This Land Is MY Land You Right Wing Nut Jobs! (MUST SEE!!)

[demwing]

Kerry takes a little ribbing, but this made me laugh harder than anything in recent memory.

Props to my wife for showing me this bit :)

(Big download, but WELL worth the wait)

http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/contentPlay/shockwave.jsp?id=this_land

Or, if that doesn't work, go here and follow the link:

http://www.jibjab.com/

[Wonk]

1. Thread #412 on this, and I still think it's not all that funny, overall.nt

[demwing]

2. Well excuse me

while I turn the other cheek :)

[emulatorloo]

3. Don't you find it a little "They are both the same - why bother voting?"

at least it was for my tastes.

Personally I am sick of that kind of cynicism. . .but that's just me.

[donhakman]

4. I illustrated the lyrics last year.

[emulatorloo]

5. very powerful. . . .thanks for posting this EOM

[demwing]

6. No. I thought it was great satire.

Through the piece, the Bush character does nothing but call Kerry a liberal. Thats all he's got, except a quick bribe in the form of a tax break.

The Kerry character insults Bush's stupidity and keeps going back to the fact that he won three purple hearts, illustrating the big DIFFERENCE between Bushand Kerry - Kerry is tougher than Bush, and smarter to boot.

How you got "They are both the same - why bother voting" is beyond my powers of understanding. You're so far off on this its sad.

Comeon people! Lighten the heck up. Laugh at yourself and your candidate a little!

Its powerful protection against being a sourpuss!

Can't you feel it in the air? Didn't you catch it last night?

Kerry is gonna lay a major whoopass on Bush. We can afford a little giddy entertainment, as long as we don't get lazy. In fact, the steam blow off is healthy. So go ahead, relax! Laugh!

You cant say nuclear, that really scares me
sometimes a brain can come in quite handy
but it wont matter, because I won three purple hearts!
This land will surely vote for me!

[yellowcanine]

7. I am with you - it was great AND I thought Bush comes off looking the

silliest - though a Bush supporter would probably say otherwise. But it is hard to see how even the diehard Bushies can keep from wincing a little every time Kerry holds up his purple hearts.

[derby378]

8. Me too

I enjoyed it immensely. In fact, I bought a copy from JibJab.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

12. Isn't The Guy On A Missile Ripped Off From Dr. Strangelove?

NT

[rocktivity]

13. You are correct, DemocratSinceBirth

:headbang:
rocknation

[emulatorloo]

10. Ah a Personal Attack on My Lack Of Sense Of Humor

I am alerting on you immediately!!!!! ;-)

[rocktivity]

11. Ding Ding Ding! Demwing2, you're our grand prize winner!

It's intelligible to conclude that the popularity of this cartoon (5 million hits and TV exposure) is rooted in its non-partisanship. But there's something else going on--something that gives Kerry the hands-down "victory" in the "debate."

This cartoon is also a comment on the cesspool that the American political scene has become--a scene that Bush created with his name-calling, bullying, inarticulatness, and ego-tripping. In the cartoon, Kerry understandably defends himself, but Bush is simply BEING himself. It doesn't matter which of them is being nastier--the fact that the campgain is being RUN on nastiness is the problem. Kerry is the winner becasue he comes with a built-in promise: with one stroke of a voting lever, civility and classiness can be returned to the White House.

:headbang:
rocknation

[demwing]

14. Nice analysis

To be honest, before last night I'd never seen nor heard of the cartoon, but I'm glad its so popular.

There's a message in all that madness, one that I think everyone will get.

BTW - wheres my prize? Do I get a car? Do I? Do I? :)

[primavera]

17. And Kerry and the shrub embracing?

Kerry: "I'm a liberal weanie."
Bush: "I'm a right wing nut job."
Both together, embracing: "This land was made for you and me."

Sorry, I'm with emulatorloo: it sounded to me like the filmmaker's point was that both candidates were equally unattractive. The shrub may be a brainless backwater bumpkin, but Kerry's depicted as a liberal weanie, an intellectual geek from a snooty, aristocratic background, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, who can't stop gloating about his three purple hearts. It's hardly a more flattering portrayal of Kerry than it is of the shrub; plainly the filmmaker perceives both cadidates to be inadequate and/or out of touch, who share a common trait of serving themselves rather than the public good.

Sorry, I don't mean to rain on your parade, it was cute and clever, but I think emulatorloo's got a point: I think the message was a pretty dismal one, with little hope, emphasizing the disconnectedness between public officials and the constituencies they ostensibly serve. The filmmaker may well have a point, but I'd frankly be happier to see a more positive message which encouraged people to get involved in the political process to change it, rather than just bitching about how awful politicians are and always will be.

[demwing]

18. First, it's supposed to be funny

and non-partisan, and as such the creative team has got to be able to poke fun at everyone. Still, you can tell who they had the most fun lampooning--did you see the Bush Favorability Chart in the background? It looked like achart of the stock market dive on Black Tuesday!

(BTW - I loved the tongue wagging Dean scream and the Clinton slap w/ "What'd I do?")

Second, you screwed up the quote. It should be:

Kerry: "From the liberal weanies"
Bush: "To the right wing nut jobs"
Both together, embracing: "This land was made for you and me."

Your way, its self denigrating. Their way, its inclusive. The only problem I have with the piece is that it wrongly attributes inclusiveness to Bush. But that's a small complaint, and I'm willing to overlook it in this case.

Third, if you would like to see a more positive message - create one!

You don'thave to wait, get out there and do it. It may suck the first time around (or it may not). Either way, you'll get the hang of it. Don't look to others to encourage you, get out there and encourage others, rather than commenting about how awful political satire will always be.

Didn't Dr. Dean teach us anything? :)

[derby378]

9. In case you haven't seen this yet...

http://www.moveon.org/technicaldifficulties/

[Mz Pip]

15. That was great.

n/t

[bigwillq]

16. It's very funny

and not to be taken too seriously. It got a big laugh out of me.

It's all in good fun. Laugh, enjoy and then forget about it.

[w4rma]

19. I watched it earlier. It doesn't go anywhere near Bush's real problems.

And it reinforces right-wing false-memes about Democrats. Definitely written by right-wingers for right-wingers, imho.

Heck, it even shows the Vietnamese soldiers singing and dancing to the tune while Sen. Kerry blows them up with a grenade. :puke:

Here is a long thread on this subject:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x2052350