. This apparently pissed off a lot of Republicans, who responded by hand-picking an opponent to run against him. Rove was quoted as saying that getting Wellstone out of the senate was “priority #1″ that year. The GOP was desperate to gain control of the Senate, something Wellstone’s victory would have prevented. And all this just before the war. This was a victory that could have potentially said to the other democrats that opposing the war doesn’t necessarily mean political suicide.

And then he died. Poof. Just like that. Patrick Leahy cried on television. Ted Kennedy weeped as well. It was really sad.

What’s the Word(le)?

So, by now many of you might have already discovered the wonderful world of Wordle, a website that creates your own word clouds (it’s free!). Simply copy and paste a document — CV, resume, poem, manifesto — and see what comes of it. Most frequently written words are of course the biggest. A good way to waste time indeed. I decided to Wordle an essay I’m “working” on right now. Guess what it’s about? (Click to enlarge).

After this, I thought why not try this other essay I’m working on, one that I find much more interesting, but which I’ve set aside for the “ethnocyborg” project.  After Wordling this one, it occurred to me that I might be using one word in particular a bit too much.  In this one, I pasted 200 more words than the first Wordle project:

Great way to see what you’re all about in a way.

Punch!

The title of this post is of course a reference to the 19th-century British rag known for its satirical political cartoons. But it also refers to how many sensitive readers are to interpret this week’s cover of The New Yorker:

A punch in the democratic face or a savvy attempt to deconstruct stereotypes by exploiting them?  Also, is Michelle Obama’s caricature supposed to invoke the Angela Davis of yore?

I have to agree with Rachel Sklar: “All that’s missing is a token sprig of arugula.”

April 4, 2008 is just like any other day

With one exception, of course: it marks the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s assassination (which, according to King’s own family, has yet to be solved). I’m all for remembering important dates in history, but I find the Santa-Clausification of King utterly annoying and I have to deal with it on April 4th and January 21st. SO this year, I’ll deal with it on my blog. Sadly, what days like this prove is that far and away most people remember MLK as a tragic figure, a martyr, a myth, something larger than perhaps the man himself. That is, people remember “MLK” and the theatricality of what those words signify. To most Americans, MLK is a few speeches, a few grainy black and white images of a march or two, and a tragic “end of an era” death. But when it comes to the less dramatic side of his “legacy” (a word that has lost some currency thanks to days like today) we forget that he was a shrewd political strategist (rumor has it LBJ was routinely impressed and outplayed), he harbored a very ambivalent relationship towards the Civil Rights movement, and that at the end of his life he was clinically depressed over what he saw as the three largest threats to humankind: militarism, materialism, and global poverty. So on days like today — and on January 21st — I will tell my son about the importance of remembering and the necessity of knowing.

And then there’s John McCain. We all know he voted against “MLK Day” in his state. Yep, that’s right. Mr. Straightalk Express himself tried to rob millions of Arizonians of a holiday. Or did he? Perhaps his intentions were more nobler than we think. Perhaps he, like me, finds the mythification of King an insult. Perhaps he, like me, feels that Martin Luther King Jr. deserves more than being reduced to a national holiday. Perhaps he agrees with my point that MLK Day and “Black History Month” paradoxically exclude black intellectuals and artists from American History by containing them in narratives only significant to the Black Culture. Indeed…maybe the blogosphere liberals have it all wrong today in their frantic pouncing over McCain’s “I Made a Mistake” speech at the Lorraine Hotel today.

Of course I’m joking here. He’s an idiot. Case in point:

Quick question, Mr. McCain: shouldn’t you have at least arranged to have whitey carry your umbrella?