June 18, 2008

Republican Iconography

Have you seen this yet?


According to the Dallas News, it's a button being sold by a company called Republicanmarketing.com at the GOP State Convention in dubya's home state of Texas.

Then there's this from another Redder than Red state known as Utah:



On the one hand, the "puppet" has been discontinued. The message on the website thesockobama.com reads:

We are very apologetic to all who were upset by our toy idea.

We will not be proceeding with the manufacturing of this toy.

Thank you.

On the other hand, this hit the news yesterday:

A Utah couple who earlier apologized for a Barack Obama sock monkey that was decried as racist say they may still sell the toy.

David and Elizabeth Lawson of West Jordan, owners of TheSockObama LLC, said after a swarm of bloggers decried their toy as racist that the sock monkey based on the Illinois senator and presumptive Democratic nominee for president would not be manufactured.

However, the Lawsons said Monday that "a few new opportunities have been presented" to produce the monkey.

From Senator McCain's website back in January:
If McCain does get the nod of his party, he has promised, he will wage a civil campaign.
When can we expect McCain to denounce the racists in his own party?
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UPDATE: Republicanmarket.com gets bounced from the GOP conventions:

The Texas Republican Party is distancing itself from a vendor who sold campaign buttons at last weekend's state convention that asked, "If Obama is president ... will we still call it The White House?"

The state GOP party said Wednesday that it will donate the $1,500 rent it collected from the vendor, Republicanmarket.com, to Midwestern flood victims.

Good for them.

23 comments:

  1. i'm going with "no".

    i don't think we CAN expect him to denounce the racists.

    only preachers who preach against WHITE people are to be denounced.

    silly!

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  2. The puppet toy does appear, at first glance, to be extremely offensive. And yet, I would point out -- with credit given to Half Sigma -- that many people who are worked up about this puppet also once thought it entirely appropriate to compare the current President to a chimpanzee.

    If it's OK to do it to a Republican, how can it be wrong to do the exact same thing to a Democrat? Or should Obama be automatically protected from this kind of childish comparison simply because he's black?

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  3. the difference is that blacks have been catagorized as chimps, monkeys and less human for centuries.

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  4. Admiral;

    With all respect -

    I'm working my way through a book on Socratic Logic (called, incidentally "Socratic Logic") and it's enlightening in its description of pre-modern logic (ie Aristotelian) logic forms.

    I think you've confused a universal with a particular here. The reason why the "monkey/Obama" differs from "chimpanzee/Bush" is that historically African Americans as a group have been called "monkeys" while no such similar racial epithet has been raised against European Americans.

    In this instance, Obama is being called a "monkey" BECAUSE he's a member of a group. For Bush, it's because some feel he, individually, looks like a chimpanzee.

    Big difference.

    Dayvoe

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  5. John K. says: Let's see; Bush has been called the Chimp, Cheney's sock puppet, a Fascist. Comedy Central has potrayed him as a retard, as Lil' Bush. Bush was accused of being drunk in the White House as well as using cocaine. He was also called a deserter from the Military. And you left wing kooks whine about this. LMA LMAO What a bunch of hypocrites. LOL You been outed.

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  6. John K. also says; You also wrote books about how to murder Bush. Even had a movie made about it. Let alone the hope the left had that Cheney would have a heart attack while in office. And you whine about this. LMAO

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  7. Wrong again, John. I did none of those things.

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  8. Once again 2PJ is trying to capitalize on an issue that's irrelevant. Racism is not illegal. Taste is a matter of opinion.
    Would 2PJ continue to blast McCain if there were no party system?
    (Personally, I voted for Hillary. She was a much stronger choice than Obama.)

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  9. no, being a racist isn't illegal. it's just stupid and disqusting and says a lot about character.

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  10. and it is not irrelevant. it's painful, demeaning , childish and wrong.

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  11. No, no, no.

    Let's give "Bob" his due. Perhaps to Bob (and folks like him) racism IS a just matter of taste.

    And he's right, it's certainly not illegal (unless it's institutionalized via "separate but equal" schools/restaurants/water fountains).

    So let's take a look at some other things that are just a matter of taste.

    Too much pepper on the paprikash - a matter of taste.
    Too much eyebrow hair on Peter Gallagher's face - a matter of taste.
    Racism - a matter of taste.

