I'm apparently not old enough to remember these in the 50's but my wife (whose is a year young remembers ) says they were a 'cool' toy in the late fifties. Anyway some asshole in SLC stated making them again and in the likeness of Obama. Racism ensues;
They say, "the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots." I suppose it never occurred to them that they are the tyrants, not the patriots. Those weapons are not being used to fight some kind of tyranny; they are bringing them to an event where people are getting together to talk. -Mike Wong
But as far as board culture in general, I do think that young male overaggression is a contributing factor to the general atmosphere of hostility. It's not SOS and the Mess throwing hand grenades all over the forum- Red
Koolaidkirby wrote:Am I the only one who kinda thought the idea of a Thesock Obama was kinda cute?
My first impression was that the toy was kind of cute. However;
Its stupid when you consider how many times has the current president been compared to a chimp, but as soon as he's black, its suddenly racist.
Porch monkey is too prevalent not to be seen in such a thing. Even if you don't think the makers knew about such things, something I find hard to believe, its out there in society and must be considered. A sock Bush would be cute, even cuter with a little white wizards hat? Don't you think? Oh, the KKK had white pointy hats? Damn didn't know that.
See what I mean?
Now if they had a whole fucking line of Presidents, Candidates and/or famous politicians in general all as fucking monkeys, then it is meaningless. At least to me.
They say, "the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots." I suppose it never occurred to them that they are the tyrants, not the patriots. Those weapons are not being used to fight some kind of tyranny; they are bringing them to an event where people are getting together to talk. -Mike Wong
But as far as board culture in general, I do think that young male overaggression is a contributing factor to the general atmosphere of hostility. It's not SOS and the Mess throwing hand grenades all over the forum- Red
Knife wrote:Now if they had a whole fucking line of Presidents, Candidates and/or famous politicians in general all as fucking monkeys, then it is meaningless. At least to me.
There are two ways out of this for them: stop the Obama sock monkeys, and apologize, or make the full line for both candidates, McCain, Obama, plus Bush, Pelosi, and some others, and throw in the SCOTUS crew too. That would make the point that they don't mean it to be racist, that they just want to make some fucking sock monkeys, goddammit!
Would it be legal to make $1 or so from every sock-monkey purchase go to Obama? Or would that break corporate sponsorship laws or something like that.
"The 4th Earl of Hereford led the fight on the bridge, but he and his men were caught in the arrow fire. Then one of de Harclay's pikemen, concealed beneath the bridge, thrust upwards between the planks and skewered the Earl of Hereford through the anus, twisting the head of the iron pike into his intestines. His dying screams turned the advance into a panic."'
Koolaidkirby wrote:Its stupid when you consider how many times has the current president been compared to a chimp, but as soon as he's black, its suddenly racist.
There are some rather important differences. Such as the fact that Bush is a blithering idiot, and Obama isn't. And the fact that white people being compared to monkeys doesn't have a long and ignominious history in this country. And the fact that it's the Republican side that is notoriously racist.
Koolaidkirby wrote:Am I the only one who kinda thought the idea of a Thesock Obama was kinda cute?
Yes.
Its stupid when you consider how many times has the current president been compared to a chimp, but as soon as he's black, its suddenly racist.
The current president has been compared to a chimp because of his individual characteristics. It's because he's a moron. Obama is being compared to a chimp because of his race, not because of any individual characteristics. That's why it's racist.
The fact that I had to actually explain that is sad. Just how stupid are you?
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
Darth Wong wrote:The current president has been compared to a chimp because of his individual characteristics. It's because he's a moron. Obama is being compared to a chimp because of his race, not because of any individual characteristics. That's why it's racist.
I thought the primary motivator behind the comparison is that Bush looks more ape-like than is normal for humans. I'm actually surprised that Obama does not look ape like, he's got the features, especially the enormous ears, but there is something about him that makes the comparison fail. Maybe a person's perceived intelligence is a subconcious factor in whether the connection is made or not.
John of the Dead wrote:So, which is worse: the Obama sock monkey, or this pin that was handed out at the Texas Republican Convention in Houston last week?
This isn't *quite* as bad as the sock monkey, but it shows how far we still have to go. You stay classy, Texas!
Dumbass question, aside from the racism in it. Unless Obama orders the building painted basic black, yes, it will still be the White House. Honestly, the lengths these people will go to just to be racist.
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Any views expressed herein are my own unless otherwise noted, and very likely wrong.
I shave with Occam's Razor.
Ghetto edit: For those that can't see it, the link and image are of a pin asking "If Obama becomes President, will it still be called the White House"? It's probably meaningless that this is white text on a black background.
This message approved by the sages Anon and Ibid.
Any views expressed herein are my own unless otherwise noted, and very likely wrong.
I shave with Occam's Razor.