This may be the worst online political ad ever conceived.
**UPDATE** And it looks like the GOP agrees. They've taken it down. The remainder of our original blog follows ...
The "Obama card" campaign, found here, was launched on Thursday to very little acclaim. It resides on GOP.com and is paid for by the Republican National Committee.
It's something of an interactive feature that lets users ring up a sale on the "Obama card," which apparently makes everything free. (This is the level of discourse offered by a major political party?) The fun comes in when you get to take your "Obama card" through an online shopping spree, right from the GOP's own product portal.
As pointed out by John Aravosis over at Americablog, the GOP store contains many, many questionable items, ranging from the anti-Semitic to pornographic. Aravosis searched for "jew" and got "Jews and Their Lies" as a result, among others. A search for "latino" rendered "The Latino Threat." A search for "gay," however, resulted in a GOP scolding. "Bad Word!" the "Obama card" search proclaims.
Inspired by John's findings, I did a little searching around of my own, checking for every odd thing I could think of.
A search for "Bush" returned with "The Bush Tragedy" by author Jacob Weisberg, along with "Family of Secrets" by Russ Baker (fantastic book, I highly recommend it).
A search for "truth" came back with -- surprise -- Al Gore's documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth (without the full title visible, strangely enough).
Checking on what the GOP would offer if I tried to buy "iraq" on the "Obama card," I was shocked to find Robert Greenwald's powerful documentary Iraq for Sale.
Following up on Aravosis' "Bad Word!" search for "gay," I decided to see what the Republican party might offer if I tried to find something in the flavor of "lesbian."
"Bad Word!" I was told.
So I tried "homosexual," to which it returned quite a few very interesting items, some of which would make any cross-bearing Republican blush.
Breaking it down to the most basic form, I queried for "sex," which, to the GOP, is also a "Bad Word!"
So instead, I went searching for "whores," which turns out is not a "Bad Word!" for Republicans (at least, not lately). The GOP shopping outlet returned with this little gem: An image of a topless woman whose left breast was being held by another woman from behind, with the caption "Whores no cocks" in red and blue lettering.
Oh, also, the "whores no cocks" costs a mere $0.
The one I got the biggest kick out of was my final search for the recently-released Sacha Cohen film Bruno -- starring genius comedian Cohen as a flamboyantly gay, Austrian fashion reporter -- which the GOP store was apparently also offering free for "Obama card" users.
Is that supposed to mean something?
Go here. See this online abomination (o-bomination?) for yourself. If you run across any hilarity-inducing searches, drop 'em in the comments.
-- Stephen C. Webster
This article is truly stupid.
Rivero has accumulated dozens of valuable headlines and comments in the time it took you to post this..
I wonder if the GOP is for sale? Price: $0??? Make it one cent. Rounded up from the value of the 1919 dollar after Bush got done with it would be about right. Of course, the first person to buy it would get it all.
Jhoffa:
Michael also charges for the "privilege" of commenting at his website. Curious that.
Michael thinks "Free Market" (globalization) is still a wonderful idea, abhors the idea of tariffs, yet rants about politicians shipping jobs offshore...another odd disconnect. He has a curious reluctance to ever criticizing Big Oil, and still has a 2000 msm mindset about Gore (I suppose Michael means to say Bush was the better choice....although he won't admit it).
He finds science to be "unbelievable" when it comes to ANY subject related to weather, unless the scientist is one that agrees with his (and Fox News') preconceived notions. I do believe he thinks ocean currents don't exist, and that their effect on Northern European weather patterns are a "liberal" conspiracy."
He still stubbornly clings to that "We are taxed to death" Libertarian (closet Reagan Republican) meme, yet ignores emails imploring him to provide PROOF the US has the high tax rates he alleges compared to other developed nations. Ignores proof showing otherwise.
Seems to have amnesia when it comes to being reminded that he pushes for deregulation (Free Market/Globalization) with his Libertarian economic philosophy, while the consequences of that mentality are on blatant display around us, and in the media.
He does provide a website where folks can post articles on alternative issues the msm sources stubbornly refuse to acknowledge, like the events of 9/11/01, and he deserves praise for that. He also provides accurate summaries on the effects of foreign nations' influence on American foreign and domestic policies. Is accurate in pointing out the scope of the unmanageable Debt we are in. Has an overall 3.5 star news site.
