January 15, 2002

11:36 AM

MTV sets Powell for global meeting."So, like, um, Mr. Powell, the U.S. is the coolest right?" I can't wait to see this one on TV. Maybe he'll explain to these kids that since Bin Laden escaped, we have an excuse to keep fighting.
posted by insomnyuk (10 comments total)

This show will probably once again make me embarrassed to be a part of my generation. (Are we on generation 'z' yet?)
posted by insomnyuk at 11:53 AM on January 15, 2002

Whatever dude, MTV is like, so much smarter than you make it seem to be. F'reals yo.
posted by hellinskira at 12:18 PM on January 15, 2002

ah to be young and cynical and discount all things Amrica. So what if Powell appears and gets asked questions and perhaps even gets embarrassed? Isn't this what makes democracy work a bit better? Would you have those in leadership roles simply go their own way and not be judged by the public? Sure, he can uyse this or any station as propaganda place, but that gets done every Sunday morning on the talk shows. I have sufficient faith in our young people to know they will stick it to him if he deserves it.
As for not getting Bin Laden: he may well get away and it certainly looks that way, but if he had been caught on day one do you seriously believe that would end terror cells world-wide and we can then wrap things up and go on with MTV sans Powell?
posted by Postroad at 12:24 PM on January 15, 2002

One would assume, Postroad, that the questions will be carefully screened, and I doubt that the show will occur with any significant incidents (which would probably just be edited out).

do you seriously believe that would end terror cells world-wide and we can then wrap things up and go on with MTV sans Powell?

Of course not, but Bin Laden makes a convenient target for us... he gives our nation a tangible goal, and if he did not exist (he may not, he could be dead for all we know) the U.S. government would be much harder pressed to make the case for expanding the war against terrorism (which can be a very vague and abstract idea) into places like Iraq and Somalia. If bin Laden is in one of those countries, we can accuse Iraq of harboring him, for example, and when Iraq denies it, we invade. It seems pretty straightforward to me.
posted by insomnyuk at 12:36 PM on January 15, 2002

To paraphrase Voltaire, if Bid Laden didn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent him. In fact come to think of it, we pretty much did didn't we?

A more interesting question - if he were magically killed on the first day given all the it's not about him it's about terror machinations that were coming out of state, do you suppose they would have told us?
posted by willnot at 1:05 PM on January 15, 2002

I have sufficient faith in our young people to know they will stick it to him if he deserves it.

Yeah, like when they asked Clinton, "The world is waiting to know Mr. President, is it boxers or briefs?"
posted by mikhail at 1:32 PM on January 15, 2002

do you suppose they would have told us

no, because that'd be the end of the guy they said was responsible. now that they've expanded the bad guy to include anyone they want to point at, it wouldn't matter much except to provide a boost in el Presidente's approval rating when it has fallen too far for their comfort.

and this Powell forum will be crap. it'll be nothing but carefully screened questions. and if not, then it'll be the youngster from outside the US who ask the tough questions. if there are any. which there won't be.

my boyfriend told me this weekend that i have a negative attitude. i didn't believe him. i'll reconsider now.
posted by tolkhan at 1:43 PM on January 15, 2002

Hey, this should be just like his work with the Boys Clubs of America.

Once again, he'll be fielding softball pitches...
posted by insomnia_lj at 3:37 AM on January 16, 2002

Though I don't watch these programs (way out of the demographic, I'm afraid,) I actually like it when government figures make themselves available to answer questions and explain policy to young citizens. The MTV demo pool are the people who will be voting next, and anything that encourages them to look past the small circle of their world to the bigger one around them should be applauded. Yeah, there will probably be dumb questions like Clinton's boxers or briefs question, but the adult, mainstream media has no problem asking stupid questions either- or have we all forgotten Bush Sr. having to make a public statement on his enjoyment (or lack thereof) of broccoli?
posted by headspace at 3:47 AM on January 16, 2002

Broccoli stems are our friends.
posted by mikhail at 12:25 PM on January 16, 2002