Riding on the Iconoclastic Coattails of the Most Famous WWII Photo

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I heard on the news the other day, that some Marines are pissed and that the Time Magazine editor sees nothing wrong on the evocative Joe Rosenthal image photo-shopping, hijacking the symbolic heroism that is burned in the psyche of every red-blooded American.

“It’s an absolute disgrace. Whoever did it is going to hell. That’s a mortal sin. God forbid he runs into a Marine that was an Iwo Jima survivor.”-Donald Mates, 3rd Marine Division veteran of Iwo Jima

“That global warming is the biggest joke I’ve ever known. [W]e’ll stick a dadgum tree up somebody’s rear if they want that and think that’s going to cure something.” – Lt. John Keith Wells, leader of the platoon that raised the flags on Mt. Suribachi and co-author of “Give Me Fifty Marines Not Afraid to Die: Iwo Jima”

I think a Flopping Aces photo-shop contest is in order…

Can anyone think of any other iconoclastic images that is worthy of photo-shop in the spirit of the Time Magazine cover, to point out how ridiculous and offensive the comparative symbolism is? Curt is offering the contest winner an item from the FA store.

If you are not good at photoshopping, perhaps offer image ideas for others to try out.

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My first thought on this was that they were trying to suggest that the greenies, who wouldn’t defend their family from being murdered by jihadis were somehow heroes on the same moral plane as the men who died at Iowa Jima to free the world from Japanese tyranny.

It didn’t really dawn on me that the greatest insult of all, and the one most revealing about the true intentions of environmentalists was to replace the flag with a tree.

Replace the water pipes in this image with the burning twin towers. Put AK-47s in the background. Give put hooded heads on these guys to make them look like masked terrorists.

men smoking shisha

http://img53.exs.cx/img53/6539/DeathOfOswald-real.jpg
Put a Star of David arm badge on Oswald.

They could have picked something to do with Arbor Day (a proAmerican enviromentalist holiday) instead.
http://www.arborday.org/arborday/history.cfm

I think you mean to say ‘iconic’ in both places where you use the word ‘iconoclastic’. But I’m honestly not sure.
Someone looking for raw material for the photoshop contest might want to look at http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/ – they have the guy at Tiananmen square blocking a column of tanks, the burning monk from the Vietnam war, and a variety of other famous images.

My first thought on this was that they were trying to suggest that the greenies, who wouldn’t defend their family from being murdered by jihadis were somehow heroes on the same moral plane as the men who died at Iowa Jima to free the world from Japanese tyranny.

It didn’t really dawn on me that the greatest insult of all, and the one most revealing about the true intentions of environmentalists was to replace the flag with a tree.

I think it would be wrong to tie the enviromental movement to the anti-war “movement”. There not the same players. Isn’t John McCain one of the “greenies”?

I would suggest not using the Mt. Suribachi image, there is simply no way of tastefully doing it, even to parody. Perhaps one of the ones bbartlog suggests…

This is totally digusting and the envirinmentalist wackos will use anything to force their propaganda dow nour throats. Utterly dispicable

Throw Al Gore into a volcano to appease the green’s false ga ga god Gaia, Gotcha, Steala yo Casha.

Jeffrey Nihart

That pic has always evoked Golgotha for me.

Surabachi is a the Golgotha of the USMC of course. Or the Anabasis.

Caption:

Caliphate Supreme Commander for the Muslim State Army Bin Laden puts bored and idle ex US Marines to work planting trees in Ouja outside Tikrit for the Saddam Memorial Mosque. Grand opening is slated for late 2012″.

My son is a Marine, and yeah THEY WILL BE HEARING FROM ME.

BTW, Fit Fit… my suggested caption lays out my first impression exactly. I’m not against clean air. Nor am I an environmental un-realist.

Translated more clearly, our Marines do not exist to plant trees. Nor do I think it requires the herculean effort of our Marines to “save the planet” by planting trees. Equating this task with war for survival is highly misleading.

And, to order such specialists to this task is only an insult, done only under the most extraordinary of circumstance.

I can think of no excuse for this photoshop job except a serious number of braincells being out of commission in the ad producer.

Bbartlog… I believe iconoclastic is an appropriate word here. Not for “religion” but for a revered institution or belief.

while i was serving in the army,i found a pic in a playboy that showed the marines planting the flag in the ayatollahs(iran)ass.I cut it out and framed it and hung it in on my barracks wall.still have it somewhere. FWIW

As a Former Marine I can say that I thrill at the thought of this image from Iwo representing American Victory. I also had three Uncles on the island that all made it home, though two with a lot of holes.

Those Marines represnt us all in Victory, I am ok with that. I just don’t get the tree at all.

If we can all love Jarheads planting Old Glory in the Ayatolla’s @ss then we have to deal with others using the image as well. Springfield if you still have that I would love to see it!

What happened to the Template?

This is just wrong. It’s bad enough that patriotism has been replaced, in large part, by blind nationalism, but this appropriation of one of the most iconic images in our national memory is a horrid trivialization of sacrifice…

Change the pic to the Marines holding Al Gore upside down and planting his head in the ground! I don’t think there would be many Marines objecting to that.

Fitfit: Are you denying that greenie envirozealots are not at the nexus of the defeat America/blame America movement?

Didn’t you get the memo from the Kremlin?

TIME’s cover is a disgrace. It’s so terribly disrespectful to the thousands who died in the Battle of Iwo Jima and all who have sacrificed in service to our country.

Regarding the contest:

An idea–

You know when Khrushchev had his shoe-banging fit at the UN?

Gore could be Khrushchev and he could be about to smash an incandescent light bulb.

Another idea–

Put a tree lapel pin on Barack Obama.

Fitfit: Are you denying that greenie envirozealots are not at the nexus of the defeat America/blame America movement?

Didn’t you get the memo from the Kremlin?

Are you calling John McCain a commie?

The Bratva runs the Kremlin now, I think the memos come straight from Ted Turner’s Superfortress on Skull Island.

FF: You said “I think it would be wrong to tie the enviromental movement to the anti-war “movement”. ”

Have you ever been to an anti-war rally? A good number of the people there are holding up some commiee/greenie sign.

Are you aware that groups like the Sierra Club opposed the Iraq war?

Admit you were wrong and “MoveOn.”

I’m not against the war so I wouldn’t go to an anti-war rally.

Fit fit’s America is a diverse place where all people don’t fall into one of two thought group’s. Mike’s America is a depressingly negative, bitterly divided place.

I didn’t say there was no overlap, but plenty of people have signed on to this global warming movement incuding Bush, McCain, and now Gingrich. Personally I’m still on the fence.