Too bad he wants cash to hear his reader's reactions to the articles he posts.
Or maybe he would be as successful as Raw Story......
There's nothing like having an African American President in office to bring the closet racists and homophobes out in the open.
Who tf is "Rivero"? And, of farang is right, can comments on that site be bought with the Obama card, too?
The Conservative / GOP just keeps stepping in it. Great article
LOL
Seems to now be down.
Here's what I get when I click the link at their site:
Server Error in '/obamacard' Application.
Server cannot access application directory 'D:\Webs\newmedia.gop.com\obamacard\'. The directory does not exist or is not accessible because of security settings.
The site used Amazon's API to search and pull product information - so maybe everyone should be mad at them instead??
The repigs are so desperate.
President Obama is running circles around them and it has made them dizzy and incoherent.
I hope he keeps them OUT of power for the next 40 years!!
walt #8, who's mad? Everyone is laughing.
The site has no apparently been taken down. You can get to the opening page, but can't click through to "enter" -- what a bunch of inept bobos.
Did you read the rules?
*3. Terms and Conditions: THIS CHALLENGE IS GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES. ALL FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS APPLY. Odds of completing the Challenge first depend on the number of eligible entries received. This Challenge is not open to jurisdictions where skill-based games or contests are prohibited by law.
The one (1) individual who completes the Challenge most quickly will be able to choose the YR chapter to receive $3,400. If no individual completes the Challenge, the person who spent the most with his/her Obama Card will choose the YR chapter to receive $1,700. Participation in the Challenge is monitored by a subjective software program that will select the participant who reaches the established goal first. Announcement will be made on or about Monday, August 3, 2009 via telephone, email, or online at http://www.GOP.com.*
"Subjective Software program that will select the participant who reaches the established goal first" ??? What does that mean?
Great post farang. I like WRH and never considered many of your points. Thanks.
See you on Sukhumvit and Soi 4!
The game won't come up for me either, all I got was a disturbing glance at the RNC front page.
This is hilarious...can't the Republicans get anything right? Ever?
I see a bunch of white (or wanna-be white) men, bad hairlines and wire-rimmed spectacles, fleshy bodies "riddled with phlebitis", sitting around plotting their let's-show-people-how-grassroots-and-common-we-are and we-are-going-to-burn-Obama-good! Challenge - yet they are too lazy to set up their own search parameters and didn't stop to think of what an Amazon search would bring up? As usual, a waste of time and money for this "fiscally" responsible party. I think Liberty University and Yale need their accreditations revoked.
OMG, they just keep tying themselves up in bigger and *cuter* knots all the time~! Please, GOP, I can't take it no more, I'm laughing so hard I think I'm gonna die! Oh, wait, maybe that's their plan.
Mike Rivero is the author of the website "What Really happened.com" [WRH]
[For those who wondered]
I don't want to see this shit.
That's right rawstory.......keep obsessing on the right wing losers and what they think of Obama. It gives the Obama trolls a nice chance to climb out of their holes and act all superior.
Too bad the informed progressive movement, the one truly outraged by the Obama crimes so far does not get the same coverage you give to the fascists and freaks in the Republican party.
Obama covers for Bush and Cheney at every turn, expanding their wars, continuing their wars, lying about it, continuing torture and protecting Bush from torture prosecution. Giving tacit support to the right wing coup in Honduras and continuing to help Israel destroy Gaza and wage a war of threats against Iran, continuing the Bush CIA program to destabilize Iran and on and on.
This is the reality of the Obama Presidency so far.
The collapse of the Democratic party continues to gain steam as progressives are destroyed from within like McKinney, ostracized and ridiculed like Kucinich, or simply wake up to the lies and move on like Nader did.
However, a group of filthy lying neocon scum has been happy to fill the void and in fact as they used the DLC to take over the party they are what drove out the progressives in the first place.
This is a disaster and a crisis..........but lets just all focus on juvenile Republican attack ads instead and tell ourselves that Obama is on our side. Sure.
