Tatar media are reportedly quite proud over a coincidence of the meanings of the catchphrases favored by Barack Obama and Tatar President Mintimer Shaimiyev (via FP Passport). Obama, of course, must have borrowed the phrase…
The Internet portal E-Kazan.ru alleged that Obama had borrowed Shaimiyev’s slogan and boasted about the prowess of Tatar political campaigning.
“Obama’s borrowing of our slogan proves once again that we are fully in step with the times, and on some issues we are even ahead of the Americans,” the web site wrote. “Our PR tactics are up-to-date, competitive and are even ‘rented’ by leading politicians.”
I can’t help but think that makes the above work for both the author who writes the words and the reader with whom they resonate is the exact same kind of solipsism discussed in this story.
“Yes, we can” is apparently not the only thing Democrats are borrowing from Central Asia. In one of the dumber things I’ve read in the past week, (which makes sense considering where the column is hosted) Gary Younge suggests that if the party’s superdelegates were to throw their weight behind the candidate with fewer delegates won in primaries and caucuses, then it would be something like… Karimov’s latest electoral victory? Not that they’re directly comparable or anything, just that a Clinton victory thanks to the superdelegates is worth mentioning alongside an Uzbek election…
This post was written by...
Nathan Hamm – author of 2974 posts on Registan.net.
Nathan is the Founding Editor and Publisher of Registan.net, which he launched in 2003. He was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uzbekistan 2000-2001 and received his MA in Central Asian Studies from the University of Washington in 2007. Since 2007, he has worked full-time as an analyst, consulting with private and government clients on Central Asian affairs, specializing in how socio-cultural and political factors shape risks and opportunities and how organizations can adjust their strategic and operational plans to account for these variables. Nathan is currently seeking research, analysis, and consulting opportunities. He can be contacted via Twitter or email.
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This makes me want to post signs in my yard — without explanation — that say “Bez Buldyrabyz!” In fact, I’m thinking about how to make the signs look as authentic as possible. If people ask me about the signs I can say that I’m supporting Mintimer Shaimiyev for president and they should too…
Oh, yes. I’m excited … and I can already see the look my wife is going to shoot me…
LOL, from Spike Lee movies to Devil Patrcik who hasn’t Obama plagiarized? Or perhaps politicians utter the same vacuous catch-phrases no matter where they are…