Your Turn: Fore!

Do you remember Rush Limbaugh’s “Club Gitmo” t-shirts? On first glance, it reminded me of that. At first you think “Look, he’s even playing golf. It’s like a holiday resort. The detainees are treated fine.”
But then you notice the blindfold. It’s an absurdity. You can’t play golf in a blindfold. Perhaps it points to another absurdity. The idea that we can allow our govt to hold men outside the law, but somehow hope or trust that this power won’t be abused.

yeah… do you know what will close Gitmo, who will end Iraq criminal invasion? only the american people! but the american people doesn´t care because only 2500 americans died so far! and who cares about thousands of iraqis killed? not the american people. If the numbers were reversed the war would be stopped right now. the truth hurts, but is the only way to live.

If he’s playing golf, he’s not an inmate. But, he’s wearing chains, so he’s not a guard, either. AFAIK, those are the only two types of permanent residents at Gitmo, and I don’t think the inmates ever get their hands on a golf club. So, it all adds up to: a guard convicted of some crime, presumably abuse of prisoners, now serving out some absurdist penalty, blindfolded and chained on the golf course. No prison time, just a mock slap on the wrist and a funny story to tell at the bar later on.

Great poster.
Note the peace sign, ironically made up of chain.
The warning color orange taking over – the fight against terror, again irony – the terror is US!

Golf is the quintessential American upper-middle class recreation. It’s the pastime of affluent, corporate types. They purchase and wear special bright-colored golf costumes when they play: bright pink, emerald green…and tangerine orange, as in this image.
I view this movie ad as a powerful visual metaphor that emphasizes the complex dependencies between the US and the ME. On the surface, the symbols of Gitmo, enemy non-combatant prisoners and the WOT. But at the same time, the symbols of golf conjure corporate mentality and complacent Americans.
The prisoner with the golf club is your average American, affluent, corporate, at leisure. We are the ones who are blindfolded and in chains, prisoners of our lifestyle. Although blinded, we continue to play our little game. We imagine that we are free, but our true status is indicated by the prison watch tower. Our government– represented by the American flag–has become our wardens as well as wardens of the enemy combatants who are held at Gitmo.
We think it is about Gitmo, the WOT, and terrorists, but it is also about us. We are willing to justify injustice, exploitation, law-breaking and torture just to cling to our comfortable lifestyle.

short-iron/eye-d git-sum/game

sa(nd)trap

Wearing those chains, what’s he going to hit but his own leg?
And, the “tee” is coming out of his head. It makes the chained golfer look like a nail to be pounded into the ground. If you set your tee too high it might snap when you swing. At this tee’s height, I think they’re aiming for the tee and not the ball.

Great comments… I keep being drawn to the legs, because it looks like the person’s wearing knee-high boots or something. And you can’t actually see his feet. I didn’t know what that would indicate, but after reading PTate’s comment, it got me thinking that maybe he’s bogged down in a quagmire.
The guard tower reminds me of the pictures we saw of Col. Bumgarner sitting in his favorite spot: the corner of the guard tower. If the guy is sitting the same way, then his back is to us and he can’t see behind him. And the blindfolded guy can’t see him either. No vision – no idea how to get out of this mess.

looks a bit like a weapon, a bit like a vacation. maybe like a tool for a prison chain gang (digging?). overall, completely counter to what I presume is their intended message. or confusing. what on earth!!

It is an image that compresses both views, those that believe that Gitmo is hunky-dory, nothing wrong here in Paradise and those who say it is a dark dungeon, that swallows people whole.
The sunset and the golfclub represent the “I Love Gitmo” crowd (aka the Dittoheads) while the chains and the bandage represent the “We hate Gitmo and all it represents” crowd, which would include me, for many reasons.

This colonialism under the Bush administration has a “Brave New World” feel to it. The people in charge act like naive kids who actually think they are exporting democracy. I think they have no idea what democracy really is, they are scared to death of it. Also the majority of the American people want to be like children and let the government do what it wants, the TV says it’s all OK.
This image reminds me of the silly games that the people in “Brave New World” go out to play in their flying machines. I heard an Iraqi guy being interviwed by Thom Hartman on Air America this morning. He said the Iraqis can look over the river and see the giant new embassy being built. They know it will have fast food, gyms, a yoga studio, hairdressers and a bunch of other frivolous things. He said meanwhile the Iraqis are sitting around jobless and in danger in 120 degree heat with maybe 2 hours of electricity and so on.
The new rules of war are being written by a bunch of paranoid Dr. Strangelove types that think they are going to reap the spoils of their adventures. I think the image says this is a very sick game being played by these elites and that this person, whether he is a real terrorist or an innocent guy, is being used as part of it. However that figure is much larger than the guard tower, so it is possible he will knock it over with his golf ball. Somehow there will be blowback because of the incompetence and childishness of the game.

The image is of an American, or ‘America’, not a prisoner. The more he reaches back to swing, the closer his legs must come together, undermining his balance and stance. As America tries to take a swing at fighting terrorism, it is enchained by draconian penal measures, loss to civil liberties, etc, which erode our norms and ironically, our ability to fight back…
The golfer is also swinging into the weeds blindfolded, a suitable metaphor for attempting to ‘hit’ a terrorist by sifting through mass detainees from the ‘Third World’. Overall I see the image representing the ‘dillema’ of Guantanamo and the War on Terror.

Who put the blindfold on America’s eyes (to go with Shaun’s metaphor)?
Big corporations in bed with other governments to make a mess of cash selling out our troops and country.
Can I get arrested for typing that?

Plus, looking at that stance, that ball is gonna go everywhere but where it is supposed to go. Can you say SLICE?

My eye keeps going back to the U.S. flag. Flying over a prison camp and a prisoner. While our do-nothing congress* is flailing about passing a senseless amendment to prevent the burning of the flag (which is the only approved method for disposing of an old flag), they are totally oblivious to the dear leader and Darth busily dragging that same flag through the mud and blood of their (our) victims. It is everywhere their crimes are. I wonder if we will ever be able to be proud of our flag again.
* They did manage to pass themselves a pay increase, while denying one to all the subsistence workers on a minimum wage.

Auntie Claire’s Hand:
What can I say, what’s old in new again. The Romans wanted to, well romanize, the Spaniards wanted to convert, the Brits to civilize and now the Americans want to democratize. It all translates to: “I am better, my values and world view are better and I have the right, nay, the duty, to impose them on you primitives types. And by God your going to like it.”
The strange thing is that eventually this process breeds people that stradle the cultural devide, like Ghandi or Arminius. They have an unsual gift of leadership and the power to “know the enemy better that it knows itself” thus leading to the defeat of the Empire from without and within.