The Maverick and Commander returns once again to Iraq and this time, with luck, he'll get the photo op right

Like MacArthur to the Philippines, except in MacArthur's case it counted for something, the Maverick and Commander has returned!

He didn't go back to inspect the worms in the water.

Nor did he go back to salute the 4000th American trooper to die in Iraq.

He went back to remind us that he is THE COMMANDER.

And to do that he needs a whole new set of pictures of himself over there looking like THE COMMANDER.  He doesn't want those goofy photos of himself in that undersized flak jacket grinning like an idiot in the marketplace pronouncing the city streets safe while he was surrounded by soliders and helicopters whirred overhead to be the defining images of himself as our would-be War President.

Those pictures didn't look at all COMMANDER-ishy.

They looked a little too...Dukakis-in-the-tank-ishy.

Which is why I hope both Clinton's and Obama's ad people are preparing to use those pictures in the fall almost as often as they use the pictures of the Maverick and Commander burying his face in George W. Bush's chest.

The Maverick and Commander is running as the War President.  What else has he got?   This, by the way, is why it was amateurish for the Obama folks to whine about Clinton's 3 AM ad and for people to get bent out of shape by her talk about McCain's experience.  She wasn't putting ideas in anybody's head.  She was responding (crudely) to and (crudely) taking advantage of what was already being put out there by the Media and McCain himself.  She was preparing for her run against the Maverick and Commander, and Obama had better start doing the same, because come the fall no amount of crying foul, no stupid op-eds in the New York Times finding comparisons to silent movies that I'd bet 90 per cent of the American voters have never heard of, let alone seen, will work to drown out the drumbeats of the Establishment Media led parade marching the Maverick and Commander up to the White House gates and onto the lawn where they apparently think his old Navy Skyhawk will be waiting, fueled up and with missiles loaded, ready for him to take off to go get bin Laden and his gang of thugs all by himself.

The Maverick and Commander is running as the War President and the Media Establishment is cheering him on and telling him this is the right thing to do.  The War is being won, the Surge is working, the cowardly Democrats are going to get creamed on the issue come November, just as they were creamed on it in 2006.  They're telling him the War is his issue.  Of course they are.  He gets them drunk.  They respond gratefully by spouting all kinds of sycophantic nonsense and he believes them because sycophantic nonsense is just what he wants to hear.

The country needs a COMMANDER, the sycophants burble into their cups, and he is the Maverick and Commander.

So it's to Iraq he has returned.

I'm surprised he didn't wade ashore.

Comments

[Jason]

"I'm surprised he didn't wade ashore."

I think it was proposed, but there are still mines in the beaches (tongue in cheek). You might also notice that McCain was unable to visit the same marketplace at which he so freely strolled a year ago. And by "freely strolled," I mean with the honor guard of 100 soldiers, armored vehicles, and helicopter gunships.

But you're right, we already see the Rethug's grand strategy, and one wonders if the Dems are prepared at all to rebut/refocus the discussion into their favor. One can but hope.

[Ken Houghton]

Oh, come on; let's be real.

GWB failed to fix his flight suit when he got off the jet—experienced pilot, that one—and the next day Lisa Shiffren was creaming herself on the pages of the WSJ.

IOKIYAR applies to photo-ops as well. If ObamaNation runs those pictures in the general election (assuming, as seems inevitable, the DNC makes that mistake), they'll be pilloried in the press, with Joe Liarman being called on to call them out.

[Victoria]

Gee, is the reaction to the 3 AM ad just silly whining? I mind that particular piece of work because it lays on more fear-mongering at a time when we need to be untangling from seven incapacitating years of it. Yes, by all means, make your case about being able to handle emergencies, but make it without going straight for the limbic brain! The sound and images of those ads go straight to the subconscious mind. I heard a woman caller to some liberal radio show say - in a kind of cry, "Those ads remind me of how I felt on 9/11. I felt helpless. And those ads make me feel that helplessness!" - this is how she explained her support for Hillary. A leader who makes you feel helpless. I'll follow you because you've reminded me of how helpless I am. Great. Just great.

[judith]

Victoria - a guy I know said the same thing earlier in the campaign...likes Hillary, hates when she plays the "fear card". I am not a fearful person myself - but the reason I am not is because I know that I plan pretty well for various contingencies. I know the unexpected is always out there, but I dont dwell on it. So I find the ad was more about the things one can plan for - like who takes the call - over the things you cant plan for i.e. what is on the other line. So I didnt find it fearmongering...actually the opposite.

