Take this summer of 2009. Look at the new posters called "unpleasant," "disturbing" and a "fake grassroots movement" by liberal bloggers, and pointed out by conservatives as some kind of "popular" commentary. The original image was apparently created by Firas Khateeb, a student living in Chicago. However, whoever adapted it as a poster and added the legend, "socialism," is still a mystery.
Photos by Chris, via Tammy Bruce.
Made by persons unknown, the posters started showing up around Los Angeles. They are of President Obama as a version of Heath Ledger's Joker character in The Dark Knight, with a none-too-subtle "socialism" message attached to them.
It gets to be very cryptopolitical and weird out there. [Update: See SMiles' "Alex Jones as The Joker."]
LA Weekly.
Of course, such visual expressions were used against the previous administration too. Drew Friedman, in July 2008, drew President George W. Bush as "The Joker" for Vanity Fair. He entitled it "No Joke."
Clearly, the Joker's impact lives on today.
Even sightings of past stars are recorded in terms of their old Joker roles this summer. For example, see how Philadelphia Inquirer entertainment columnist Michael Klein mentioned one such actor on July 20, 2009:
Jack Nicholson, shooting the James L. Brooks comedy in town, was spotted sitting near home plate at Monday's Phillies-Cubs game in a white Yankees cap. Fans gave him a pass because, well, he's Jack Nicholson. The Phillie Phanatic came out on the field in a Batman costume and pretended to take on "The Joker." Nicholson played along, shaking his hands to signal that he was going to "get him."
Meanwhile, the movie's star Reese Witherspoon, who starts before the cameras Tuesday (7/21) in the Brooks comedy, was Jake Gyllenhaal-less at dinner with her kids and nanny Saturday at Plate restaurant at Suburban Square in Ardmore. She's living on the Main Line.
For future reference, be aware of the Joker, Donnie Darko's Jake Gyllenhaal, and the name "Ardmore," in Michael Klein's short passage.
As I have mentioned recently in "Top Ten Evil Clown Stories of 2008", "Evil Clowns 2008", and "Phantom Clowns Are Back", sinister clowns are an active Fortean and cultural phenomenon.
Now, something wicked this way comes, or, at least, a new momentarily appearance of same.
On August 11, 2009, WSBT 24/7 News broadcast the following breaking story, "Clown reportedly chases man near Ardmore Trail."
Police looking for a man dressed as a clown were unsuccessful in locating him early Tuesday [August 11, 2009] — that’s after a driver told St. Joseph County authorities the stranger chased him around just west of South Bend.
The man called 911 shortly before 3 a.m. and said the person in a clown suit was on foot, but chasing him as he was in his truck in the 55500 block of Melrose Avenue.
The clown then disappeared back into the woods, police were told.
Officers who responded to the scene were unable to locate the clown, according to 911 dispatch.
Clearly, in this seemingly near "abduction" case, it reminded me of the "Phantom Clown" cases where clowns were seen, children were threatened with kidnappings, and the clowns then merely vanished.
So I searched around a bit.
Guess what? On Thursday, August 6, 2009, there was a near-abduction of a little girl in...get this...Ardmore, Oklahoma!
Daniel Armbruster of KXII-TV reported:
Ardmore Police say a 10-year-old girl was riding her bike near her home Thursday evening when a man approached her and asked her to get into his car. Now a seemingly quiet neighborhood is on edge.
The 500 block of H Street Southwest in Ardmore is described by residents as peaceful and a great place to raise children. But since last Thursday evening some residents have become concerned that their small neighborhood may no longer be the safe place they one believed....
Ardmore Police say the only description the little girl could provide is that the man was light skinned. They say it was the skills her parents taught her about strangers that possibly saved her life, because she refused the man's invitation to get into his car and immediately ran home.
Ardmore, Oklahoma having a near-child abduction and Ardmore Trail, Indiana being the focus of "clown" attention on 8-11 are bizarre and very Fortean. What name game is behind "Ardmore"?
The name Ardmore is a Gaelic word signifying high grounds or hills. John A. Keel would often point out that hilltops (literally the "keels" of the high grounds) were the best places to observe Forteana.
Most of the uses of the word "Ardmore" link directly back to Ardmore, Ireland.
Round tower and ruins of St Declan's Church, Ardmore, Ireland.
On a hill above the village of Ardmore, Ireland, is a well-preserved 30m high, 12th-century round tower and the ruins of St Declan's church and oratory dating from the 13th and 8th centuries respectively. One of the outer walls of the church features some stone carvings retrieved from an earlier 9th-century building. The carvings include a very early image of a harp, and of Adam and Eve in the garden.
