(S)election 2024: Word Salad Queen vs. Fast Food Clown

essay +

“When we think about what’s at stake in this election – well it’s packed with some stuff! Some fundamental stuff! I say rather articulately.”
~ “Kamala laughs through remarks about the importance of the 2024 election” (20 second video)

Donald Trump's McDonald's PR stunt reflects the bigger deceptions of America. Whether Kamala actually worked at a McDonald's or not seems the premise for the stunt, along with his appealing to the so-called common man just two weeks before the election.

Ray Kroc "purchased the fast food company McDonald's in 1961 from the McDonald brothers and was its CEO from 1967 to 1973. Kroc is credited with the global expansion of McDonald's, turning it into the most successful fast food corporation in the world by revenue.”

In Piers Morgan's recent article he quotes Kroc:

"Ray Kroc’s other business ethos: 'If any of my competitors were drowning,’ he said, ‘I’d stick a hose in their mouth and turn on the water. It is ridiculous to call this an industry. This is not. This is rat eat rat, dog eat dog. I’ll kill ’em, and I’m going to kill ’em before they kill me. You’re talking about the American way – of survival of the fittest."

That's what's behind the smiley clown face of Ronald McDonald. As Dylan sings in "Masters of War," … "the executioner's face is always well-hidden."

Ok, just to be fair, worth mentioning that "The Kroc Foundation supported research, treatment and education about various medical conditions, such as alcoholism, diabetes, arthritis and multiple sclerosis. It is best known for establishing the Ronald McDonald House, a nonprofit organization that provides free housing for parents close to medical facilities where their children are receiving treatment."

But never mind that the fast food may have caused and continues causing health issues.

In Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (2001) by Eric Schlosser, along with background about Kroc, he reports on another icon of Americana:

“During WW II, Walt Disney produced scores of military training and propaganda films. … Disney’s passion for science found expression in “Tomorrowland,” the name given to a section of his theme park and to segments of his weekly television show. Tomorrowland encompassed everything from space travel [fast forward to Musk and Bezos] to household appliances of the future, depicting progress as a relentless march toward greater convenience for consumers.” [sound familiar?!]

But wait, there’s more well-hidden:

“In the mid-1950s Werner von Braun cohosted and helped produce a series of Disney television shows on space exploration. … At the time, von Braun was the U.S. Army’s leading rocket scientist. He had served in the same capacity for the German army during World War II. He had been an early and enthusiastic member of the Nazi party, as well as a major in the SS. At least 20,000 slave laborers, many of them Allied prisoners of war, died at Dora-Nordhausen, the factory where von Braun’s rockets were built.” (pp.38-39)

As with the McDonald’s clown face, Disney has been masked by cartoon figures.

One of my highlights from Fast Food Nation is about International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) in New Jersey:

"All of these aromas are made through the same basic process: the manipulation of volatile chemicals" (p.122), and those labeled "natural flavors" can be anything but. Another marketing strategy for products word i learned, "mouthfeel."

As with the politics, things aren’t always what they seem. So, be careful what you chew over with friends and family, as it’s likely to leave a bad taste in your mouthfeel. And pay attention to who’s pulling the strings, that way you can avoid media manipulation of your volatile biochemical emotions. I do, however, give the wild card Donald McDonald a slight advantage for the chance of his being less beholden to the puppet masters.

However, while Trump's PR stunt may actually help tip the (s)election scale, it's a clown mask, as, for example, he and his so-called opponent both favor continuing the genocide of the Palestinian People.

PS - Song video and lyrics about Ray Kroc: "Mark Knopfler - Boom, Like That"

[Verse 1]
I'm going to San Bernardino, ring-a-ding-ding
Milkshake mixers, that's my thing now
These guys bought a heap of my stuff
And I gotta see a good thing sure enough now

[Chorus]
Oh, my name's not Crock, it's Kroc with a K
Like crocodile but not spelt that way now
It's dog eat dog, rat eat rat
Kroc style, boom like that

[Verse 2]
And folks line up all down the street
Now I'm seeing this girl devour her meat now
And then I get it, wham, as clear as day
My pulse begins to hammer and I hear a voice say

[Interlude]
These boys have got this down
Ought to be one of these in every town
These boys have got the touch
It's clean as a whistle and it don't cost much
Wham, bam, you don't wait long
Shake, fries, patty - you're gone
And how about that friendly name, heck
Every little thing gotta stay the same

[Chorus]
Oh, my name's not Crock, that's Kroc with a K
Like crocodile but not spelt that way now
It's dog eat dog, rat eat rat
Dog eat dog, rat eat rat, now
Oh, it's dog eat dog, rat eat rat
Kroc style, boom like that

[Verse 3]
You gentlemen ought to expand
You're gonna need a helping hand now
So gentlemen, well, what about me?
We'll make a little business history now

[Chorus]
Oh, my name's not Crock, call me Ray
Like crocodile, but not spelt that way now
It's dog eat dog, rat eat rat
Kroc style, boom like that

[Verse 4]
Well, we'll build it up and I'll buy them out
But man they made me grind it out now
They open up a new place flippin' meat
So I do too, right across the street

[Interlude]
I got the name, I need the town
They sell up in the end and it all shuts down
Sometimes you gotta be an S.O.B
If you wanna make a dream reality
Competition, sent 'em south
If they're gonna drown put a hose in their mouth
Do not pass "Go", go straight to hell
I smell that meat hook smell

[Chorus]
Oh, my name's not Crock, that's Kroc with a K
Like crocodile but not spelt that way now
Oh it's dog eat dog, rat eat rat
Dog eat dog, rat eat rat, now
Oh, it's dog eat dog, rat eat rat
Kroc style, boom like that

PPS
Click book title to read the intro to my collection of essays and poems, Drive-thru Theofascism & The Hero’s Journey (2015); the cover image reflects the contrast of fast food Americana and the Native age-old-timeless name of the more recently heavily concreted lands, Turtle Island.

“The thesis of this book is that the dominant culture (worldwide,
though highlighting the US Empire) is theofascist with a drive-
thru colonial mentality ― and there are ways to avoid, prevent,
and heal from the various enforced limitations.”

&
For more background info, a 2018 article by Norah Campbell and Francis Finucane:
"McDonald’s is a social and healthcare burden – whatever its charity PR might indicate"