You Back the Attack! We'll Bomb Who We Want!: Remixed War Propaganda

This book of spot-on political posters really seems to have polarised reviewers so it must be doing something right. Of the two hundred that Micah Wright has produced (you can see them all on his website, antiwarposters) forty have been selected to go with some very relevant text from the Center for Constitutional Rights. I think these remixed posters work so well because the author has taken the trouble to put his headlines in the same typography as the originals (which are reproduced in the back of the book) and to see historical graphics blended with a contemporary political point really hits you between the eyes. The surprising thing to me is that this simple, brilliant design idea has not been done before but maybe it was the events of the last two years that galvanised one person to put his point-of-view across with such deadly accuracy.

I was familiar with Wright's work at "The Propaganda Remix Project" and this is the result of that work in progress.It amuses me to see the knee-jerk responses from the Terribly Serious, both left and right, to work of this sort. One of the first signs of mindless fanaticism is the loss of your sense of humor. If you can look at this stuff and laugh, as a neocon, you're still safe to be around. If you look at it as a liberal and start punching the air in solidary, you ain't. :)There's PLENTY of posters that could be "remixed" in the other direction; and I hope that Wright will get to it soon. With any luck, the next administration will give him ample reason to do so. Leave the in-depth political analysis to the anal-retentive - don't criticize it for being what it never was meant to be. This book is a wonderful ironic comment about patriotism, popular culture and your place in it.

These posters speak for themselves. Every conscious American will love this book....

In-freaking-credible! Micah has taken WW2 posters and detourned them into new messages against the creeping fascism the USA finds itself in today. The typical visions of charging soldiers, the Statue of Liberty, and various patriotic images are framed with ironically Orwellian slogans or calls to rebel and protest. Perfect for enlarging as protest signs, or copying and leaving on a public bulletin board or under an SUV's windshield wiper. Next to each poster is a text written by the Center for Constitutional Rights, giving further detail to the message of the poster. Anyone even remotely interested in curent politics, or political activity should buy this book. Better still, reproduce the images (something the artist encourages in the inroduction) so others can be enlightened. Buy this book...while you still can!

Like many thinking Americans of all political ideologies, I was both horrified by the events of September 11th, and the response of my elected officials. Instantly, a public policy originating against suspected terrorist funder Osama Bin Laden morphed into an assasination attempt against Saddam Hussein, and then just as quickly an unexplained general urge to impose our goverment on the Iraqi people, who (despite the abuses under Saddam) do not seem as enthusiastic about our dictates. That the Bush administration's intervention rationale changed as quickly as the weather was convienently discarded by a 'liberal' media more enamored with fawning descriptions of 'patrotism' than raising difficult questions which had the very real potential of casting a shadow on the American political system itself. Because many of today's news anchors came of age during Vietnam themselves (and learned the administration response is not always truthful) the ommission is all the more upsetting. I also realized however well-intentioned my politics, they would be difficult to communicate in a soundbite driven economy where even the most initally open-minded of swing voters becomes quickly ailenated by lengthy political tomes. Thus, even if a majority of citizens actually doubted the administration, their ability to provide memorable soundbies quickly reassured the same audiences. This book is an excellent tool for beating the far right at it's own game. The updated images are intentionally culled from 1940's-1950's propaganda posters, ironically a time when patriotism was also blindly practiced. In those days, the fastest way to defeat your opponent was to accuse them of un-American behavior, a frightening trend returning in our own era. Government abuse of constitutional rights is allowed as long as good citizens remain silent and do nothing. Wright has cleverly rengineered some entries to directly appeal to the self-humor of anti-war protestor's. Social change by nature is hard and prolonged, but taking a little time out to engage in sardonic humor at one's self helps lighten the long journey ahead. Although there are dozens of national and local anti-war organizations, this book would be especially helpful for groups (new ones, and/or students) who want to protest 21st century colonization without blowing their own budgets. The professionally edited images arrive ready for modifications (an explicit suggestion within the book) thereby helping to ensure American democracy is more than a slogan, and something we actually practice ourselves.