Piss Christ, Madonna with Dung (WAS:This is Why We Fight...)

[bandwraith at aol.com]

War is hell, no question, and its horrors have been
covered by many artists. What occurred to me while
trying to process the behavior of the marines involved
in the desecration of the dead Taliban was that they
were not fighting or stressed out at all. They were
performing for an audience. The thrill of battle- the life
and death struggle of combat- was apparently not
sufficient to satisfy whatever possessed them to take
up arms in the first place. They wanted to perform
for the camera, to go viral on You Tube.

There has always been "trophy taking," the odd body part,
the taxidermy of big game hunting. Frank is offered the
opportunity in Mexico after avenging Web. There have been
"pictures" of triumphalism as long as there has been
portable cameras, but there was something different about
this production. To me, it ranked right up there on the creep
out scale with killing by drones, activated by joystick, 1/2 a
globe away.

The angel of history might find cause to blink at such stark
contrast between "progress" and barbarism.

What I found especially fascinating (perplexing?) was
the lack of anger by the opposing Taliban culture. From
all accounts, the news of the pre-meditated desecration was
taken in stride- the trials and tribulations of war, nothing that
would upset the delicate peace negotiations that were ongoing.

But then, when a truck load of Korans was accidentally
incinerated, the streets are filled with violent protests, leading
to scores of deaths, and suicide attacks on NATO compounds.

I guess I should be able to understand the difference- why
certain acts and images strike raw nerves, and cause people
to pick up arms and fight, while others, of seemingly worse
atrocities, elicit only a disdainful shrug, but I never will. I would
be inept as a politician or propagandist. I have no feel for these
things. But it all makes me think that the anarchist dream is not
something that is compatible with striving, and that Pynchon
made a good choice, way back when, when he decided to keep
out of camera range.