What Does That 'Get a Brain Morans' Dude Think About his Fame? Does he know?

[depakid]

Can you miss your own 15 minutes?

Ms. Depa & I have discussed this several times- She from a journalist's perspective, me from a science background approaching it with graph theory (e.g. Six Degrees of Separation, infectious disease models).

She thinks hell yes- he's blissfully clueless (he and his associates don't read the body of material where he's famous). I think no way- it has to have gotten back to him- the net has too many random connections and routes of transmission.

What do you think? Does he know about his status as an American icon?



From Alternet:

You know him, you love feeling superior to him, he's clearly a superstar among liberal bloggers and their readers.

Booman http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/11/13/18155/219?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+boomantribune%2FSvpw+%28Booman+Tribune%29">referenced the iconic tea-partier* the other day, and something one of his commenters wrote got me thinking:

I am almost starting to feel sorry for that guy in the picture. Poor bastard.

He's probably too stupid to have a computer, but his kids will see their dad forever.**

Of course, http://www.cantrip.org/stupidity.htmlan enormous number of stupid">people own and use computers. Yet studies suggest that in terms of the websites we browse and the news media we consume, we are a deeply polarized nation. According to a http://pewresearch.org/pubs/85/the-internet-and-politics-no-revolution-yet">Pew study, online users tend to "find and join groups that share their ideological, cultural, and lifestyle preferences."

And that widely-cited study of the political blogosphere during the 2004 elections (http://www.blogpulse.com/papers/2005/AdamicGlanceBlogWWW.pdf">PDF:

... we found that liberal and conservative blogs did indeed have different lists of favorite news sources, people, and topics to discuss.... The division between liberals and conservatives was further reflected in the linking pattern between the blogs, with a great majority of the links remaining internal to either liberal or conservative communities.

We're also http://www.alternet.org/politics/141248/provocative_new_book_challenges_us_to_really_ask_%22why%22/">sorting ourselves out in the real world, living in communities of increasingly like-minded people. Who travels in moran-dude's circles? Well consider this: it's not just the hilarious misspelling that makes the image so rich, but also the knowledge that none of the people around him noticed. (You just know he proudly carried that sign around all morning as he anticipated sticking it to those smug hippie liberals.) So I think it's safe to assume that he and his pro-war fellow-travelers probably aren't big readers of Daily Kos or Talkingpoints Memo.

Which raises an interesting question: could a viral internet sensation like 'get a brain morans' dude -- a sensation only on our side of the information divide -- be splashed all over hundreds of thousands of web-pages and not even know it? Is he living his life, listening to Rush's soothing stream of grievances as he drives to and from his crappy mcjob, completely oblivious to the fact that he's brought countless smiles to the lips of millions of progressives across the country?

Is it possible in this wired era of social segregation to get your 15 minutes of fame and just miss them entirely?

More: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/143957/but_what_does_that_%27get_a_brain_morans%27_dude_think_about_all_this/
-------
* I know, the photo wasn't in fact taken at a tea-party -- the guy was a counter-protester at an anti-war rally at Boeing's missile production facility near St. Louis, Mo.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

1. 1st K&R

:D

[timeforpeace]

15. Gawd, we need some new material.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

17. surely, this guy's 15 minutes is up --

;)

[tabasco]

22. Post some pics of yourself.

That oughta do it.

[HughBeaumont]

2. I wouldn't doubt he got an entirely different look . . .

. . . shaved his pornstache, cut his mullet, burned his Murkin mandana and that Cardinals shirt, etc.

If he had any sense, he should have saved that sign and donated it to the Smithsonian.

[depakid]

7. "he should have saved that sign and donated it to the Smithsonian."

Or sold it on eBay.

[timeforpeace]

16. Yeah, a wheelchair and oxygen bottle.

[rcrush]

3. Yeah thats my dad.

HI DAD!

[JoeyT]

18. That was pretty much my reaction too.

"Holy shit! Dad?!"

[Drunken Irishman]

4. I'm sure it got back to him.

He doesn't need to be the type of person who reads sites more prone to posting that picture. It only takes an associate, someone who he might not even know all that well, to see it and pass it along.

The net is too vast and so easily connected to everyone that at one point a family member, friend or even someone he worked with, had to have run across the picture.

[depakid]

6. There's also the possibility (and this may be remote)

That he was actually doing a Yes Men type thing- and is laughing among us to this day!

Nah... but it would have been brilliant at the time.

[walldude]

5. HIs kids? Please tell me this guy didn't pro-create. n/t

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

8. You'd be blown away at what Cons don't know that we do

I know a conservative who spouts every talking point you can imagine that had absolutely no idea that Cheney got five deferments (not that he cared) or O'Lielly's issues with loofas and falafals.

They live in their safe bubble provided by FOX News, Limpballs, and Free Republic. When you think the "mainstream media" is poison, it's a good way to justify one's total ignorance.

[donco]

9. I wish he had a Yankees t-shirt on though……so sad. nt

[Chipper Chat]

10. Other DU celebrities:

Are they aware of their "fame?"

[Ian David]

13. You forgot THIS dude...

More:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3829208

[Number23]

29. Wait... is this for real???

[Ian David]

11. I keep hoping the sign next to him says, "Free Ripublick.com" n/t

[Ian David]

12. Get a Brain! Morans A Pictorial Essay (Image-heavy)

Get a Brain! Morans A Pictorial Essay (Image-heavy)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x3971375

[Swamp Rat]

14. How could he not know that he's America's Official Village Idiot?

Oh wait, he's an idiot.

[JoeyT]

19. I wish I could see the sign his kid is holding.

It almost looks like it says "Freedom for the Rich." or something like it.
That would make this pretty obviously a joke.

[Brother Buzz]

26. Free pony rides?

:shrug:

[merh]

20. There is this comment on a blog from 2005

I work with the guy in this photo and he doesn't even have a computer.I seen this photo and posted it on the wall and he got pissed.I thought about posting his name but I better not.

Posted by: indiana at May 11, 2005 4:37 AM

http://24ahead.com/blog/archives/000472.html

And just an FYI, the right is still convinced that the lefties made this up to mock them.

The DU glossary has been updated with The Way Back Machine's link to the original posting of the image.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_oet&address=358x190#m
http://web.archive.org/web/20030428110849/http://www.stlimc.org/stlouis/news/front.php3?article_id=6598&group=webcast

If you were the "get a brain morans" guy would you come forward?

[kath]

21. "I seen this photo."

Typical freeper grammar.

[Odin2005]

23. That's a typical Southern dialectism, actually.

[Electric Monk]

30. Are you trying to correct Kath or agreeing with her?

[Odin2005]

31. Correcting her. It's a common usage down South IIRC.

[Odin2005]

24. Oh, I'm sure he does.

[MrMickeysMom]

25. "Does he know about his status as an American icon?"

Hell, this guy can't distinguish his ass from his elbow!

One picture = 1,000 words!

[Blue_Tires]

27. the cards shirt also earned endless ridicule on baseball forums

[depakid]

28. +1