U.K.: The Iraq War on the blogs

Following my previous post, Chicken Yoghurt uses a much more creative approach to commemorate the start of the War in Iraq. The blogger allegorizes the whole situation by creating a character, "Warren Iraq," who, at five years old, is a problem child at school. The allegory is very well done, for the most part: Saddam Hussein is reimagined as a fellow schoolboy who, shortly after Warren's arrival, leaves suddenly; the state of Iraq is suggested through descriptions of the school building itself; and military catchphrases such as "fr**ndly f*re" and "*xtr**rd*n*ry r*nd*t**n" are reviled as swear words that Warren uses.

It is a very creative approach to the situation, and it gives the blogger the flexibility to come out and condemn the U.S. and U.K. for their roles in the war. An allusion to President Bush and former P.M. Blair arises near the end of the piece, as they are cast as Warren's parents:

"The neglect that Warren has suffered at the hands of his parents should also be mentioned. One left in July last year and has not visited or been in contact at all since. His other parent is leaving his job in January next year and has yet to say how he plans to continue to emotionally and financially support his son."

We've been talking about Jon Stewart's The Daily Show and how it functions in relation to traditional media. This blog, like The Daily Show, can only be understood by those who follow the news to begin with (one needs to be aware of American and British politics to understand the reference to Warren's parents, for example). Like Jon Stewart, too, the blogger has a liberal bias. But bias is not a point of contention for new media, and in this case, the freedom from neutrality in the blog world allows the blogger to suggest things that the reporter at The Guardian could not.