Finding the absurd...
A close friend has been talking to me recently about the possibilities of the surreal and absurd. Which got me thinking... Where is the United States version of the Official Monster Raving Looney Party? Read all about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Monster_Raving_Loony_Party
A brilliant idea. Inject the political process with a bit of randomness. And in doing so, occassionally be working toward an actual change that can help improve society. Perhaps the United States could benefit from its own version of Screaming Lord Sutch. On one hand, the atmosphere seems ripe for it. Things like the Daily Show and the Colbert report mix politics and humor (and even tongue-in-cheek presidential bids). But on the other, I'm not sure how comfortable people are with the surreal and absurd on the level at which organization of political interest has to occur. Would local voters ever choose such a candidate to represent them? They'd have to be pretty fed up (which seems almost impossible in the corruption-accepting municipality in which I reside). Might have worked with the backlash against Margaret Thatcher... maybe not here.
So maybe the trick is to promote more absurdity and surreality along with organizing a party on a more fanciful basis.
To that end, a few panels about absurdity from a brilliant comic: The Adventures of Dr. McNinja. http://drmcninja.com/index.html is where to check it out. Brilliant stuff by Chris Hastings. Check out the comics from the archive (read them in order), buy a t-shirt from their store, etc. Support great art, especially art that manages to explore the absurd while still telling a heck of a good story.
(click on it for readable sizing)
Phenomenal. And just the sort of nonsense-thinking that the political realm in America needs. C-Span coverage of that would be phenomenal.