I like your Joe/Cobra comparison to the War on Terror, especially the Bin Laden/Zawahiri/Mullah Omar to CC/Destro/Zartan comparison. Let me try to do a few more...
Duke/Barack Obama: The young, charismatic upstart who comes out of nowhere to be the new leader of the team, seemingly usurping authority undeservedly from the older, more battle-tested George W. Bush/General Hawk.
Bazooka/Joe Biden: Old bumbling Bazooka Joe himself. That one average Joe who's likable enough but not exactly on the intellectual level of the others...or even close.
Covergirl/Sarah Palin: The good-looking anti-terror warrior and former beauty pageant contestant from the midwestern heartland who is as tough and tenacious in dealing with her enemies as she is glamorous and sexy. From her filecard, "Cover Girl finds that she must work against her beauty to prove herself...Her self-assurance and stunning good looks reduce most men to stuttering fools."
Gung-Ho/Donald Rumsfeld: The battle-hardened, tough-as-nails, no-nonsense warrior with the steely gaze who tells it like it is and doesn't take crap from anyone.
General Flagg/Ronald Reagan: The wise, steady, morally unimpeachable grandfather of the Joes and their ongoing spiritual inspiration.
Shipwreck/Bill Clinton: That unsteady, unreliable Joe who seems to have his heart in the right place but can't stop getting into trouble and disappointing anyone stupid enough to trust him.
Lady Jaye/Michelle Bachman: Spunky, sassy and patriotic, she's always willing to make a bold move, walk out on a limb and shoot first and ask questions later to help her friends.
Airtight/Rand Paul: A smart guy that you know is on your side but who definitely has some weird hobbies.
Lifeline/Jimmy Carter: The wimpy, anti-violence Joe who surrenders at the first opportunity.
Stalker/Colin Powell: The token black guy, LOL.
Firefly/Muhammed Atta: The clever, determined and highly unstable saboteur who aims to cause as much fiery destruction as possible.
Major Bludd/Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: A fanatically determined and disciplined enemy who usually sounds like a raving lunatic.
Dr. Mindbender/A.Q. Khan: The mad scientist who designs and creates secret new prototype weapons technologies for America's enemies.
Torch/Jared Loughner: Mentally unstable, intellectually impaired and violent street thug.
Baroness/Bernardine Dohrn: From the file card, "Graduated from student radicalism into international terrorism."
Tomax & Xamot & the Crimson Guard/George Soros and American socialists: Corrupt, America-hating robber baron and financier who passes himself off as a legitimate businessman while trying to destroy America from the inside by funding a network of spies, malcontents and dissidents mixed among the American populace who look and sound just like you and I.
Gamesmaster/Kim Jong-il: Kooky dictator of a remote island who enjoys cartoon characters, thinks he's much more important than Joe and Cobra and that the world really revolves around him.
Cobra-La/Saudi Royal Family: The ones who are REALLY pulling the strings behind international terrorism.
Hector Ramirez/Geraldo Rivera: LOL.
The funny thing is terrorists were used in the '80s because it was more of a fanciful enemy back then that people in the U.S. didn't really feel threatened by. Hence their use in other light, family-oriented movies like Back to the Future as well. When G.I. Joe RAH came out I'm not sure what the worst terrorist attack on Americans had been up to that point. The Beirut bombing happened in late 1983 after the toy line and first cartoon series had debuted. Of course even the multiple Al Queda bombings overseas in the '90s or the failed attempts in the U.S. didn't seem to stress out Americans much. But ever since 9/11, Hasbro has been running away from the "terrorist" word in the toys, cartoons and movies. Heck, they've gone so far as to brand Cobra an evil corporation in the new Renegades series, because it's "hip" to hate on corporations now. Of course the '80s cartoon had some anti-corporate themes thanks to Extensive Enterprises, but the focus was much more on Tomax and Xamot being evil LAWYERS, one of the angles that makes the Joe series easy to like for proud, card-carrying conservative Republicans like myself.
Colonel Miles Quaritch is like some sort of...non...giving-up...army guy!
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artimak
13 years ago
Interesting analogy, except that I wouldn't put the Joes into the positions of politicians of *either* political party. Soldiers are soldiers. Warriors in the service of others. Politicians are an entirely different breed. At one point in history, we called them Statesmen and they served on behalf of the people. Now, it just seems like regardless of party, they really only serve themselves.
By the way, your political bias was not only obvious, but disappointingly flawed.
Ronald Reagan tripled our national debt, sold weapons illegally to Nicaragua and Iraq, and tried to take credit from Gorbachev for the dismantling of the Soviet Union. All while his mental health failed with the onset of Alzheimer's Disease.
George H.W. Bush did a pretty solid job, overall. His handling of the Gulf War was well done.
Bill Clinton was a bad husband, but a solid president as well. His policies would have eliminated the national debt and balanced the federal budget within ten years of his leaving office. He also dramatically improved international relations.
George W. Bush pulled us into a war in Iraq that had nothing to do with September 11th or Osama bin Laden. A war that drained our economy and pushed us further into debt than at any other time in our nation's history.
It seems prudent to suggest that he was really following the policies set forth by his VP, Cheney, who took in millions upon millions of dollars in war profit by signing contracts with companies he owned major stock in (contracts that allowed these companies to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan).
Condie Rice was just a second-string politician following the orders of the higher ups. Her signifance compared to Bush or Cheney is relatively minimal.
Donald Rumsfeld was replaced, and with good reason. He's the guy who orchestrated those behind-the-scene arms deals with people like Saddam Hussein.
Sarah Palin's views are too extremist to fit appropriately within the mainstream conservatism of the Republican Party. Hence she's become little more than the talking-head of the far-right-wing fringe element known as the Tea Party.
Rand Paul isn't really significant enough to discuss, much less include in this type of analogy.
Barack Obama is still only halfway through his first term, and it's difficult to say how things will turn out. He made a lot of promises, but considering the state of the country when he took office, it doesn't seem likely that he'll be able to make good on everything he hoped he could.
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