Agrabah the mythical country in the Disney film Aladdin.
Credit: Disney Studios.
A Public Policy Poll released today asked GOP primary voters, among other things, if they would support bombing Agrabah, the fictional country from the 1993 Disney film Aladdin. Thirty percent said yes while only 13 percent of Republicans oppose bombing a nation that doesn’t exist and therefore could not be a threat to anyone in this dimension let alone the United States. To be fair, 19 percent of Democrats said they would favor bombing Agrabah, Buzzfeed reports.
The candidate with the most supporters who want to bomb Agrabah is Donald Trump, with 41 percent saying they support the assault on the infamous cartoon stronghold.
The question provides a fascinating window into how Islamophobia shapes our foreign policy. That almost a third of Republicans support bombing a Muslim-sounding country that does not, in fact, exist displays the degree to which an across-the-board dislike of Muslims and Arabs informs our current political culture. It is not […]
If Trump gets elected … I’m moving to Whoville.
I’ll be honest. Some days I read stories and think to myself, have we reached a point of ignorance where a democracy just can’t exist in substance? _ Stephan Schwartz
You too! Honest? ……. And regretfully, it is not just some days.
Without a functional press, democracy cannot work. A functional press is capable of sorting fact from fiction. That cannot take place without many and diverse funding sources for it, i.e. subscribers… or numerous co-ops. We do not have that; thus we have Zulu PR, Corporate PR, Babel, or whatever you wish to call the scat in place of logic in the ‘information age’.
Most everyone today is living in a self constructed hall of mirrors.
“Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed: everything else is public relations.” _ George Orwell
The only option I see to stop this current multiplication of cyber ignorance is that everyone spends $10 a month for the content, on the internet…. apportioned by clicks, with a cap on volume of income.
I am grateful to you Stephan, to help me broaden my perspective on what is written.
PS I am currently reading Barbarians, by Terry Jones, that illustrates without trying
the similarities between the self destruction of Rome, along with its other destructions
and how very similar it is to our current situation. One vivid piece is how heavy taxation (excepting of the oligarchy) to pay for an overextended military created the social structure that formed the dark ages: Thou shalt not leave thy farm, nor change professions from that of your father. But hey, don’t get me started on the F-35 or the USS Zumwalt.