Zizek on Barrack

Zizek had been known as the "Elvis of Cultural Theory" and here's an excerpt of his interview with Goodman of "Democracy Now!" It's a not-so-long interview and now we come to the end of Part I when he was asked about Obama's chances.

SLAVOJ ZIZEK: I think there would have been like left of Barack, if I may put it this way, no? It would have been probably not. But going seriously, no, of course, I am—my god, it’s stupid to say—for Barack and so on. But I see a tragedy here, because like let’s say he wins. What will he do? The tragedy of today’s left is what? It’s always the same story. Lula in Brazil, Mandela even. The good guy wins, we are enthusiastic, then you have around two years usually of period of grace, and then you have really to decide—do you play with global capitalism, or do you want to mess with it?

With this, I am not saying it doesn’t matter. Barack Obama can do things. There are many important gestures, like Guantanamo, stop with these waterboarding jokes, open relations with Cuba, recognize this would be incredibly important, recognize the Hague international tribunal. I will tell you from my European perspective, this was perceived in Europe as the worst, let’s say, ethical, political catastrophe of the United States. First they push for international court, then they sabotage it. People ask today, why are such crazy nationalists in Serbia? I’ll tell you. I spoke with them. They told me, first, United States push—they are still—sorry, I will be very brief—putting pressure on us, deliver Milosevic, Karadzic, all the criminals to Hague. Then, the same people, time and—

AMY GOODMAN: Ten seconds.

SLAVOJ ZIZEK: Yeah. And sign the non-extradition treaty. So you are digging your own grave.

Your Campaign Music Defines You

• Audio | Romney's campaign tune, You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet by Bachman Turner Overdrive
• Audio | Romney's campaign tune, Don't Stop Believing by Journey
• Audio | McCain's campaign tune, Take a Chance by Abba
• Audio | McCain's campaign tune, Johnny B. Goode by Chuck Berry
• Audio | Giuliani's campaign tune, Taking Care of Business by Bachman Turner Overdrive
• Audio | Giuliani's campaign tune, Best of Both Worlds by Van Halen
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• These are the campaign jingles of the Republican presidential frontrunners. Your music defines you, according to Miami Herald Well, they are all old.
• And here's Hillary's campaign song. No kidding!
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Patatas Politics

Mr. Potato Head is now the new Democratic Party endorser?





Guess the Pinoy politician who posed with this?

Tackling the Campaign Logos

Political image is everything. Logos back your image. Ward Sutton thru New York Times looks at the political frontrunners and their images projected through their campaign stickers. Another logo blogger disagrees. Another said Gilmore and Hunter failed the apostrophe test. The Diggs prefer Obama. Design lessons on anti-Bush buttons. A review of the Kerry-Bush font war.

Reminder for Barangay Officials: It's Your Face

Voters can judge a politician's competence in the blink of an eye—or so they think they can, a new study suggests. Previous research hints that voters go for the most competent candidates, but the new analysis reveals people can forge steadfast opinions simply by glancing at a candidate's picture. The study highlights some of the shallow behaviors of a sizeable chunk of the voting population, said co-author Alexander Todorov, a psychologist at Princeton University. "People are looking for the right information about a candidate, they're just looking in the wrong place," Todorov said. "We're seeing that snap judgments play a bigger role in voting than we thought." The study's findings are detailed in the Oct. 22 issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.