The Self-Torment of the White House Screen: Language, Lyotard and Looking Back at the War on Terror

This article considers the screen as a metaphorical figure for the way in which recent Republican White Houses have engaged with the world, both in a projective and protective fashion. As a thought experiment, we might specifically consider the George W. Bush White House (which includes his Cabinet Secretaries of Defence, State, and so on) as a sort of “desiring-subject” who wishes – fantasizes, even – to bring about a reality for itself; to produce a vision of the world which satisfies its desires for control, order and legitimation.