You’ve probably been confused about the broader significance of the Barbie-and-Ken reunion now being promoted on billboards.
That’s why they pay me the big bucks: to figure out the machinations of our evil plutocratic warlords. This seemingly innocent campaign actually conceals a deep political plot.
According to my secret de-coder ring, Mattel’s campaign - covertly paid for by the Koch brothers - is actually designed to pave the way for another pairing of vapid media creatures with generically Anglo-Saxon features: a Romney-Palin ticket in 2012.
Their ideas may be plastic, but their ambitions are real.
Author: Mark Kleiman
Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out.
Books:
Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken)
When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist
Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993)
Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989)
UCLA Homepage
Curriculum Vitae
Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com
View all posts by Mark Kleiman
Mitt would be a fine Ken doll, except he’s not gay. Sarah Palin is NOT a Barbie doll. She’s not robotic enough, and really doesn’t have the look: no rodentine features. (Her looks are overrated in any case: Michelle Bachman does far better among the wingnut brigades, and Jennifer Granholm is far better among the ex-gubernatorial set.)