The Primaries as Theater of the Absurd
(This will be my final political post before the actual voting takes place in Florida.)
For those who are not versed in the theater, Theater of the Absurd is a drama genre where plays express the belief that human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down. Logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and to its ultimate conclusion, silence.
I refer the reader to the plays of Ionescu or Pinter for examples.
The reason I bring the matter up - a genre where there is no plot, the characters feel lost because the world around them is incomprehensible, and dialogue lapses into strings of non sequiturs and uncomfortable silences - because of an article I linked to.
The article is from the German website Der Spiegel, and it is a searing indictment of how much the GOP primaries are degenerating into absurdist theater.
I highly recommend linking to the article and reading it in its entirety, but here are a couple paragraphs to give you the flavor of it:
"In fact, there was a lot at stake, much more than the 55 delegates that the sunny American state has to offer at the party convention in August. The debate was really about whether Mitt Romney can secure the nomination now, or if he'll have to endure a long, expensive and punishing primary odyssey."
"But was there enough material to make it worth watching, even though it was number 18 of the campaign season? No, the anticipation proved too much, though there were some meaty skirmishes and well-planned attacks between the top two candidates and the other two on the stage, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. But there were also more lies, half-truths, and window dressings."
It's getting nastier, as Romney starts to pull slightly ahead in most of the polling and Gingrich picks up more worthless endorsements from the Bull Goose Loony Wing of the Party.
It's going to be interesting on Tuesday.
For those who are not versed in the theater, Theater of the Absurd is a drama genre where plays express the belief that human existence has no meaning or purpose and therefore all communication breaks down. Logical construction and argument gives way to irrational and illogical speech and to its ultimate conclusion, silence.
I refer the reader to the plays of Ionescu or Pinter for examples.
The reason I bring the matter up - a genre where there is no plot, the characters feel lost because the world around them is incomprehensible, and dialogue lapses into strings of non sequiturs and uncomfortable silences - because of an article I linked to.
The article is from the German website Der Spiegel, and it is a searing indictment of how much the GOP primaries are degenerating into absurdist theater.
I highly recommend linking to the article and reading it in its entirety, but here are a couple paragraphs to give you the flavor of it:
"In fact, there was a lot at stake, much more than the 55 delegates that the sunny American state has to offer at the party convention in August. The debate was really about whether Mitt Romney can secure the nomination now, or if he'll have to endure a long, expensive and punishing primary odyssey."
"But was there enough material to make it worth watching, even though it was number 18 of the campaign season? No, the anticipation proved too much, though there were some meaty skirmishes and well-planned attacks between the top two candidates and the other two on the stage, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul. But there were also more lies, half-truths, and window dressings."
It's getting nastier, as Romney starts to pull slightly ahead in most of the polling and Gingrich picks up more worthless endorsements from the Bull Goose Loony Wing of the Party.
It's going to be interesting on Tuesday.
posted by Walt at 4:09 PM
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