The Ardmore church also contains two Ogham stones (ancient alphabet message phallic carved rocks, see one below), which rest in small alcoves.
Where does "Ardmore" pop up in the USA?
Ardmore, Oklahoma was named after the affluent Philadelphia suburb and historic Pennsylvania Main Line stop Ardmore, Pennsylvania, which was named after Ardmore, Ireland (the oldest Christian settlement in Ireland) by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1873.
Another Ardmore is a city in Giles and Lincoln counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, and borders its sister city, Ardmore, Alabama. That Ardmore is a town in Limestone County, Alabama, and is included in the Huntsville-Decatur Metro Area. It is home to the Saturn 1B Rocket, at the Alabama Welcome Center, just south of the Tennessee border, on Interstate 65.
On April 22, 1966, Ardmore, Oklahoma, was the site of the worst plane crash in Oklahoma history, which killed 83 people.
And now a "clown" is appearing along the Ardmore Trail in Indiana, and a child kidnapping phantom in Ardmore, Oklahoma. BTW, as aferrismoon points out, synchromysticism's Godfather John Shelby Downard was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
Ardmore is the site of Downard's imagined or real horrible Masonic childhood abuse memories.
For more on "Phantom Clowns," see Mysterious America (NY: Simon and Schuster, 2006). For more on symbolic criminal behavior, see The Copycat Effect (NY: Simon and Schuster, 2004).
Thanks to Dan Shideler for the first hints of the Ardmore Trail events.
And its James Shelby Downard's birthplace
ReplyDeleteEvil clowns indeed
One can get into ,say, photoshopping and juxtaposition of two [ media-recognised] images .
A sort of 'luck of the draw' situationist opportunism
I believe a synonym for government = a clown-show act
Should u wish check out the snapshot from Batman at my post-
NON-PLUSSED,ULTRA
which shows the joker burning a deal of money , metaphorically the same as the 'bail[bale]-out'
cheers
Speaking of curious Obama number synchs, I noted way back in January he issued National Security Presidential Directive 66 on January 12, 2009, synching with Order 66, given by another Emperor in a far away galaxy a long time ago...
ReplyDeleteCheers, Michael
Clown's coming back.. Maybe one of my favorite, weird movies is a documentary and not fiction, LOL. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_BPcDOjJCc
ReplyDeleteuhhh,
ReplyDeleteJanuary 12?
Before he was inaugurated?
Wow!
just checked presidential directive 66.
ReplyDeleteJanuary 9, 2009.
George W. Bush.
Now, explain to us why it's a good thing now.
clown makeup may have occultic satanic origins(or pagan0
ReplyDeleteand the wooded areas with the high points(hills) may have ceromonial sites thaT require human sacrafice -thus the abductions,especially of children.
tim rifat covers this very well on rense in his mp3 archives,and fritz springmier on his interviews on google video.
If the thing about Ardmore stirs your cookie dough, just look up info about the #s 23 & 33, the names Washington, and 'Fayette' and its other versions. Author Jim Bradon was the discoverer of this phenomenon.
ReplyDeleteThanks Anon for doing the research I should have done. So never mind.
ReplyDeleteI ve been dancing around to Pink's song, about "Evil Clowns" all season, and as a Caulrophobe, it has been particularly fun for me. I thought her song might get a mention in this article, maybe the title was gleaned subconsciously from her song? Just co-incidence or not it is true, clowns are on the whole evil. I loathe them and would gladly see them banned from circuses. They are creepy, they satirise retarded people and they are about the only thing to have come out of the dark ages, send them back I say.
ReplyDeleteThank you, aferrismoon, for the memory jog about JSD's birthplace. That's just downright too synchromystic for words. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, C. D. Horn, that classic movie about killer clowns from outer space is certainly now part of our popular culture now.
Hey, S. Katt, are you clowning around or merely are you new to the "Twilight Language"? Did you happen to read any of the archives here? I've been a research colleague of Jim Brandon's for decades, and I'm one of the main writers about the "Fayette Factor."
Rabbit, thank you for sharing what you enjoy in terms of music and your thoughts on evil clowns.
I suggest clicking on the links embedded in this posting for more background on this topic. There is no way this simple midsummer review was written to be complete in its history or links to all things about Fortean clowns. But one does measure a circle, starting anywhere.
I appreciate all the comments.
