Thursday 5 November 2020

rebel rabbit

Though we suspected the well-circulated GIF to be an authentic one if not a bit too on the nose for comfort, we had forgotten the context and provenance of the gag of Bugs Bunny sawing off the State of Florida and so appreciated the review of the motivation to carve out a higher bounty on his hide and proclaim himself a domestic terrorist. Though these critical antics which included in the same cartoon physically accosting senators, returning the island of Manhattan to the Native Americans, making the Panama Canal free for all trade traffic as well as unmooring the peninsula, shouting “South America, take it away!,” might have only been well-received for the brief window in which the short appeared (1949) when the United States was not at war with someone between World War II and Korea. Perhaps rectifying some of what had gone so astray with the nation wouldn’t be appreciated until just under a half-century later the decision to suspend the Florida recount and punt democracy to a supreme court packed with justices appointed by a political dynasty. More at MEL magazine—including the cartoon in its entirety—at the link above. Rascally rabbit indeed!