Rudy Giuliani Tonight Portrays Obama as Trickster
Sep 3rd, 2008 | 3 responses
Tonight at the GOP convention, Rudy took the stage to wild applause.
Rather than analyze the content of his words, I found myself analyzing the process Rudy used to speak about Senators McCain and Obama. It was fascinating. And brilliant as strategy.
He closed off the self-important GOP endorsers with all their pronouncements, and instead drew the circle down to ‘regular people.’ For instance, he began by saying, no Hollywood stars will decide this election. Just the people.
As they say, ‘the crowd went wild.’
How tribal the two political parties are in their storytelling strategies. Very like the Cree, the Nez Perce, the Navajo… telling the same heroic stories over and over at each gathering.
Tonight was no different. Rudy told John McCain’s story…
the young heroic pilot who falls from the sky and is taken by monsters to be tormented in every way possible until he is broken literally to pieces. Yet the young hero came stumbling, grappling, and eventually roaring back to life as a server of the people of his own nation. Now a venerable old warrior, he is chosen by many to lead, filled with the wisdom of his years.
Tonight, Rudy also told the most ancient trickster story known to mankind. It was about Obama, but it is a timeless universal trope about… how a young man can too often be inflated with ambition and many words and great charm and good ideas… but when one looks at the actual record of his deep accomplishments, the actual track record, the trickster’s hopes and dreams far exceed his actualities.
In the ancient trickster stories of aboriginal people across the world, the young man, so swayed by his ideas, is undone, for as some put it: the charming trickster promises the moon, but can barely deliver a small wedge of cheese.
Giuliani put this forth expertly, with humor, with his own brand of vintage charm and huge spirit.
Yet, paradoxically, the trickster can be a transformative force in a culture, awakening people to what is needed for people to advance. The only problems is, he is not measured, but rather is deeply grandiose and sinks his own boat by overloading it with promises he cannot keep.
This appeared to me to be the process Rudy Giuliani put forth tonight. His words certainly inspired, for he was interrupted with huge applause and cheering and chanting throughout.
Giuliani is indeed a wily coyote… himself.
3 Responses to “Rudy Giuliani Tonight Portrays Obama as Trickster”
He was wily (i.e., smart) enough not to refer constantly to 9-11 or to himself last night. He gave a surprisingly good speech. (Aside from honest, intelligent observation of it last night, the outright fictitioius and mean remarks from lefties today are evidence if not conclusive proof of this.)
Yes and right after Obama's successful DNC, the usual cast of Right wing dunderheads, blubbering on I guess must prove, even beyond the 10-12 point bounce, conclusively just how successful his speech was.
Mythologizing involves, seemingly, some kind of elevation or stretching of the truth so that it becomes larger than life. If you believe it, being trapped and tortured gives one the requisite qualities to lead a nation, not ptsd or history of tantrums, but some inflated patriotism. By these standards alone, there are a lot of vets, that could run for office.
Can't these stories be twisted around as well to become true or untrue, the old man who over estimated himself and his achievements, got into office and blew us all up one day by overreacting a little to close to the big red button.
Are there not stories of younger men, who are wiser than their years, who are perhaps the reincarnation of some wise old energy, and who has come to save and awaken his people from the illness of consumerism and certain death in empire seeking dreams.
“…Are there not stories of younger men, who are wiser than their years…”
yes, there are dear Spirisol, but also the 'old guard' often tries to annhilate the 'up and coming.' A story old as time. Clever evasive maneuvers by the young or by their protectors, often bring up the lysis of the ancient stories about the young triumphing
good question
dr.e