V-Day is coming and so I figure I should get Belle a copy of Weird Love: You Know You Want It! (Volume 1)
As I was saying, I was reading Belle’s present (since I’m not going to give it to her until tomorrow) and it strikes me that one of the stories presents a new angle on the eternal mystery: why do young women love Bernie Sanders?
I think we need to consider the possibility that they love him despite his ideas. Just a thought. (Click for larger.)
I particularly enjoyed the scene in the Communist Beginner’s “Club Room”.
It’s has everything Jonah Goldberg could dream a Bernie Sanders campaign office might contain. Communism In Russia by the shovelful. Red Russia by Marx and Engels. And, since the books are going to be displayed in disorderly piles and at spine-breaking angles – since this is the way in such “Club Rooms” – there’s no need even to center the book titles on the covers.
You’ll read it to find out what happens! Happy V-Day, everyone!
{ 31 comments }
LFC 02.13.16 at 3:46 am
“less [sic] you make the same mistake”
Was the word lest unknown to the writers of McCarthyite comic book covers in 1953?
One look at the cover and I have no great wish to read the inside of the thing. “You’ll read it to find out what happens.” Um, no.
John Holbo 02.13.16 at 4:02 am
I thought it was a nice verbal touch.
Trivial 02.13.16 at 6:14 am
” ‘Americans play not to win, but for the sake of sportsmanship and fair play…which Nazis and Reds know nothing about!’ It seems, however, that this anti-communist line did not resonate with readers since it lasted for only three issues (5). Still, Captain America’s anti-communism illustrates for students the stridency of Americans’ attitude toward the Soviet Union and ‘Reds.’ I use him in conjunction with the film Invasion of the Body Snatchers in an attempt to convey the anxiety and fear that Joseph McCarthy and others exploited. ”
Katherine Aiken, “Superhero History: Using Comic Books to Teach U.S. History” OAH Magazine of History Teaching Strategy (April 2010), 45.
Neville Morley 02.13.16 at 7:16 am
Fascinating. I wonder, albeit on the basis of two data points, whether the British tradition generally switches the gender dynamic, with naive young man seduced by the passion and liberal attitudes of attractive Communist woman – Charlotte Corday Rowbotham in Wodehouse’s Comrade Bingo, Gypsy Jones in Powell’s A Dance to the Music of Time.
Ooh, three data points, if we count Judith in Life of Brian!
oldster 02.13.16 at 2:30 pm
You missed another nice goof, I think. The “Red Russia” title seems to have been written by Marx and Engles, rather than Engels.
And Neville, isn’t the love between Alec Leamas and Liz Gold a pretty close match for your pattern? Of course, Alec is only faking his conversion, but his handlers want it to look as though he has gone from reliable member of the Circus to a comsymp. How to do it? Have him fall in love with a girl who’s already Red. (And Jewish, naturally, because so was Engles. No, not Engels–he was raised Protestant. I mean Engles, the famous Jewish co-author of “Red Russia”.)
bianca steele 02.13.16 at 3:27 pm
The images are somehow open for comments separate from the text. Does that always happen?
John Holbo 02.13.16 at 3:38 pm
That’s downright weird, Bianca. I don’t know why that’s happening.
Neville Morley 02.13.16 at 5:07 pm
I think we’re building a case here. Anyone got any other suggestions?
Gary Othic 02.13.16 at 6:04 pm
I initially read this completely wrong and thought ‘what the heck does this have to do with World War Two’
oldster 02.13.16 at 6:52 pm
It wouldn’t surprise me if the corpus of Ian Fleming’s writings contained variations on the wicked commie vamp trying to seduce pure British lads in order to steal their precious bodily fluids. He was a British cold-warrior as well as a nasty misogynist, so it’s right up his alley. I’m happy to say I don’t know his corpus well enough to be able to cite names and tomes.
Ronan(rf) 02.13.16 at 7:30 pm
I also thought it was a reference to ww 2 .I guess this says something or other about my love life.
Ronan(rf) 02.13.16 at 7:32 pm
It would have been a strange manner in which to celebrate VE day.
Henry 02.13.16 at 7:49 pm
Was watching Iron Man with the kids last night, and this
LFC 02.13.16 at 8:28 pm
Henry @14
I don’t get it.
Tom Bach 02.13.16 at 9:20 pm
Reigns, rains, or reins, of the three it should be the last, I think.
LFC 02.13.16 at 10:10 pm
Ah yes, wasn’t thinking (and/or was distracted): it should be ‘reins’, of course. (I’m usu. pretty sensitive to that sort of mistake. I’ll blame … the internet. It’s a handy culprit. ;)
Tabasco 02.13.16 at 10:16 pm
Sorry to interrupt, but Antonin Scalia has died. This changes everything.
LFC 02.13.16 at 10:29 pm
@18
the report seems to be correct, though it appears there’s been no official announcement as yet.
Lyle 02.13.16 at 11:09 pm
In case anyone actually is wondering why so many young women go for that white-haired old, this is an excellent explanation:
http://www.villagevoice.com/news/feeling-the-yern-why-one-millennial-woman-would-rather-go-to-hell-than-vote-for-hillary-8253224
“FEELING THE YERN: WHY ONE MILLENNIAL WOMAN WOULD RATHER GO TO HELL THAN VOTE FOR HILLARY”
Alan White 02.13.16 at 11:23 pm
Confirmed:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/13/politics/supreme-court-justice-antonin-scalia-dies-at-79/index.html
This should be an interesting election year indeed.
Tom Bach 02.13.16 at 11:40 pm
Elizabeth Warren strikes me a nice choice.
dr ngo 02.14.16 at 12:04 am
GOP , who control the Senate, have already vowed to block *any* Obama appointment, so it doesn’t matter much who he nominates. Alas.
Alan White 02.14.16 at 12:08 am
So–
1. Any Obama nominee has no chance.
2. The .01% money will flow like never before to elect a Republican. Record spending on the Presidential election by a wide margin.
3. Dems will fear a Bloomberg 3rd-party run for damn good reasons.
4. The future of the US will be determined by two people: Scalia and Bloomberg.
Tabasco 02.14.16 at 12:22 am
While they are fighting over his replacement, instead of 3-3-1 (Roberts) it will be 3-2-1. Any cases of note coming up?
Alan White 02.14.16 at 12:50 am
Tabasco–lots, including abortion and the ACA.
RNB 02.14.16 at 12:51 am
Scalia died in Obama’s last year. Obama will now nominate a new Justice. Republicans, get over it.
Alan White 02.14.16 at 1:08 am
RNB–there is practically zero chance an Obama nominee will pass the Senate. This is now a Presidential election matter.
JimV 02.14.16 at 1:10 am
Personally, I want E. Warren in the Senate, and later in the Presidency.
I think the President should nominate the most qualified, distinguished choice who will accept it. The Republicans will not ratify that choice, and further expose their blind partisanship. He will have done his constitutional duty, and they will not (in spirit).
Layman 02.14.16 at 1:25 am
The President might have a hard time finding someone who will consent to be nominated. Yes, there’s the power of a personal appeal from the President, but who wants to agree to be beaten with sticks, with zero chance of a win at the end?
LFC 02.14.16 at 3:09 am
@Tabasco
Any cases of note coming up?
A case on union fee-paying in public-sector unions; another round of the Tx. affirmative action case (iinm), etc. (see A. White above). The SCOTUS Blog (not an official thing, but run by expert Ct-watchers) is an authoritative source for coverage.
Alice de Tocqueville 02.14.16 at 6:56 am
Something for the lonely on Valentine’s Day: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDKMzi2IHc0
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