onegoodmove

While I find this image hilarious, I reject the idea that they are all "stooges" and we just have to pick one.

This reminds me of the same faulty argument made by Nader in 2000 that it didn't matter if you picked Bush or Gore - they were pretty two sides of the same coin.

Yeah, all three candidates might have flaws (especially if you give the entire world 18 months to scrutinize them), but they are NOT all the same.

McCain is an old man with anger issues who knows nothing about the economy and wants to continue our torturing, extremist war policy, and the other two candidates DO NOT.

I personally think Moe Obama gives Curly McCain a good double-eye-poke in November.

Wow. Click through the image for a lesson in manipulative imagery.

Ouch: no kidding, Jiffy! That's some seriously bent shit on that site.

I personally think Moe Obama gives Curly McCain a good double-eye-poke in November.

Me too - if Moebama doesn't, I'd settle for a slap upside the head from HilLarry.

While I find this image hilarious, I reject the idea that they are all "stooges" and we just have to pick one.

Yep. It is this kind of thought process which allowed GWB to be elected not once, but twice!

Wow. Click through the image for a lesson in manipulative imagery.

wow, is right.

Indeed, that site has some out-there stuff! Not a whole lot I would expect you to believe there, Norm!

Zaphod is going to love this political cartoonist, David Dees, as he is a Ron Paul supporter.

The anti-vaccine people will also be impressed with the political cartoons by David Dees.

Right. Remember Nader's bit in 2000? That it was a choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum?

That was sooooooooo not true.

Honestly, if it ends up being McCain v Obama, it'll be the best choice we've had in years, maybe decades.

Be grateful we've got it so good.

It makes my precious bodily fluids feel funny...

Got through Dees's site until I hit the 3 above. Zounds!

FYI Norm - the comments link for the anti-McCain ad doesn't work.

Yeah. That's a cheap and easy shot. Sure, they are all monkeys. You try it, though.

Running for any type of public office, even a lowly school board seat, is teh beetch, let me tell you. Forget about running for the presidency.

These three have been running forever. They have to be on 24/7 for almost two years now. They have to pretend to take seriously the stupidest questions from the stupidest people (this refers to our political media mostly, but also many of our citizens.)

Everything they say has to be worded oh so carefully. If it can be taken out of context or interpreted maliciously, it will. Any given picture that is taken of them, any association past or present, strong or weak, can derail their whole effort.

And, whatever they believe in (and, trust me, all three have very strong beliefs in why they are running) they can't be 100% truthful and honest about it. Most of the times (but not always) complete honesty is the kiss of death for a candidacy. That speaks poorly of us, the electorate, not necessarily of them, the candidates.

So it's a shitty job. And if they win, they get a shittier one (especially after the last 8 years).

So, sure, go ahead, make fun of them. It's satisfying. But pretty cheap too. If your candidate is so good, how come he/she lost already (or has no chance in hell)? If no candidate is good enough for you, then, by all means, blow us away.

If you feel this is too personal an attack, then look at the pic you so approvingly posted. How does it feel now?

Glad to see that I got some reaction with this one.

I have to agree about the site - not a lot of stuff there I feel comfortable with, but I do appreciate the photoshopology.

"Moe is their leader."

Speaking of the three stooges, one of them has just vowed to attack Iran. Can you guess who?

Oh and by the way, no, it's not McCain this time

Clinton further displayed tough talk in an interview airing on "Good Morning America" Tuesday. ABC News' Chris Cuomo asked Clinton what she would do if Iran attacked Israel with nuclear weapons.

"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran," Clinton said. "In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

Hurrah for war-mongering! I always knew Clinton had the experience and preparation required to continue George Bush's disastrous policies from day one, not only suggesting that we will attack them, but actually one upping the ante by implying, with the phrase "massive retaliation", a nuclear attack.

Wow, Adam. I had to click the link just to see if that was for real.

"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran," Clinton said.

In context, this is a really stupid thing to say. Taken out of context, this would sound absolutely batshit.

She was saying she'd attack Iran if they nuked Israel, right? (Right?) Which is not the kind of question a smart person would even fucking answer; it's hypothetical, begging-the-question bullshit.

Obama might be no better, but he sure as hell isn't any worse than this warmongering crazy person. (McCain is obviously worse, though, but he works incredibly hard at being a frothy-mouthed bomb-loving death-worshipping filthy old psychopath.)

For the first time in my not so young life, The threat of nuclear retaliation scares me

but were they to become so, their use of nuclear weapons against Israel would provoke a nuclear response from the United States, which personally I believe would prevent it from happening, and that we would try to help the other countries that might be intimidated and bullied into submission by Iran because they were a nuclear power, avoid that fate by creating this new security umbrella.