    Yea, that sounds about right.

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  12. John K. says: And we also have the Kanye West line of, "Bush hates black people and wants to kill them." And the false accusations of Bush being a war criminal. And no liberal, yah you, defended Bush or stated how out of line those comments were. Of course we can't forget the Gen Betrayus ad that was defended by this blog. Along with how you support the troops.
    So get real left wing kooks. You supported those comments when uttered against Bush. You said nothing when Bush was called "the chimp".
    Now you whine? LMAO How hypocritical. I got you pegged.

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  13. John K;

    Please show us that Kanye West said EXACTLY ALL those words.

    Making up quotes is strikingly dishonest, even for you.

    Well, Bush IS a war criminal. He ordered the invasion of a sovereign nation by lying about how the threat was imminent.

    That's a war crime.

    His administration allowed torture to take place.

    That's a war crime.

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  14. And it'll only get worse!!! this is nothing compared to what's coming down the pike.

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  15. Actually, I would agree the Bush/Chimp thing was offensive and stupid, and I regret that people associated with liberals did that.

    Of course, the Republicans did one better. They made money on it.

    We've had eight years of Dick Cheney’s unapologetic incivility as well as the advancement of the “Unitary” executive, to the detriment of all our rights. We’ve had seven-ish years of the global war on terror, where the enemy is not a state and victory can not be defined. We’ve invaded and are now trying to pacify two countries ruled by two brutal dictatorships, whose people would now seem to prefer the dictatorships over us. A large segment of the American people feel powerless to do anything about it, except perhaps put childish displays on the internet. Democrats should apologize.

    Compare that with two expressions referencing centuries old racism and condescension.

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  16. John K. says: My My My now where did Kanye West say those words. Why the SNL actor Mike Meyers was standing right next to him. And it was on TV for the MTV movie awards. Oh yah he said them. And how about Dr. Rice and Justice Thomas. The racial slurs at them by the left over the years. Oh yah, that means you, stood by and said attaboy. Get them conservatives. Can dish it out but can't take it. Ah what else is new about the left.

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  17. John K. says: The fairness doctrine according to Olbermouth and shitforbrains; The left can say and do what it wants. And don't you question it (fill in the blank). LOL

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  18. I'm sorry, John, but I can't take seriously anyone like you who says that the worst thing that ever happened to America was the demise of the American Nazi Party.

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  19. And another useless comment from Schmuck. What the hell did that have anything to do with what John K. wrote? Gee Shitrock the National Socialist Party in Germany during the 1940s were called Nazis but that has nothing to do with anything John K. said. Stop abusing the drink.

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  20. Let's see...Richard...um, yeah...not really a Democrat vs. Repulblican issue...w/ regards to Bush, it's an insult to the man's glaring lack of intelligence...I think we all know why using a monkey to represent Obama is ignorant and offensive...really not one of those issues you're going to win, because there simply is no defense for racism other than willful stupidity and ignorance.

    And John K....I'll give you a chance - correct the Kanye West quote(that's a very nice addition you've added) or I think it's only fair that we recognize you as a liar, in which case, there is absolutely nothing you are adding to the debate here. Actually, I think we already know that's the case and that the real child is the one who wastes his time trying to piss people off and gets his kicks ridicule others. Because if he actually thinks he's a sophisticated, intelligent contributer and that he presents valid, effective arguments, then he is quite mistaken.

    In these instances, my friends at 2PJ, I think a particular axiom applies: You can't argue with stupid people.

    And Anon 9:24...Shitrock, you clearly have a fan, who also happens to be a devoted defender of John K.'s inanity...actually, what Shitrock says, at least for Shitrock, has everything to do with what John K. has said - his willingness to pay attention to John K. is clearly conditional.

    Now, you may disagree with that condition, but the question you want to ask is, "When did he say that?" It's a mistake to assume that simply because it's not on this thread that it never happened. And Shitrock didn't say 1940's Nazi's, but American Nazi's.

    A criticism doesn't carry much weight when it misquotes what is readily accessible.

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  21. Jaywillie, we both know that you can't change the minds of these people for the same reason you can't train an iguana.

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  22. I'm ordering a Obama Monkey doll to put with my Hillary nut-cracker. God! Ilove you crazy lefties.

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  23. And we love anonymous bigots. It's win-win.

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