Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Who needs Derrida?

Our Commander in Chief was apparently handed a leadership script during today's news conference:
Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government.

To the extent the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility.
Here's my question: Just what the fuck does that mean? "I take responsibility?" Can someone translate that for me in terms of actual things that go on in the world? The more analytical side of me thinks of Derrida and his "language has lost its ability to mean" (or however that goes). I know I pick on Bush and his grotesque jingoism of hate (for example, from this same press conference, "the enemies of freedom remain brutal and determined"), but this is even more than that; this is not even language--it conveys no meaning whatsoever.

Responsibility.

Whatever.

The less analytical side of me just wants to set myself on fire.

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