I think that's your "Umbrella" you are so scared of Joann, and now I am too.

That site is disgusting. I'm surprised you would link to it, Norm.

That site is disgusting.

Agreed, there is very little to recommend it, but the picture is there picture would you suggest I use the picture and not credit them? Perhaps you are suggesting that I should not have posted the picture, but the picture is not particularly offensive.

Perhaps you are suggesting that I should not have posted the picture, but the picture is not particularly offensive.

I think you are right the picture is fine, It would be nice if it didn't link through, although I don't know how a blog works and whether that's easy.

A thought I tried to put on the commercial but got an error...

Norm, do you catch the Irony of putting the three stooges picture next to the McCain, has lost touch with reality commercial? Certainly they are all flawed candidates, but the idea that they are all the same seems pretty absurd. McCain is not just a right wing war monger, but also clearly and out of touch senile dope. I think Hillary would likely slow the rate at which things get worse and despite you showing me that Obama is human, I still have a little hope he might make a thing or two better.

I think the image should be de-link-ified, Norm. Use a textual attribution if you must but a link is a form of promotion (just ask Google), and distancing yourself from the site being linked to might be a good idea.

Don't get me wrong, taken on its own the image is worth a laugh.

RedSeven, ChrisM70, et al, also have a good point: for all their unfortunate similarities, the candidates are not the same; McCain is the most loathsome by a very good margin.

Certainly they are all flawed candidates, but the idea that they are all the same seems pretty absurd.

Shit, find something worthwhile to complain about. Quit making up non-existent controversies. You can't believe I think they are all the same considering all the comments to the contrary I've made here. I know you drink the kool-aid when it comes to Obama but give it a break. Your straw-man is pathetic.

Wow, I've never seen a group of supposedly progressive, open-minded people so afraid of a website or a linked image! Was I wrong in assuming that most of the people who post on this blog consider themselves progressive and open-minded?

You guys are acting like Norm created that website. He just posted a link to it - relax! You don't have to agree with a single statement or image on that website, but to ask Norm to de-link or distance himself from it (I guess from some fear that the gestapo might find out), seems a little foolish to me. What is there to be afraid of?

"Hurry up, Norm, just get rid of this entire post before anyone finds out what's on that site, or that we ever had this conversation! Quickly, time is running out!"

Wow, I've never seen a group of supposedly progressive, open-minded people so afraid of a website or a linked image! - Jim

Um, no. I just disagree with the site; hell, its not even that I disgree that strongly, I just think most of the images are tasteless or melodramatic.

If Norm feels the same way I don't think he should promote the site because that would give a misleading impression of Norm's own appreciations.

Simple as that.

Shit, find something worthwhile to complain about. Quit making up non-existent controversies. - Norm

Norm, I don't think it was criticism targeted at you specifically, but at the image and the idea it represents. Yourself aside, some people do think that all the mainstream candidates are completely the same (even after everyone learned a hard lesson to the contrary thanks to GWB).

yawn. obama's no stooge. some people are so used to saying all candidates are the same, they can't see a decent one when one does show up. or they have to yammer on about ron paul or dennis kucinich or ralph nader. fine, i'm a kucinich voter myself, but i don't dwell on it. and i know that i agree obama on nearly every issue. i believe that clinton wants to show the world a woman can do mass murder handily, and i believe that mccain would do the same, only with more outward glee. these three candidates are very different indeed. thanks norm and 1gm folks for the entertaining and thought provoking threads.

JoAnn:

I am a big fan of David Dees, and not just because he shares my love of Ron Paul. I think these images convey some powerful statements in an alarmingly clear way.

I especially like this one:

[http://www.rense.com/1.imagesH/fedres_dees.jpg]

Granted, I don't agree with everything he says or thinks, but then again, such is the fate of all those with free will. I done thunk up my own opinions now and again.

Norm: kudos for having the balls to post this, and this controversial artist, but it is customary to offer an author credit. Failing that, restore the link-through.

Proper author etiquette trumps political disagreement. In either event, the ideas live on.

Granted, I don't agree with everything he says or thinks

How do you feel about Jewish stars on mushroom clouds?

Shit, find something worthwhile to complain about. Quit making up non-existent controversies. You can't believe I think they are all the same considering all the comments to the contrary I've made here. I know you drink the kool-aid when it comes to Obama but give it a break. Your straw-man is pathetic.

Uhh, I think the artist is trying to say they are all dopes, essentially the same, because in his case they don't believe in the Ron Paul Philosophy. Perhaps you think there were significant differences between the stooges.

