nhboy
08-02-2012, 07:51 AM
Link to original article. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/02/chick-fil-a-us-politics-lives?CMP=twt_fd&CMP=SOCxx2I2)
"Americans are apparently so bored with the 2012 election campaign that a chicken sandwich has easily taken over as the most interesting thing to talk about this summer.
While Mitt Romney criss-crossed his way from London to Warsaw in an attempt to, perhaps, replicate the pre-presidential foreign trip Barack Obama pulled off with aplomb four years ago, back home in the US, everyone else was wondering what eating a fried chicken filet said about their morals.
This is where politics now really lives, so eat it."
.....
"It's hardly surprising that it's come to this, politics-by-chicken breast. It's the political endpoint of the idea of brand: You, the credo advertisers pumped into brains for the better part of the preceding 20 or so years. You are defined less by your allegiances or your community involvement than by the logo on your chest or that cardboard food carton you just tossed from your window as you cruise the interstate in a car that was designed and tailored to your every need, including those six cupholders hiding in sleek, spring-loaded compartments.
This is the political marketplace of the real world. This is why nobody will care about Mitt Romney ham-fisting his way across Europe. You can accuse the system of being driven by money, but no one except the top donors perceives the bureaucratic political sphere as being one you can influence with your cash.
The consumerist political sphere on the other hand? Here we have anti-poverty water, over there is some environmentally friendly coffee, and this new hatchback will help you save the polar bears.
Why not a socially conscious tablet. We await a progressive beer or a constitutional laptop, maybe. But surely they will come. In the meantime, here is a sandwich with traditional values, so vote with your stomach. Vote Sandwich: 2012, and all that it stands for."
"Americans are apparently so bored with the 2012 election campaign that a chicken sandwich has easily taken over as the most interesting thing to talk about this summer.
While Mitt Romney criss-crossed his way from London to Warsaw in an attempt to, perhaps, replicate the pre-presidential foreign trip Barack Obama pulled off with aplomb four years ago, back home in the US, everyone else was wondering what eating a fried chicken filet said about their morals.
This is where politics now really lives, so eat it."
.....
"It's hardly surprising that it's come to this, politics-by-chicken breast. It's the political endpoint of the idea of brand: You, the credo advertisers pumped into brains for the better part of the preceding 20 or so years. You are defined less by your allegiances or your community involvement than by the logo on your chest or that cardboard food carton you just tossed from your window as you cruise the interstate in a car that was designed and tailored to your every need, including those six cupholders hiding in sleek, spring-loaded compartments.
This is the political marketplace of the real world. This is why nobody will care about Mitt Romney ham-fisting his way across Europe. You can accuse the system of being driven by money, but no one except the top donors perceives the bureaucratic political sphere as being one you can influence with your cash.
The consumerist political sphere on the other hand? Here we have anti-poverty water, over there is some environmentally friendly coffee, and this new hatchback will help you save the polar bears.
Why not a socially conscious tablet. We await a progressive beer or a constitutional laptop, maybe. But surely they will come. In the meantime, here is a sandwich with traditional values, so vote with your stomach. Vote Sandwich: 2012, and all that it stands for."