A couple colleagues asked if it's really fair to describe The Big Lebowski's Walter Sobchak as a foreign policy hawk. I believe this clip ("unchecked agression"... "line in the sand") definitively backs me up:
Also, as far as the similarities between Walter and McCain, this scene parallels the Iraq war so closely it's incredible to believe it was made before the war:
--Jonathan Chait
Posted: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 5:26 PM with 14 comment(s)
Yeah, but if you've seen the movie, you will recall that Sobchak was a Jewish convert. Somehow I don't think he'd confuse Purim with Halloween . . .
ah....how much do i love that movie......and there is the answer to the burning question of what McCain would do if *he* was on the receiving end of that 3am phone call.....
Chait. You're a fucking pussy. Johnny Mac has you down cold and so do I. Try and fuck this stranger in the ass.
Now all I'm left with is which cheek your tongue is in.
I think the "OVER THE LINE, SMOKEY!" certainly confirms his hawkish stance. I mean, anyone willing to pull a gun over a bowling match isn't someone who believes in peaceful negotiation as a means to solve foreign policy disputes.
You've ruined my night, Chait. I had plans. Busy plans. Important plans. But am I going to get to do those plans? No, I am not. Instead, I am going to have to stay in and pop "Big Lebowski" in the DVD player. So thanks, Chait. Thanks a whole lot.
(Do you suppose McCain also prefers Nazis to suicide bombers because, say what you will about the tenets of National Socialism, at least it's an ethos?)
Why do we all love this movie?
And yes - that second clip is all about Iraq, isn't it.
Neil
"8 year olds, Dude. 8 year olds."
Though I guess his satisfaction with The Jesus's punishment would count as domestic policy.
The Big Lebowski is filled with references to things that happen or are themselves referenced earlier in the movie. Walter's "unchecked aggression" line comes from a George Bush, Sr. speech shown on an in-store TV while The Dude is checking out of the Ralph's at the beginning of the film.
www.hulu.com/.../the-big-lebowski
One could say Bush handled the Iraq War the same way Walter handled the spreading of Donnie's ashes at the end of the movie. That scene brought tears of laughter to my eyes.
Jon, look what you've started here.
AHAHAH
I love you, Chait. I mean...you treat objects like women, man.
Now get off your ass and start writing the "Diary Of the Hillary-A-Phobe"!!!!!
errr...what I meant was, "You treat objects like Hillary Clinton, man"
not to mention this one:
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Definately a hawk.
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Would that be John Goodman?
Don't forget the most prescient fact of all: the day the carpet pissers attack is (as you can see when Dude writes the cheque for milk) September 11.