New Rule for the Internet
From this day forward, satire must be clearly marked as such.
This world has gotten crazy. Seriously. Think about this: The Republican Party has become so unpopular that Ted Cruz is now the Republican Party frontrunner for president because he badmouths … the Republican Party.
Last night I was playing on the internet machine and watching Rachel Maddow when ole Bubba starts making grumbling noises that he generally reserves for when the newspaper delivery person throws his morning newspaper in the only mud puddle in a fifty mile radius.
Ole Bubba was reading this.
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Gov. Rick Perry has called a judge’s ruling on the restrictive new abortion law passed last July by the Texas legislature “a threat to men’s rights as keepers of women.”
“We will continue fighting to implement the laws passed by the duly-elected officials of our state, laws that reflect the will and values of Texans. Yeakel’s decision is a threat to men’s rights as keepers of women and their role as family protectors,” read the statement.
Ole Bubba was so riled that he damn near beat his La-z-Boy recliner into submission. He messaged me a copy – that’s the modern day way of passing the newspaper – while making very rude comments about Rick Perry having no damn clue what a man is supposed to act like.
Now, Ole Bubba’s comments stand but the article doesn’t.
Here’s the problem, Ole Bubba, who has two advanced degrees so he’s not hangdog dumb, had to read it twice and check it out with Facebook to figure out that it was satire. It is getting way too hard to tell, especially in Texas.
So, I go to Facebook this morning and three very smart people on Facebook think it’s real.
So either Texas Republicans have to stop talking so damn crazy when they are serious, or satire must be clearly marked with a warning. And I’m going to tell you that doing the second one is going to be much easier.
Satire? Really? Sounds awfully true to form for Perry and the Repugs.
1When satire becomes indistinguishable from reality what is it called then.
2It made perfectly good sense to me — fits the Perry persona perfectly. BTW: when satire becomes indistinguishable from reality, it’s called a “Republican Talking Point”.
3Mike, it’s called a Poe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poe's_law
4It’s obvious what he meant to say was “keepers of binders of women.” No wonder people were confused.
5I am in the state where the senatorial candidate said, “I hope you don’t get cancer, but if you do it’s your own problem”. I was sure that came from the Onion but after checking found out it was the truth.
He said a lot of other crazy stuff to but luckily he lost to Cory Booker.
I won’t say that guy’s name because I would like to be able to eat my lunch without gagging.
6I think it was writer Dorothy Allison who said “Fiction is a harder piece of truth.” So, it seems, is satire.
7IIRC, the Tom Delay campaign used an article about them from The Onion in a fund raising letter. It was clear that they were not familiar with the Onion.
8Wasn’t it Ricky boy who interpreted his wife’s remarks to make it look as if she really didn’t mean what she said? Is that the “man’s role”? He seems to think so, so this “satire” is completely in form with Ricky.
9Ignorance is now spelled P-E-R-R-Y. Go ahead, look it up, his picture is right there in the dictionary.
10Bernard, thinking about that: Rick’s job is to keep his woman in line. Din’t you know that? That’s after he puts her up on a pedestal where he can keep an eye on her to make sure she ain’t thinkin’ or nuthin’ like that.
11It’s also easier to look up her dress, if he was into that kind of thing.
12From these tools in this day and age,not that far-fetched. For pity’s sake don’t give them any ideas.
13If the criteria for determining satire is the absurdity of the statement, then give it up. Those folks crossed that line long ago. I’m never surprised anymore. Natural mistake, Bubba.
14This article has an interesting take on Cruz’ antics: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/09/ted-cruz-leninist/280074/
15I think the term “farce” best applies here.
16A quote I heard a few years ago:
“Their reality has lapped our satire”.
17If this is the first time Bubba has been caught believing satire for truth, he’s doing better than 95% of us (and yes, that percentage has been researched and verified ;)). I know of at least three times I’ve been outraged — OUTRAGED, I say! — at something some Republican has done, and Pinned or blogged or commented about it, only to find out it was a joke.
I think satire should all be done in Comic Sans font, since any other use of Comic Sans is met with immediate and almost violent social ostracization and ridicule.
18Satire must be handled as carefully as a loaded gun. Well, strike that; if we’ve learned anything here at TWMDBS it’s that people who should know better handle loaded guns carefully not hardly at all. Any old hoo…
Especially in today’s tweet, retweet, repeattweet, fave, like, wall post, reddit, blog, notblog, comment, h/t, interwebs e-world, a lie can travel 50 times around the world before the truth gets its reboot on (h/t Winston Churchill-ish) and satire can achieve an evil life of its own far beyond what was intended by the original Frahnkensteen.
Just look at the whole “self-deportation” scam which began as an elaborate, pointed satire by a couple of comedians and ended up as a plank in a particularly putrid Presidential platform.
Caveat lector!
19When it gets this hard to tell fact from fiction, it is time to pull the plug on Perry’s lifeboat.
20By what definitions and contexts does this article deserve to be called satire? Is it fictional? Did Perry not actually say these things and someone just made this up and put the words in his mouth? Satire, by OED definition, is the mockery or criticism of something by the use of exaggeration, irony, or humor? What did two readings and a look at Facebook do to cause Bubba to decide this is satire? Did Governor Oops not say these things at all? Inquiring minds want to know. To me, it sounds exactly like something he would say. I read the same things in letters to the editor here in Dallas from men who oppose abortion and want to keep women under their thumbs. Definitely not satire.
21Satire, but very good satire. Other stories this week include “White House Promises to Resurrect Citizens Who Die Waiting for Obamacare Website” and “In Lieu of Higher Wages, McDonald’s to Grant Employees Bathroom Breaks”.
22@W.C. Peterson … I’m borrowing your BTW: line:
“… when satire becomes indistinguishable from reality, it’s called a “Republican Talking Point.”
Thanks!! :o)
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