Late last month, the State Department, the Department of Homeland Security, and Customs and Border protection released a promotional film created by Disney (gratis) meant to persuade foreign tourists to come enjoy the United States. Problem is, Disney annexed part of Canada to do so.
A random commment on Wonkette made me think of only one thing:
Do Not Tempt Me.
Alas, I always was weak in the face of this kind of temptation....
In showing the natural wonder, Disney's filmmakers, however, chose the Horseshoe Falls, the only one of Niagara's three waterfalls to lie almost entirely on the Canadian side of the border separating western New York state from southern Ontario province.
Making matters worse, a visitor to the US would not even be able to get the same view of the falls in the video because the scene was shot from a vantage point in Canada, according to Paul Gromosiak, a Niagara Falls, New York, historian and author. "This is not the United States, this is 100 per cent Canada, shot from the Canadian side," Mr Gromosiak said after reviewing the video. "This is an insult..." - Scotsman
You can see the video here:
Video available at State Department
Video available at Customs and Border Protection
Karen Hughes' State Department blog posting with Disney Video
Read Karen Hughes' post to see the why and how of this saccharine PR ploy. Karen Hughes? Yes, indeed the President's buddy, who's been working as the Under Secretary of Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at DoS - at least she was, until she resigned the position 5 days after her blog entry was posted.
"Uh, guys. The DipNote name is a shining example of your serious disconnect from the world of public discourse. Believe me, "Diplomatic" is not the word that springs to mind when hearing/reading ‘Dip.’ It’s ‘Dipstick.’ Look that up in The Urban Dictionary."
"... lay off the blog name, okay? Sorry that we gave it a name that actually meant something to us--you might have learned something about the State Department and the work of diplomacy rather than just churlishly mocking us for a term of art that we actually use in the field. Maybe typical for the 6th grade developmentally challenged crowd that appears to have been trolling this site. If you don't care about what we do, don't bother reading our blog; it's easy, right? That'll leave you more time to fiddle with yourselves in the bathroom."
Comments from Wonkette
If a "dipnote" is something that DoS employees "use in the field", then perhaps there ought to be some sort of an explanation somewhere for the rest of us sixth graders. (There actually is, but it was buried back as an edited-in P.S. on the opening 9/25/07 Scott McClellan post.)
Actually, "dipstick" isn't the first word that come to my mind either, but neither was "diplomacy". I spent several very confused moments trying to figure out wth "dip" would have to do with a government blog. Then I finally made the connection, and I was right back to the not-dipstick word again.
Beyond all of that, now we learn that the State Department has formed a "digital outreach" program, and has been selectively posting on blogs world-wide to foster understanding and peacejoyhappinessdemocracy. Good luck with that.
"My friends tell me that LOLState is next."
Do Not Tempt Me, for I am weak in the face of satirical opportunity.
http://lolstate.blogspot.com/