Bughouse Square

Links and commentary -- Thrilling!

 

Ad Nauseam

Here are a few famous political ads for your edification.  First, the famous 'Daisy Girl' ad, long vilified, that current fear-mongering ads are being compared to:

Daisy Girl (1964)

One ad that is particularly being compared to Daisy Girl is a new one that recycles the phrase, "These are the stakes." 

These are the Stakes

Of course, in these our modern times, parodies are easier to produce and distribute than ever.

These are the Stakes!

These are the Stingrays

Negative ads are used because they work.  That notwithstanding, this ad for Ronald Regan's second presidential run is regarded as proof that positivity is also a powerful technique:

Morning in America

CNN.com has a round-up of famous political ads, albeit at a smaller resolution, but which includes the infamous Willie Horton ad:

CNN Ad Archive

This new ad which has been run in Tenessee against Harold Ford is being compared to the Willie Horton ad because of suspicions of race-baiting.  I'm not sure I buy the comparison -- the first tying Dukakis to the crimes of a scary-looking black man and the second supposedly insinuating that Ford, who is black, has sex with white women.  See for yourself:

Ford Wronged

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 10/27/06 06:38 | link | comments |

Stray the Course

I have been waiting for The Daily Show to tackle this subject, since showing videos of politicians making contradictory statements is one of their stand-bys, but I haven't seen them tackle this one yet.  However, Keith Olberman at MSNBC's Countdown seems once again to be tearing a page from The Daily Show's playbook.  First, take a look at this earlier round-up from YouTube which includes the president's denial that "stay the course" was his administration's policy:

Foot in Mouth

Now check out Olberman's more extensive debunking:

Course Language

The attempted re-branding of the War on Terror that Olberman mentions was soundly parodied by The Daily Show at the time.  YouTube has the goods:

War on 'War on Terror'

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 10/27/06 06:08 | link | comments |

Taking a Stand, or Not

While interviewing John McCain at an event at Iowa State, Chris Mathews asks the crowd who supported the war from beginning to end.  Quite a few people stood up and made themselves heard.  Then Matthews asked those to remain standing who actually intended to participate in the war.  Suddenly, a lot of young people took their seats.

Sitting this One Out

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 10/23/06 06:12 | link | comments |

The Beauty Myth-Makers

The Dove Self-Esteem Fund shows young girls who starve themselves what they're really competing against -- a small army of stylists, hairdressers and Adobe Photoshop.

Face the Facts

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 10/19/06 04:59 | link | comments |

Olberman Rides Again

Once again, Olberman steps up as one of the few outside of politics actually doing the old-fashioned stump rhetoric in his third speech on the death of Habeas Corpus:

Pants of Fire!

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 10/19/06 04:50 | link | comments |

The Colbert at the Door

Joe Scarborough asks his guests about the influence of pseudo-pundit Stephen Colbert:

Scarborough Country meets Colbert Nation

Does Colbert have an influence on this upcoming election?  Similar things were said of Jon Stewart around the 2004 election, which was supposed to see the influence of thousands of young voters.  But if they were influential, they were matched by a massive get-out-the-vote campaign on the part of Bush's supporters.  Of course, suspect results from Ohio voting machines are also suspected of making a difference.  In any case, I think it'll be up to pundits after the election to decide who got the 'Colbert Bump.'

If he does have an influence, surely it will be because of segments such as this, in which he apparently uses a metaphor for how one scandal covers another, but in discussing it actually does the opposite -- he lays to bear the many layers of scandal facing the Republicans in the run up to mid-terms.

Russian Dolls

The latest scandal really ought to be the death of Habeas Corpus in America, but sadly the dissolution of America's fundamental constitutional principles does have quite the same sizzle.

Habeas Schmabeas

Note that Colbert mentions the 'news cycle' in a flippant way, but the timing of the release of a story determines much of the influence it has on the minds of the public.  Here's one break down of the cycle as it operates, including the influence of the blogosphere:

A Time to Every Purpose Under Heaven

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 10/18/06 04:55 | link | comments |

Olberman Does Stewart

I doubt Keith Olberman would fail to acknowledge that he's tearing a page from the Daily Show playbook in this satirical look at the death of Habeas Corpus:

Habeas Corpus Descendit

Now, of course, Olberman's Countdown is still officially considered the real news, though a University of Indiana study finds that The Daily Show is as substantial as real network news, at least in delivering election news.  As much as I like The Daily Show, this is more a shame on supposedly legitimate news outlets than it is an honor on Stewart.

Daily Show: Who's the News?

posted by: JohnnyAngel at 10/11/06 04:36 | link | comments |