The man has been office 6 months but more excrement has been heaped on him from the eternally silly right to the impatient left. than the entire Bush fiasco engendered. The more the right can get the rest of us to get uptight and outraged ,the more they have acheived their goals. The Obermann solution is the right way ; completely ignore the mother . Example: After O'REILLY made an over-the-top disgusting remark ,Keith opined yhat he would never mention him again on his show and he has kept his promise. "Out -of- sight ,out-of mind" has hurt Billo's ratings because he can't lament that NBC has taken vocal umbrage with him ; thus ,the liberal media meaning MSNBC is demeaning him daily. Most of these vomit mouths are too cowardly to take on Jon Stewart or Colbert because they know they will be handed their ass in a little bag.
Kudos Curly/Mo/Obama!
However you have to to keep in mind that Obama hasn't seen the Mountain Top
as Martin did! So the caucasians (in charge) told his black behind that if "we"
aka the bush crime family could bankrupt a Country (Iceland) and destroy a
financial system like folks haven't seen since 1931 oh & out an CIA Agent
who was working on WMD in the Middle East for over 20 years, the we can
relieve your Secret Service Detail or offer them more money and your butt
is OURS!
The first Black President of the Untied States is in trouble! However when
ya put a brother up to the task "Hell we built A-merry-ca after the Brit's
burned the White House to the ground in 1812! Just to name one incident!
And still No CREDIT! WOW!
cyberjazz, do I detect a bit of racism in your comment?
If so, GFY.
The rot is in both parties, the fascism we now experience is made possible because so many buy into the two party democracy fairytale.
The never ending Dem talking point, he has only been in office one month.....two months.....three months.........shut up already!
No one is complaining that he is not moving quickly enough.........in fact he moves at mach speed. It is that his moves are all Bush-like pro war pro torture crimes.
But hey Dem trolls, keep on wailing on that 'only been in office x months' drum cause its all you got. Well you have all that new blood on your hands from drone attacks, more torture, illegal coups etc. But you have no moral high ground over the vile Repugs as you are their equals.
Why is it that the Repugs and the Democrat Obama haters sound so much alike. Really vile mouths. Hate and Rage. Could it be that they are actually one and the same?
Why can't people make a point respectfully without continually telling those who might see things a little differently to GFY?
Um, why is it that Obama worshiping fanatics refuse to deal with reality and the pro torture, pro Bush, pro war policies of their dear leader?
GOP = GROSS FRATBRATS ON PARADE!
It's the folks like "CurlyMoe&Obama" that will make sure no one will ever want to be associated with the Libertarian Party. They all sound like GOP Lite.
John Aravosis is a bigoted asshole.
I love this ad! But, couldn't find it when I went to GOP.com...aw.. I wish the GOP would make MORE stuff like this, keep pushing the youths to the left where it's nicer and more intelligent, unlike CurlyMoe. Bush did a lot of great things, brought Iraq democracy for free...tortured a lot of people, I mean, terrorists... caught Bin Laden... Oh, and the best, single-handedly ruined our economy, all while his boys got theirs. To some he was a godsend, to most he was, and is, a terrible excuse for a human being and the worst example of an American citizen.
The Obamacard is gone. They took it off their site.
I'm with the Three Stooges.
Stephen C. Webster = douchebayg supreme.
This article, once again, is pointless and stupid, demonstrating that RS is no better than Drudge.
Congratulations, RS. Now I don't feel so bad that I haven't been able to subscribe due to lack of funds.
So ironic, yet consistent, that this "life costs nothing" card appears on the GOP site.
The party that gave us the biggest deficit in history.
The party that went to war to protect their oil profits and funded it with tax cuts for the wealthy.
The party that hid those war expenditures from the budget - refused to account for their spending, like a teenager with daddy's credit card.
The party whose leaders said "deficits don't matter".
The party who broke the constitution to justify their spying and torturing.
The party whose gifts to their wall street buddies broke the economy.
Party on dudes.
This has been totally discredited. Its the Democrats projecting again.
@ abraham: That's "douche bag," which I didn't get a change to search for with my Obama card. Dern'it!
Damn! and I just maxed out my Bush card!
You missed my new e-book: THE REVELATIONS OF GEORGE W. BUSH. He's really not gone you know. He's been part of a shadow govt. operating since before Obama took office. Obama was so impressed he's taking from G.W.'s playbook.