Do you find commercials that tell you not to smoke or you will get cancer fearmongering?

[actor212]

Judith, you ought to see the ones that NYC runs...I mean, talk about ick!

They originated in Australia, and feature a surgeon as he's a) about to cut off a guy's leg (complete with saw in hand and black line drawn across shin) b) the surgeon squeezing an aorta like a tube of toothpaste, oozing out plaque.

EX: http://www.quit.org.au/article.asp?ContentID=10297

And this is the latest one:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/smoke/smoke-multimedia.shtml

[actor212]

Sorry, that should read "artery" not aorta. I think it's a carotid.

[actor212]

Lance,

Which one did Tom Cruise play: Maverick or Commanderguy?

[judith]

actor 212 - are you in those ads? Is this self-promotion? :-)

[Victoria]

Answer to Judith -

Cigarette smoking does cause cancer. There are many ways to share that information. Some responsible, some not.

It is also true that people will have different conscious reactions to visual-aural material; hence, the difference between your reaction to the 3 AM ad and that of the woman I heard on the radio (though I am willing to bet Myers-Briggs would say she represents a majority). My concern is the subconscious effects because this deeper, unconscious level is where sound and pictures land and stick, no matter what our conscious minds think. Night time...precious innocent children asleep... a dark house... shadows... scary sound... the worried mother... the way the camera moves... that ringing phone at such an odd hour... These are all threatening at that deep place. It goes in. And any filmmaker - especially the top sound guys and editors - will tell you they are not aiming for your conscious mind. In fact, logic is dead last on their choice lists.

I remember a TALK OF THE NATION years ago - about teens and smoking and the effects of advertising. An audience of teens were being interviewed by the surgeon general. The young people were all saying that they don't pay any attention to advertising. They pick their cigarettes based purely on personal preference. "Really?" he asked."How many people here smoke Camels?" Every single teen raised a hand. - Camel, of course, ran more ads than any other brand and they especially aimed at young - subconscious - minds.

Over a hundred years of moving images and we still don't understand the impact. We need to wise up about how this works. But the folks who made the 3 AM ad did understand. Completely.

[Arun]

Sigh. I'm afraid Lance is right, by Autumn the TV will be relentlessly pounding the drum for McCain, no matter what idiotic thing pops out of his mouth, no matter what intolerant evangelist preacher he's cozying up to, no matter that he ditched his first wife for a pill-head rich girl. Internal Democratic squabbles about whatever Geraldine Ferraro yapped her mind about will indeed seem quaint, and embarrassing celebrity blogging about how shockingly! MEAN! the Clinton campaign is- will be nothing compared to what the GOP will be cooking up. I fully expect it to be ugly, and expect no fairness from our trusty MSM.

[judith]

well Victoria, you assume I dont know anything about conditioning and I do. Maybe the difference is I dont listen to talk radio and dont watch a lot of teevee - just rent the shows I want to see...so when I see a commercial I can withstand whatever it is you seem to think other people can't with regard to her ad. But I can say my women friends didnt have the scared response either - the guy friend did. Go figure.

Re smoking - so I guess your answer is the that since smoking doesnt cause cancer you are not scared by the ads. Hey - ringing telephones dont cause terrorist strikes. Feel better now?

Dr Judith calms america's fear of ringing telephones. Clip at 11.

[Mad Librarian]

Democrats got creamed in 2006?? Huh? Did I wake up in an alternate universe this morning?

Taking back the Senate (barely) and the House (by a wide margin) counts as having your ass handed to you now? When 2/3 of the electorate still thinks the war was a mistake and we need to get out ASAP, in spite of the Splurge?

[judith]

victoria - I appologize - you agreed smoking causes cancer. No idea how I misread it prior.
Neeeever miind.

[sfmike]

Actually, smoking only definitely causes cancer in 10% of tobacco smokers. I learned this while being a tobacco trial juror, and was somewhat shocked that the percentage wasn't higher.

And Victoria is absolutely correct. The 3AM ad is pernicious in its effectiveness and its ugliness and stupidity and backwardness. I will never vote for Hillary just because of that frigging ad, but millions more will vote for her precisely because of it.

[judith]

sfmike - what a dumb reason not to vote for someone. *eyes roll*
:-)

[actor212]

Victoria, Judith,

Check out this item I posted a few weeks back.

Be prepared to set aside a couple of hours, if you really want to get into it. It's not just about the ads. It's about the news coverage, the speeches...and yes, the stupid flag pins.