Friday, September 19, 2008

Obama the Good, Bush the Bad, and McCain the Ugly

As they never tire telling us, the French are always masters of nuance as well as the champions in always finding just the exact literary simile that fits. This was proven again tonight, when France 2 (!) broadcast a news item (!) on political TV ads in America, comparing leading politicians to the characters of a… spaghetti western (!?!)

Using the emblematic characters of Sergio Leone's The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, the entirely serious-minded (sic), profound (sic), and thoughtful (sic) news channel proceeds to tell viewers that political ads in America are misleading and even totally false, whether it's the ad of Obama — compared to The Good — depicting John McCain saying America's economy is sound or the ad of John McCain — compared to the Ugly — stating that Obama wanted sex ed in kindergarten before toddlers could even read…

Who, then, is the Bad — known in the French title as the Crook or the Gangster? (In French, as in Italian, the order of the title is The Good, the Ugly, the Bad.) France 2 (on whose website, incidentally, a poll shows 52% of respondents wanting French troops out of Afghanistan — as opposed to 40% in favor of them staying) mentions the Swift Boat ad of four years ago — "a total lie" against John Kerry — which allowed for the victory of… (you got it) the Crook

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