A little blast from the past: artist Vincent Collins’ “animated short film” (God forbid we call it a cartoon) on the bicentennial, featuring a really bad jazz-rock fusion soundtrack and a side helping of what must have been a really, really, really excellent tab of Owsley acid. I never thought a ‘toon could actually make my eyeballs scream.

It’s hard to pick a favorite moment: the exploding eagle egg; the scary clown with the trippy nose; the Grant Wood farmer with the flashing John Lennon sunglasses; the silo that looks like a barber pole having a bad trip; or the freakadelic cornucopia that spits out Model Ts, burgers, televisions, hot dogs and baseballs. And what’s up with a Mount Rushmore with only three Presidents? A tip for you masochists: slow down the kalideoscope section at the 2:17 mark, and you’ll see images of jack-o-lanterns, The Spirit of Saint Louis, and that paragon of Americanism, Colonel freaking Harlan Sanders.

So what does this have to do with global issues? Well if your brain manages not to melt, stick around for the end (well to be precise, the three minute mark) to find out. You see, it turns out that this poor man’s laser light show was commissioned and produced by… wait for it…

THE UNITED STATES INFORMATION AGENCY.

If I made this stuff up, no one would believe me. And after I watched this seizure-causing disaster all the way through (not once but twice), I couldn’t help but formulate a new theory on the emergence of Islamic fundamentalism.

Take a moment and imagine that you’re a college student in, oh I don’t know, Teheran, and you decide to to to movie night at the American Center and Library. You sit down, listen to the local Public Affaris Officer blather for a few minutes (did he have sideburns? was he wearing a leisure suit?), and then… this headache-inducing pile of poo comes on. Wouldn’t the first word to come to your mind be jihad?

Hat tip: Reason Magazine’s Hit & Run blog