Schitzophonic

Thursday, February 10, 2005

Trading Spouses: A Guide to World Politics

The last two episodes of Fox's Trading Spouses dealt with the swap of the overbearing selfish mother Janet from upstate New York with the perfect mom (and human being) Marybeth of a Sammamish, Washington farm. The episodes centered around the inability of Marybeth to break into the Farrell family that dealt with their lives by not dealing with their lives and Janet who consistently made an ass of herself while giving herself a pat on the back.

Meanwhile, in Korea, nuclear scientists developed nuclear weapons. I'll get back to that later.

Marybeth struggled with all her might to reach out to the Farrell family to no avail. She tried taking them roller skating at the family fun center. She chatted them up at dinner to find herself in a dead end conversation. She even got involved in the yard work only to be told to sit back and relax. Her ticket in ended up being misunderstood Brian Farrell whose life revolved around scarification, tattoos, piercings, and art. By the end of the episode, Marybeth approached Brian to compliment him on his tattoos and scars and piercings. She went on to praise his skills as an artist and encouraged him to pursue a career in tattoo art and even gave him the money to do it. Brian's reacted surprised, but also felt comforted and validated for the first time in his life. Boy was Janet upset.

The United States is Janet. When rebellious North Korea approached the press to tell the world that they have nuclear weapons and are withdrawing from further talks, Codoleeza reminded them that the rest of the free world is more than capable of defending itself against their nukes. This is after the United States firmly told North Korea to stop their nuclear pursuits. Of course if you order someone not to do something, it becomes that much more desirable - and they're going to do it! Just look at how many tattoos, piercings and scars Brian has! Step aside Condi and let Marybeth take charge of the negotiations:

"Wow! North Korea, that's really neat! When it comes to nuclear arms, you've got some real talent. Oh my gosh! Is that enriched uranium? That's really neat! Wow! It's so pure!"

Marybeth would then report back to the United Nations and inform them:

"I really feel that North Korea is at a tipping point where it could certainly head into dangerous waters. North Korea has real talent in building up a nuclear armament and I think you need to recognize and appreciate that."

Finally, when faced with the decision on how to spend North Korea's money, she would probably write:

"...and I've decided to award $10,000 to North Korea to study at nuclear physics at Strayer University. The rest of the money should be spent on a vacation for North Korea to Hawaii..."

Think about how much more North Korea would feel like a member of the global community. Furthermore, It will be far less satisfying it will be for North Korea to develop nuclear weaons if it knows that it has the world's approval. Marybeth, you rock!