Yoko and I were studying the menus at a restaurant tonight-- Vietnam Cafe in University City-- and I couldn't decide what I wanted for dinner. I flipped through the menu, unable to come to terms with the reality that any choice I made foreclosed all other options. It felt very important that I choose the exact perfect dish for my mood.
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I ran into the phrase "lèse majesté" in something I was reading and, for the life of me, I couldn't remember what it meant. So I went to trusty Wikipedia which very helpfully reminded me lèse majesté is the criminal offense of insulting a head of state. So far, so enlightened.

As an example of Lèse majesté, however, Wikipedia included this cartoon, a very subtle commentary on William Pitt's threat to suspend habeas corpus.



Since viewing this image, I have been unable to get its essential crassness out of my mind. The image depicts John Bull (the British version of Uncle Sam) letting loose an unabashed gust of flatulence directly in the face of King George III.

First of all, whatever notion that somehow modern minds are corrupt and debased are wiped away by this drawing. Imagine this cartoon being published by any newspaper or magazine in the country. It's simply unfathomable. It is perhaps too base for Hustler magazine.

In a sense, this image is the very essence of satire, stripping this form of commentary to its bare, gushing Platonic form. A man directly farting in another man's face: I can think of no more basic way of depicting disapproval.