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1) Will the Michael J. Fox ad be politically effective? You have to admit, it’s gut-wrenching watching him in that condition.
It won’t be effective. One of the key maxims in advertising is never disquiet the audience. If you do, you alienate them. This ad is most definitely disquieting.
2) Aaah, finally showing your true colors. You think disabled people should be locked in a closet lest they offend the sensibilities of the able-bodied. You fill me with anger and disgust. I hope you die of alcoholism. How do you sleep at night?
I have a little machine that simulates the sounds of the ocean. Works quite nicely, thank you very much. And I am of course not saying that disabled people should be locked away. But let’s be clear – the goal of this ad is to make people uncomfortable. As the French would say, that’s its raison d’etre. And that does not win the hearts of the audience.
3) Just because you’re disturbed by Fox’s condition doesn’t mean everyone is. I’m sure in your world everyone is healthy but that’s not the entire world. Besides, how else could they have shot it? That’s how the guy really is.
If they wanted to shoot it to not be disturbing and in turn not nakedly manipulative, they could have. As has been widely noted on the web, Michael J. Fox appeared in “Boston Legal” last year looking relatively robust and healthy…
4) But they had all sorts of issues with that shoot! They had to time the shooting with the effects of his medicine just right. What’s wrong with you?
My point is that if they wanted to shoot an ad with Michael J. Fox that wasn’t disquieting, they could have done so just as the people at Boston Legal managed to pull it off. But that obviously wasn’t the intent.
5) Fine. Let’s just both stipulate to the fact that you’re a Rethuglican scumbag and move on. Do you still deny the ad will move voters into the Democratic column?
Yes. Emphatically. The ads are devoid of substance. They don’t even mention the word “embryonic.” The entire gist of the campaign is that Republicans want to kill Michael J. Fox. This is an over-the-top charge and will be treated by the electorate as such. Not to mention, my partner in Michael J. Fox-related calumny, Rush Limbaugh, pointed out today that the initiative in “Mizz-or-ah” that Fox and McCaskill support has dropped like a stone this week, losing twelve points. Negative campaigning is okay, but you’ve got to be careful of going too far.
6) The Democrats are going too far…the Democrats are going too far. You’re like a broken record. Do you have any other alleged examples of the Democrats going too far.
Well, there’s been another alleged outing today. This time it’s Charlie Crist, the Republican candidate for Governor in Florida. The rumors worked their way from the true Democratic fever swamps all the way to Markos Moulitsas’ front page in the past week. They are of course completely unsubstantiated but that doesn’t seem to hinder Markos from bringing it to the attention of his 19 million readers.
And let’s be clear – for Republicans this is a good thing. It simultaneously shows the intellectual bankruptcy and reckless cruelty that distinguishes modern day liberalism. For Crist, the attack comes just in the nick of time. His once robust lead had shrunken to single digits, but he should benefit from this pathetic offensive which I predict will make the front page of the Palm Beach Post tomorrow.
7) Is there a downside for Crist?
Well, those who are accusing him can’t remember anything distinguishing about his sexual organ. For some men, I guess that would be a downside.
8) That’s a terrible joke, in awful taste. I bet gay people make you tremendously uncomfortable. You’re showing your hateful Christianist stripes.
Actually, I’m Jewish and some of my best friends are gay. Or at least I think they are. Actually, I have serious questions about almost all of my best friends, but that’s another story.
9) Sheesh – you’re awful flippant with this story. What gives?
For people of my generation, homosexuality is not a taboo or particularly uncomfortable topic. Thanks to the education establishment we grew up in, it certainly wasn’t an uncommon one. All these attacks depend on the notion that Fundamentalists, Evangelicals, devout Catholic and other putatively exotic breeds of Christians will recoil from the Republican Party when they learn there are homosexuals frolicking in the GOP mist.
Frankly, this is the dumbest idea Markos has had since he decided Ned Lamont would make a great Senator.
10) You’re suggesting that these attacks reflect on the entire Democratic Party. None other than the Sage of Provincetown, Andrew Sullivan, says you’ve got it completely backwards. Says the Sage:
I have yet to hear any actual Democratic official support outing. And I despise the gay "outing" bloggers. Truly. And the feeling is mutual, I can assure you. I've been at war with them since the early 1990s, and experienced their homophobia first-hand. But they do not represent even a sliver of Democrats, let alone the vast majority. To say so is an unfair indirect smear of a entire party.
Respectfully, Andrew’s indulging in an unhealthy amount of cognitive dissonance. Markos is the Democratic Party. When he held his little convention, virtually every presidential wannabe shuffled off to the Vegas Days Inn (or whatever dump they had it in) to kiss his tush. Past presidential nominees Al Gore and John Kerry write diaries for the site. The Daily Kos and the virtual horde of moonbats are not the fringe of the modern Democratic Party. They are the mainstream.
11) You sound pumped up today. What gives?
Bill Clinton’s in town, shaking down my lantzmen. That always gets me pumped up.
Compliments? Complaints? Contact me at Soxblog@aol.com .
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