make- a- speech

[mnaz]

google up some speeches
feed them through algorithm A
which sorts the most repeated words
spits them in a hopper, down a chute

the buzz words, leverage and frame
summer blockbuster, feel-good flick
beware, the other party's tricky dick

down a chute, through algorithm B
in circuit jungles of rhetoricator 9000
add sundry pronouns and conjunctions
set to random shuffle, and voila!
the perfect interchangeable


here's one...

reach out to any willing patriot crooked deals in the pentagon
tell that to the hard-working side of freedom and side of tyranny
defender of the oppressed I fight for you terrorists tax breaks to corporations
create good jobs cause of freedom 9/11 value of families higher taxes
leading us in those dark days I fought lobbyists 9/11 no red or blue americans
the greatest country on earth brave men and women 5 million new jobs
tough times our children's future finish the fight cut spending many dangerous threats pork barrel my friends ideals and character of freedom 9/11 you can count on it
waste your money wisdom and resolve raise taxes the american spirit greater cause
ambitious project struggling to put food standing up to the engine of our prosperity
attack it on every front security of america i work for you stood and fought
proud flag higher taxes champion of working americans build new partnerships
change is coming fought and bled together health care my opponent taxes
keeping us safe stand at a crossroads hard work taxes i stand before you

oops, forgot pronouns and conjunctions...

[happytrails]

Alright, this actually made about as much sense as most of the political speeches I have heard on t.v.

Have you ever taken an instruction booklet from any product, type it into your computer, send it through a translator program. Translate into any language. (the oriental languages work the best for this purpose) then translate back into English, and see what comes out. When people say that something loses something in the translation, they aren't kidding. It is even more bizarre if it goes through several different languages before translating it back into English. Try it; it's fun. It makes you understand why it is sometimes difficult to interpret what the hell the instructions mean when trying to assemble a toy made in Taiwan.

[mnaz]

happytrails... what an excellent idea! I should try that. I suppose that might work for any bunch of text... that's funny, a poet (terri) over on the poetry in baltimore site just posted one of those garbled-translation things as a poem... some sort of spam e-mail. ahh, the global economy... thanks.

[happytrails]

Try it and let me know what you think.

[mnaz]

of course, the rhetoricator 9000 is not a translator, but a "random conflater" of sorts. I remember some talk show host in 1990 who was so pissed over the way newt gingrich and co. were making such an exact and well-orchestrated science out of the political lexicon-- the "strong" words/phrases, and the "weak" ones (with which to smear, by steady, calculated and repeated application). by now it seems almost a randomly-generated buzz-phrase-a-thon with a few bits of "policy" and heart-strings-tugger anectdotes sprinkled in. seems a little emply, all that theater. but then, I've been tending a little cynical for several years now..

[jim turner]

Could we possibly develop a genuinely new political party? The Party of Poets. Who would be nominate for president? Don't look at me! Much as I'd like it, at 85 I'm too old to last out even one term. Gotta be somebody else. jim

[stilltrucking]

Could we possibly develop a genuinely new political party?

Neologistic had an interesting post about nominations for president which was somewhat along those lines.

And I have hopes for Lightning Rod's
Mad Dog Absurdest Party


I thought you might like this mnaz
I found it when I was googling for "Evil is real and it must be opposed"

JEAN GENET, The Balcony

"By stretching language we'll distort it sufficiently to wrap ourselves in it and hide."

rhetoricator 9000

I am sure there must be a couple in use already.

[SmileGRL]

party of poets? whoa. they might call us "too romantic". haha

ever saw the movie "lost in translation"? you can literally feel the 2 main characters feeling lost and confused, being in a foreign country where they didn't understand the language or the culture and on top of that their own empty personal lives. the title is perfect for the movie.

[mnaz]

tiz true, a new party is needed (you know, more simply, uhh, us?) ah what a pipe dream that is. we gotta work to eat, and they got us there-- "(tax?) the corporation and then it's no job, no eat, so let's crush those commies at the polls, and the free market will eventually setchu free, trust mee.." ah hell, what do i know. something like that. i'm not helping matters much with my obvious negativity.

[jim turner]

Makes me think of sharecroppers in the Reconstruction (?) South. They worked, hoping to eat, but their cupboards were bare. Truth was, while starving, they worked so others could eat. Possibly some truth to the origin of Sandlapper as a name for a South Carolina cropper.

Bit similar to cotton mill owners post-Reconstruction. They considered themselves "charitable, ergo Christian" to give a 10-year-old a 12-hour-a-day job with a 30-minute lunch break--with no lunch. All for half a dollar a day.

Jim

[mnaz]

m-j, I didn't mean to ignore... "lost in translation" describes much of human history, the latest rounds in particular (ironically as we get good at communication devices). a party of poets would be laughed off the stage fairly early, no use for it. so much work to do, and i'll try to be more positive. god, i'll try. jim, the whole 'jobs' thing is like a drug, and yes, we're being drugged and swindled and killed by it. shame on us! although it's probably not anyone's fault in particular. and it's (obviously) not even all bad...