Of Mooninites and Morons

Taking a break from Ms. Fareeza for a second to weigh in on this morass.

Okay, so you probably already know what happened. Time Warner set up a ten city guerilla marketing campaign to promote the upcoming release of the full length movie based on the inimitable Aqua Teen Hunger Force TV series. The operative marketing tool was essentially a Lite Brite with a picture of a Mooninite on it.

Our fair city interpreted it as a terrorist attack.

And detonated the Lite Brites with a tactical bomb squad.

I want to cry.

First of all, I wanted one of those Lite Brites. Second of all, we live in the dumbest city in the world. Moving on:

Notwithstanding the idiocy of the furor over something that was the city's mistake (both Menino and Patrick are up in arms about how Time Warner should pay restitution or something for this - since when was the government never accountable for gross overreactions? Oh, yeah, sorry. Since 9/11), this situation shines a bright light (ha!) on the festering tar pit that is our culture. To wit:

- If we're detonating innocent advertising campaigns with abandon on uninformed hunches of terrorism, how many innocent people are we throwing in jail based on charges of the same non-information?

- In the same vein, how many innocent people are we detonating?

- If you were a terrorist, wouldn't you be laughing right now? I would be spewing guffaws of evil from my axis of laughter. Especially if I were a terrorist that watched ATHF. Honestly, how easy is it to paralyze this country in fear? Do we have any reason to believe that there are people in positions of power within our borders that use this their own advantage, and, at times, possibly also to the detriment of others?

- Menino is a tool. So is Patrick. Sorry, Massachusetts. As it turns out, the lesser or two evils is sometimes just plain dumb.

- Last but not least, no matter who picks up the tab for this, Time Warner and ATHF win. Remember that Simpsons Halloween special where the ads all came to life, and the only way to kill them was to not look at them? Yeah, well here's how the New York Times wrapped up their story on this event:

'''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of a block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network. A feature length film based on the show is slated for release March 23.'

In conclusion, the world is full of stupid people, and there is a good chance that you're one of them.

For your enjoyment: a terrorist quote generator.