Old People Use Subtitles, Young People Exploit

A brilliant new semi-Orwellian ad was released, playing on the American fear of squinty-eyed orientals (a tradition more than a century old) about the stimulus that saved us from another depression, the health-care overhaul the American people have been begging for during the past, ahdunno, couple generations, and the government "takeover" of GM that saved countless jobs around the globe (especially in light of Toyota, the company Republicans wanted to fill the void when GM collapsed, changing it's business model from "autos" to "careening death machines").

The gist is, China will own us, and we'll collapse entirely while somehow surviving to become employees of their government. Or those students watching the lecture - I don't know, there's no logic to the script. But it's well made, I have to give them that. Great lighting, and the special effects were just cheesy enough to excite my inner nerd.

The spot has a strange thesis, considering China made even more sweeping and dramatic moves than we did to keep its economy upright, and now they're doing their best to tamp down their economic success to fight inflation and avoid revaluing their currency. One could make the case that, in light of China's overwhelming success, the watered-down reform (a misguided attempt at bipartisanship) didn't go far enough. But that's not the case made by the conservative group that ran the following ad.

The ad begs for parody, and luckily enough the good folks at Campus Progress Action pounced, pointing out a bit of absurdity, and even throwing in a Christine O'Donnell jab at the end.

Ah, the youth.

(via HuffPost)

New Season, New Joys

I love politics. And, just like every other great American sport, there's a season when things get exciting - with politics, of course, it hovers around September through November. And goddamn is this year a good one.

Christine O'Donnell, for example. The Republican from Delaware was a surprise winner during the Republican Primary - prompting even Karl Rove to throw in the proverbial towel on the General. And, as the race has gone on, it's become disturbingly obvious O'Donnell is just what she claimed to be; average. Like most Americans, she has no idea what the hell is in that fancy "Constitution" thingy. It appears that during her week-long "graduate fellowship with the Claremont Institute in constitutional government" they didn't quite make it to the amendments. Which says, basically, that she must've skipped her first civics exam when (if?) she went to college.

The Rove prediction isn't entirely shocking - he seems skeptical of the entire Tea Party movement. The long-time beneficiary of the Republican establishment obviously has a dog in this race, but when he's got his analyst cap on, and especially when he's criticizing conservatives, there are few people who can speak with greater authority. His equating Teabaggers to members of the Civil Rights movement is retarded, at best, (Beck-esque, really,) but one should expect hyperbole from a professional spin doctor.

It's not all bad for the Tea Party - Democrat Jack Conway pulled the ultimate dirty campaign tactic (questioning his opponent's religious beliefs) in his battle against Rand Paul. Translation: Conway's desperate. And he isn't the only one - shockingly, a few Tea Party candidates seem like they're on the road to D.C. The bad news is that people would vote for unqualified candidates out of spite for established politicians. The good news, though, is that Republicans seem to be painting themselves into a corner.

During the Bush years, the Democratic Party was fractured, and the Independent party was made up of avowed liberals, progressives and even socialists. This led to easy exploitation - a house divided and all that, after all - by the right-wing, and created situations where, even in the face of majority opposition (ideologically speaking), the President went largely unchallenged on his legislative initiatives. The Tea Party, already sparring with the establishment, seems prepared to put Republicans in the same position. This isn't the Reagan Revolution, this is a dip into anarchy.

In fact, should the movement survive until 2012, it's easy to imagine a conservative third-party candidate siphoning votes away from Republicans. One can dream...

What a year to see, though, eh? It seems like both parties are taking it from all directions, with the American people seemingly, desperately, shooting themselves in the feet with every vote. God, I can't wait to see how this all works out.

(I'm hoping for Armageddon.)