Saturday, March 27, 2004
JFK2: How about some "new directions" in the campaign signage too?
Look at this! It's a straight rip-off of those stupid signs Bush uses that we all make fun of.
Now, awhile back, I posted a comparison (back here) of the polarized politics of Germany in the '30s, and the polarized politics of today, based on a big Penguin book by Richard Evans called The Coming of Hitler. And, I thought, we're a long way from where the Germans were then (thank God).
Alas, the point that in American the major parties don't have paramilitary wings turned into a point of similarity rather than a point of difference, since the Republicans are contracting with paramilitary supplier Vance International (see back here).
And now another point of similarity: Evans writes in his book that the National Socialist logo, graphics, and design treatments were so effective that the Social Democratic Party, and the other opposition parties, copied them. The result was that the voters couldn't see any visual difference between the parties, and this contributed to the destruction of the fragile German democracy.
So when I see Kerry (as above) copying a Bush design treatment, it makes me very nervous. Who designed that, someone at the DNC? Is the message going to be, heaven forfend, that Kerry is really a Lite Republican? That is certainly the subliminal message conveyed by the photo above. How about conveying the "New Directions" idea with all the campaign materials, not just in a speech by Kerry?
NOTE Nice trick getting JFK2's head in the "O" of "Jobs." Kind of a halo effect, eh? This does show how easy it is to manipulate the press with images—present them with an obvious "cute" photo, and off it goes onto the wires. However, Bush has already used the same trick (see back here, and more effectively; his true believers, after all, are capable of thinking Bush's halo is real. So why, again, is JFK2 playing copycat?
TROLL PROPHYLACTIC I didn't say that Bush is a Nazi. I said that when you look at history, it's useful to compare Germany in the 1930s with the United States today.
Now, awhile back, I posted a comparison (back here) of the polarized politics of Germany in the '30s, and the polarized politics of today, based on a big Penguin book by Richard Evans called The Coming of Hitler. And, I thought, we're a long way from where the Germans were then (thank God).
Alas, the point that in American the major parties don't have paramilitary wings turned into a point of similarity rather than a point of difference, since the Republicans are contracting with paramilitary supplier Vance International (see back here).
And now another point of similarity: Evans writes in his book that the National Socialist logo, graphics, and design treatments were so effective that the Social Democratic Party, and the other opposition parties, copied them. The result was that the voters couldn't see any visual difference between the parties, and this contributed to the destruction of the fragile German democracy.
So when I see Kerry (as above) copying a Bush design treatment, it makes me very nervous. Who designed that, someone at the DNC? Is the message going to be, heaven forfend, that Kerry is really a Lite Republican? That is certainly the subliminal message conveyed by the photo above. How about conveying the "New Directions" idea with all the campaign materials, not just in a speech by Kerry?
NOTE Nice trick getting JFK2's head in the "O" of "Jobs." Kind of a halo effect, eh? This does show how easy it is to manipulate the press with images—present them with an obvious "cute" photo, and off it goes onto the wires. However, Bush has already used the same trick (see back here, and more effectively; his true believers, after all, are capable of thinking Bush's halo is real. So why, again, is JFK2 playing copycat?
TROLL PROPHYLACTIC I didn't say that Bush is a Nazi. I said that when you look at history, it's useful to compare Germany in the 1930s with the United States today.
