I still remember the days I cringed when I first heard the songs
Like A Virgin and
Material Girl from a woman who took her Catholic upbringing and subverted the symbolism of the Madonna to stand for amorality.
The conservatives in this country decried the decadence of this new pop icon, Madonna (full name Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone). And I did too. I considered the underlying messge hideous....
Marylin Monroe singing
Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend was ironic comedy. So was all of Mae West's act. But Madonna? She shamelessly appropriated from her betters and there was not a hint of irony in what she was singing. She meant it. The only irony was that there was no irony.
But at least it was consoling to realize that Bubblegum singers were quickly off the scene.
But we all know the rest of the story. She learned public image shapeshifting from David Bowie. While she could stay fresh in the public eye, she was always subtly domineerng and mercinary.
She never maintained stable intimate relationships. When she decided it was time for a child, she got a stud-trainer to impregnate her, then she dumped him.
One day, a well educated woman told me that she respected Madonna because, "she doesn't take shit off anybody." I almost Hurled! So this is the new morality! I mean, Al Capone didn't take shit of anybody either...
When her career took a dive, she morphed into a New-Age Esoteric Jewess...and a children's-book writer that espouses (! Irony Alert!) the virtues of sharing...
She married an up-and-coming director and sabotaged his career by insisting on a remake of a bad Italian Anti-Capitalist art film, Swept Away. Yeeech.
No- That wasn't jealous sabotage...
Current odds on Madonna and Guy Ritche divorcing in 2006 are 7:4.
So Has Madonna actulay changed through the years? Not one iota.
Where, you ask, does the GOP come in? Now, I want to make clear that I mean the GOP- Not true consevatives of various stripes. Some comparisons are in order:
Ms. Ciconne: Subverts her religious tradition to shock for for weath and fame.
GOP: Quoth Pat Robertson (net worth is between $200 million and $1 billion): "If I could just get a nuclear device inside Foggy Bottom [U.S. State Department Headquarters], I think that's the answer." I mean, you get through this, and you say, "We've got to blow that thing up."
GOP: Quoth Ann Coulter: "This is no time to be precious about locating the exact individuals directly involved in this particular terrorist attack.... We know who the homicidal maniacs are. They are the ones cheering and dancing right now. We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity."
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Ms. Ciconne: Ruthless dominance of anyone or anything over fair play or authentic values.
GOP: The K-Street Project; The Nuclear Option; Bald-faced unethical and probably illegal gerrymandering; Wars of agression based on trumped up evidence. Lying about the projected costs of Medicare Part -D and threatening the person who's job it was to tell the truth.
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Ms. Ciconne: Getting in WAY over head with every movie she ever made and never learns when to stop.
GOP: Iraq Invasion; now threatening Iran with invasion. No one at the top loses their job (except the one who was reluctant to invade).
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Ms. Ciconne: Moral shifting and moral relativism when perceived self-interest is treatened. Now claims religion (Kabbalah in a bastardized form)
GOP: Rush Limbaugh and others justifying torture, Redefining what torture iis; obvious systematic use of torture but no leaders are punished who instituted the practice... The President leaving himself the option to over-rule laws to allow torture and wiretapping (a Constitutional crime if he uses those options).
Ms. Ciconne: More Moral Relativism- Albums bomb and she starts writing about the virtues of sharing with others...
GOP: Institues a truly massive socialist program (Medicare Part-D) to pander to their base and their corporate supporters. Borrow from overseas to make up for their spending and tax-cuts.
Pervasive corruption uncovered and prosecutions begin. Claim to be "The Party of Reform."
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Who would have thought that all that liberal immoral culture of 20 years ago would be co-opted by the Conservative Party of our Nation? At least they don't take shit off anyone.