Just because I don't concede ground in a debate doesn't mean I drink Koolaid. I realize I probably tic you off fairly regularly so I am not going to take that personally.

Obama has Flaws!! aaaaaahhh

Granted, I don't agree with everything he says or thinks

How do you feel about Jewish stars on mushroom clouds?

Shit, find something worthwhile to complain about. Quit making up non-existent controversies. You can't believe I think they are all the same considering all the comments to the contrary I've made here. I know you drink the kool-aid when it comes to Obama but give it a break. Your straw-man is pathetic.

Uhh, I think the artist is trying to say they are all dopes, essentially the same, because in his case they don't believe in the Ron Paul Philosophy. Perhaps you think there were significant differences between the stooges.

Just because I don't concede ground in a debate doesn't mean I drink Koolaid. I realize I probably tic you off fairly regularly so I am not going to take that personally.

Obama has Flaws!! aaaaaahhh

RedSeven:

How do you feel about Jewish stars on mushroom clouds?

Those images, and the "what really happened" over Holocaust victims, both make me feel very sad.

On the one hand, I have family in Israel, and so, I certainly don't have any desire to see nuclear war in the Middle East. Both of my grandfathers served in WWII, my mother's father gathered evidence later used in the Niremburg trials. This is a matter of great pride within my family, especially considering the fact that we lost several extended family to the camps. To use buzzwords, I am not a Holocaust denier, nor any sort of anti-ZOG/skinhead type. Now that I think about it, this explains most of my "OMG police state!" reactions. The idea of a corporate-fascist police state is very real, and very scary to me. I am as far way from NAZI as one can get.

On the other hand, I think Israel's recent behavior re: Palestine is absolutely horrific. I think their so-called "retaliations" are often times nothing more than unacceptable bullying; case in point, lobbing cruise missiles against women and children. Of all the people on this earth, Israelis have NO EXCUSE for the 2-class system they have setup over there for Palestine- they, more than most, know the pain of being a second-class citizen. The children of survivors are repeating many of the mistakes of their fallen oppressors, and it disgusts me.

I also think that many people are fearful of discussing Israel's flaws, and there is a considerable amount of self-censorship in that regard. Some people, Mr. Dee included, overestimate the Jewish influence on American media. Sadly, some overreact completely, and fall into the common delusions of the "Five Jewish Bankers".

I guess what I'm trying to say is this: I certainly don't agree with the anti-Israel message of some of these images. However, I can understand where the author is coming from. I would agree that Israel is a bad neighbor. I would agree that Israel is currently BLOCKING peace in the Middle East moreso than assiting it. I agree that Israel already has nukes, and that 99% of the "OMG Iran=NUKES" arguments are pure Cold War BS.

However, no, I don't think "Five Jew Bankers" run the world, and that nuking Israel is an appropriate solution. And, although I dislike certain members of my family, and remain personally agnostic, I am pretty sure it is impossible for me to be considered "anti-semitic" by any stretch of the imagination.

The purpose of art is to shock the viewer to attention, just long enough to make them think or feel.

I think these images qualify as art.

That said, I would agree that this subject matter is out-of-scope for OGM. I do my best to leave my conspiracy theories on the "crazy" blogs, so I'll shut up. I just want to make it clear that there are some very legitimate arguments to be had about these images, and the ideas they convey.

The purpose of art is to shock the viewer to attention

I am an artist, and that is not my purpose. I search for beauty. What I find beautiful may not correspond to what someone else finds beautiful, but whatever the circumstances, I want to share why I find beautiful, not what I find shocking.

I certainly don't agree with the anti-Israel message of some of these images. However, I can understand where the author is coming from.

Hey, I certainly open to criticism of Israel. I would also say that Israeli policy is kinda crazy because people have tried to kill them on such a regular basis. So suggesting killing them as a solution is pretty counterproductive, and in this artists case, looks allot like hate. Hell, I think there are allot of Israelis that find Israeli policy worthy of criticism.

RedSeven:

Hell, I think there are allot of Israelis that find Israeli policy worthy of criticism.

Absolutely. Any foreign policy will have critics- and rightfully so.

I would absolutely agree that some of these images contain fierce anger and hatred. I am forever attracted to the fringes of free speech.

JoAnn:

I want to share [what] I find beautiful, not what I find shocking.

I certainly respect that. I think the truth is beautiful. Then again, just like beauty, truth is very subjective.

certainly respect that. I think the truth is beautiful. Then again, just like beauty, truth is very subjective.

This reminds me of the final stanza of a poem by John Keats, Ode on a Grecian Urn.

O Attic shape! fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form! dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral! When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'