It was also the birthplace of John Hinckley Jr.
ReplyDeleteAnd Halliburton...
Cheers Loren
ReplyDeletemaybe check out SEcret Sun's:
KILLING JOKE: FURTHER DOWN THE ABYSS
Who was that clown make-up wearing singer of Killing Joke?
jaz COLEMAN
Thank you for this post Loren, great Fortean stuff, and a confirmation of my own clown disgust...I, like a lot of people, have never liked clowns. Creepy and wonderfully interesting post.
ReplyDeleteCan't remember where, (maybe here?) but I read a piece in the past year that noted how the "Joker" image and connections to it was a bad omen. Like the young man, Tim MacLean, who had a "Joker" tattoo on his body and was known as Jokaz Wild. He was beheaded on a bus in Manitoba Canada. Weird stuff.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Loren.
ReplyDeleteI don't see anything disturbing about the poster itself. It's political commentary, pure and simple. If they are trying to go for a (let's say) "Racist" angle to this, they are wrong, I'm afraid. The "whiteface" is part of the character of the Joker, not a "throwback" to minstrel shows, as some people I have read about commented.
The poster IS wrong on one thing, though...
The Joker (at least in The Dark Knight) was clearly an Anarchist, not a Socialist. The person who dreamed up the poster apparently is trying to equate Socialism with Anarchy. Two totally different animals.
Again, great post, Loren.
You have got to see this one!!!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivpshw2yn4g
I was out reading today about your speciality with language. I've tapped into something and funny about synchronicity, I found something wierd about Hinkley today too.
ReplyDeleteHe is hooked up with Reverend Sun Moon. Moon was crowned the true parent and King of the USA March 23 2004 at the dirkson senate office building.
I believe Moon is the parent of that FAMILY that Jeff Sharlet writes about.
Here's the stuff on Hinckley though.
Another troubled young man who was exposed to Christian evangelism but who became active in right-wing Nazi causes was John W. Hinckley, Jr., the Texas-raised son of the wealthy head of Vanderbilt Energy Company, John W. Hinckley, Sr. Eventually, the Hinckleys moved from Dallas, Texas to Evergreen, Colorado. Hinckley, Jr., like Rove, dropped out of college. After a failed attempt at becoming a songwriter in Hollywood, Hinckley returned to Evergreen, where he worked as a busboy in a nightclub. In late 1980, at the same time George H. W. Bush was planning his meeting in Paris with emissaries of the Islamic regime in Iran to convince them to hold on to U.S. embassy hostages taken captive in Tehran in 1979 until after the presidential election -- in order to deny President Carter an “October Surprise” -- Hinckley began stalking Carter. He also stalked presidential candidate Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. When Nashville Airport baggage metal detectors identified two handguns in Hinckley’s luggage, he was arrested, had his weapons confiscated, fined $62.50, and released. President Carter was making a campaign stop in Nashville the day Hinckley was arrested but the Secret Service decided not to make any more inquiries. Hinckley then purchased two more handguns.
John Hinckley’s brother Scott, who was Vice President of Vanderbilt Energy, was a friend of Neil Bush, George H. W. Bush’s Colorado-based son who would later go on to infamy in the Silverado Savings & Loan scandal. George H. W. Bush was sworn in as Vice President of the United States on January 20, 1981. Instead of a surprise that would help Carter win re-election, the October Surprise turned out to be a Bush surprise that cost Carter the election. True to their agreement with Bush, the Iranians released American embassy hostages they very moment Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president. A few weeks later, Reagan appeared at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton Hotel along with Vice President Bush. Longtime Fellowship leader Albert Quie, then Governor of Minnesota, gave the keynote message.
A little over two months later, John W. Hinckley, Jr., stepped from a crowd gathered outside the very same hotel where Reagan had prayed in February with the Fellowship. Hinckley fired six shots from his Rohm R6-14 handgun in the direction of Reagan. One struck the president in his left chest, the bullet lodging an inch from Reagan’s heart. George H. W. Bush was literally one inch from the presidency. But the Bush dynasty’s total seizure of the White House would have to wait.
Also remember that hills in Ireland were the portals to the Faerie realm.
ReplyDeleteIt's also kinda odd, or maybe not, that they mention Jake Gyllenhaal when his sister is also connected with the Joker.
Did you see this kidnapping that ended up in Ardmore, AL?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=11255839#
'Late Friday night, federal agents arrested Silas at her home in Ardmore. Agents said they used surveillance video and car rental records to develop her as a suspect.'