Sunday, February 17, 2008

Babies for Clinton

I went searching online today for campaign gear to dress up the wee one. Not surprising there is any number of hate-Hillary options. Some might be considered clever, some are stupid, and others are downright offensive. Here's a sampling:
Starting from top left: OK. Communism. Hillary's a communist. Not sure why the person who came up with this design thinks this but certainly we're supposed to believe this is bad. Perhaps it's Hillary's stance on universal health care. Because, you know, providing health care to everyone is indeed a bad thing. A bad communist thing. On to Mad Cow. Near as I can tell, this one is either likening the potential leader of our country to a cow or to the slowly progressive, degenerative, fatal disease affecting the central nervous system of a cow. Either way, it falls flat as far as an insult is concerned. Moving on to Hillary as OJ's wife, ground that is rather offensive when you consider what happened to OJ's wife. The person who thought this up apparently wants another woman to be mutilated by multiple stab wounds, including one that nearly severs her head from her body. Really? What's she done to you? More importantly, is this ever acceptable behavior? Da Bitch - perhaps the most uninspired of the bunch. No Penis, No Problems. I want to order this one for myself solely because it uses the word "penis". It ain't every day you see that word being worn. And finally...comparing Hillary to Hitler. Wow. I don't even know how to respond to this one other than by uttering "You've got to be fucking kidding me." Shame on whoever came up with that. Shame. Shame. Shame.

Now, because I don't want to leave you on that note, here are some examples of the lighter side. I think they are all funny but I guess if you hail from the other side of the aisle, it might be considered rude. My apologies.

9 comments:

B. E. Busby said...

I thought the "no penis, no problem" one (this should help get you off the "G" rating train!) was quite Steinem-esque and not insulting, just a more militant style of feminist commentary.

If you had to guess, during your hunt for such things, what's the Clinton/Obama ratio of over-the-top negative items (like the last one of the batch -- yeesh -- looks like Don Imus found a side job to make sure he has something to fall back on if he dorks up on air again)?

Christie said...

I did a quick search for Obama gear after I had had enough of the Clinton bashing - seriously, that Hitler comparison is just too much - and only found a few slightly negative items. Some of this is explained by the fact that Mrs. Clinton has been in the limelight much longer than Obama. The animosity displayed on the Clinton items speaks to the sexism and misogyny that is rampant in our society. Clearly she is overstepping her bounds. My God, remember the backlash when she made that dang cookie statement. What if the woman doesn't like to bake? Seems to me she is hated for being overly feminine (e.g., public displays of emotion) and equally hated for being too masculine (e.g., wanting to be leader of the free world).

So, you've admitted to being a Republican. Can you explain what the conservative values are? Under the current administration I don't think they can argue they've been fiscally responsible (e.g., war and the tanking economy) or have lessened government's role in our lives (e.g., warrantless wiretapping). Do you feel G.W. Bush has gotten away from the things that used to define the party?

It's clear the people of the U.S. want change but I'm not so sure the politicians want the same change. And where liberals/progressives and conservatives are so different in philosophies, I wonder how any one politician/leader can change things in a manner that keeps everyone happy.

B. E. Busby said...

Holy Moly, I was right! You're PG now!

"This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

* penis (2x)
* breast (1x)
"

Your analysis of Clinton discomfort echoes the Steinem article in the NYT.

And, yes, I have been a registered (R) person for many years, but, as we've commented earlier, supportive of Obama, not so much because of his progressive ways but because he'll do maximal damage to the existing powers-that-be. Watching the Senate roll over on the wiretapping mess reminded me that the Washington insiders, R and D alike should be shown the door.

Your analysis of the current lack of "conservative" ideas reflects the root cause of my R-specific and Washington-generic dyspepsia (although the phrase, "you've admitted to being a Republican sounds a bit McCarthy-esque, dontcha think?).

I'm really curious -- did you find the NP/NP button offensive or aggressively feminist? I thought the latter.

And, by ending the Clinton buttons on the "Hitlery" note, you've re-inforced Godwin's Law which, I paraphrase as "once Hitler or comparisons thereto appears in a discussion, the discussion's over."

Dan said...

Oooh juicy banter. All I have to add is the "Bro's before Ho's" kinda made me chuckle out loud. Does that say something about me?

Christie said...

"...because he'll do maximal damage to the existing powers-that-be" How so? Do you believe Obama exists outside the established political framework? If so, if that is how everyone else in D.C. operates, how will he get anything done?

"R and D alike should be shown the door" I agree. These folks currently holding office are certainly not doing what the people request.

"sounds a bit McCarthy-esque" Didn't intend that. I was referencing another comment on another post where you admitted as such before stating you liked Obama.

"did you find the NP/NP button offensive or aggressively feminist?" Aggressive because of the use of the word "penis"? Neither, although closer to the latter than the former.

Christie said...

Chuckling is allowed. Although, shouldn't it be "Bros before Hos"?

B. E. Busby said...

I guess I was raising an eyebrow at the characterization of the Rep willing to go Dem... for me it was a straightforward representation as opposed to an "admission."

Also, to the degree that the NP/NP button represents a positive statement, I'm content; just wondering if my read was vastly off-base.

Inside/outside thoughts. Clinton has represented herself as "experienced," as "ready to get to work" and has (as was widely ballyhooed) agreed to accept lobbyist funds for her campaign. I assume (might be my bad) that touting experience and readiness to function meaning that the extant structure will be used and controlled (and soaked for campaign funds), not shaken up or dismantled.

Certainly Obama is part of the power structure, but the leanings of the "superdelegates" (what a bucket of chum THAT system is) indicates to my paranoid, suspicious brain that party insiders aren't all that happy about him. I indirectly know some of the lobbying folks in DC and they're VERY uncomfortable about him getting in (sorry, that's hardly dispositive data for you and as such, feel free to discount it).

Lastly, to the extent that "Bro's" is a contraction for "Brothers" it would appear correct as written. The "Ho's" one would be correct if (and I'm unsure on the contraction writing process) silent letters may be dropped sans apostrophe, else I guess it would be "'Ho's" which just plain looks dorky.

Christie said...

I forgot the practice of using an apostrophe to signify missing letters/numbers. Bro's is correct. But I don't believe ho's is an abbreviation of a longer word, is it? If it isn't, than using an apostrophe does not make sense. Since "bros" is an acceptable abbreviation of "brothers", I'm standing by my claim that it should be "Bros before hos". Although I'll certainly accept "Bro's before hos" too.

B. E. Busby said...

I tried to send this last night, but BigFoot (Tomokee) whacked the keyboard and I wasn't sure if a partial got sent or not.

First off, My theory on "ho's" being putably correct goes like this:

If "whores" is reduced to a contraction, you get to drop the silent character for free (no apostrophe) and then you reduce "hores" to "ho's."

And I saw in the NYT the folly of going negative in a campaign where people seem to have been asking not just for a change in external governance (the WHAT politicians do) but the internal (HOW they do it) wrapped up in the article here:

http://tinyurl.com/2n38j4

from which I quote (in fair-use minimal part):

"In Wisconsin, the survey of voters leaving the polls found that Democrats believed Mr. Obama would be more likely than Mrs. Clinton, by 63 percent to 37 percent, to defeat the Republican nominee in the fall."

I don't know to what degree this reflects a rejection of the sudden flare of campaign nastiness, but I know it's a turnoff for me.