Saturday, September 13, 2008

God bless America

We have freedom of speach, apparently still, in this country.  So it's great to see people exercise it, but  it would be better if they used their brains first.


According to the A-P, these real boxes of waffle mix were selling like, uh, hotcakes, at the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit this past weekend.

But they are satire!  That's what the mix makers are saying.  According to the Encylopedia Britannica, satire is "human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, ideally with the intent to bring about improvement."  I don't know how reinforcing a distasteful stereotype and outright lie (that Obama is Muslim) among the constituency that has invented and benefits from the racism and anti-Muslim sentiment is holding anything up to censure.  It's less clear to me how the creators intend to bring about an improvement.

But of course I'm playing into their hand.  This kind of thing should generally be ignored, but for the fact that millions of voters are swayed by racism and hateful lies.

No comments: