September 16, 2004
RONALD (6) WILSON (6) REAGAN (6):
The Rise of a Satanic Right? (Michael Ordoña, 9/13/04, AlterNet)
Did John Kerry fight not only Viet, but Vampire Cong in the Mekong Delta? Is the GOP considering replacing Dick Cheney on the ticket with the zombified corpse of Ronald Reagan? Is the Bush family, along with Martha Stewart, embroiled in a satanic plot to take over the world?Recently, artists in various media have taken to casting the foes of the Democratic party as monsters. Literally. With so many voters dismissing the Democrats as the lesser of two evils, these characterizations call Republicans the much, much more evil of two evils, – think Barbara Bush (the elder) pulling a baby's head out of a gory sheep bladder – as if to say to conservatives, "You think we're godless and immoral? Well, you worship Satan!" [...]
Earlier this summer, Greg Knauss, a 36-year-old computer programmer who is married to a Republican, put up a website devoted to a presidential ticket of Bush and "Zombie Reagan." Not only does the site make merciless fun of the dead, it describes the late president as "a lumbering, flesh-eating corpse" who will replace Dick Cheney because of the current vice president's need to devote more time to bathing "in the blood of virgins."
According to the site, "Zombie Reagan... no longer needs to sleep and can withstand any wound save the complete destruction of his head. By way of example, Zombie Reagan would have been able to shrug off his 1981 assassination attempt and eat his attacker. He and President Bush enjoy clearing brush together."
The site has received more than 400,000 hits, most of which came during its first week online, and its content has been widely circulated on the Internet. It was popular enough to spawn a related product line (mugs, T-shirts, hats and the like) and to inspire dozens of visitors to offer campaign slogans such as "Zombie Reagan – Still Less Evil Than Cheney," "Putting the Voodoo Back in Voodoo Economics."
With the buzz generated by the site, Knauss expected a storm of criticism. It never materialized. "I mean, geez, what does it take to enrage people these days?" he complains. "Here I am, poking a recently passed icon of conservatism with a sharp stick and nobody threatens to kill me? I thought these were polarized, overly serious times!"
Conservatives have a sense of humor and have won--what's to get polar about? Posted by Orrin Judd at September 16, 2004 5:05 PM
"I mean, geez, what does it take to enrage people these days?"
After decades of being told that the purpose of art is to shock and offend, is it any wonder that people ignore deliberate, feeble and unfunny attempts like this?
Betcha the guy's real complaint is that he's gonna end up losing money with all that merch that ain't selling.
Posted by: Raoul Ortega at September 16, 2004 6:00 PMOrrin:
What Raoul said. Bashing the Right is expected. It's like bashing Christianity. Ho Hum. But, hey, where are our T-shirts?
Posted by: Peter B at September 16, 2004 6:21 PMOh yes - we need a "I am a Judd Brother" T-Shirts. If you set up with Café Press there's no financial risk.
P.S. Other slogans:
"Posts with Judds"
"Brother to Judds"
"He ain't heavy, he's my blogger"
Posted by: Annoying Old Guy at September 16, 2004 6:50 PMAlong with humor, horror is a pretty conservative genre too, doncha think? Even with George Romero's liberal drum-banging in the original Dead Trilogy, they're still very conservative pictures. Look who gets et in Dawn of the Dead '78: the hippie traffic copter pilot who can't handle a gun and the loose cannon cop, while the two that survive are the level headed cop who keeps his mind on the job and the woman who stoutly refuses to have an abortion, even if it means she might die during childbirth. And Dawn of the Dead '04 couldn't get more conservative if it tried: the theme music is "The Man Comes Around" fer cryeye!
And another thing: I've been making Zombie Reagan jokes for fifteen years now. This guy is totally stealing my bit.
re your headline:
Reagan's Bel Air home was at 666 [street withheld]. Nancy had the number changed.
Posted by: Fred Jacobsen (San Fran) at September 16, 2004 9:40 PMre: Snappy T-Shirt Slogans.
For the ladies: "Check Out My Judds"
> Along with humor, horror is a pretty conservative genre too, doncha think?
Humor *is* horror.
Posted by: Guy T. at September 16, 2004 9:48 PMWhen your party's presidential hopeful is nicknamed "Lurch" by his opponents, why would you think Zombie Reagan raise much of a ruckus among Republicans?
AOG, "He ain't heavy, he's my blogger" is sheer genius.
Posted by: Michael Herdegen at September 17, 2004 1:33 AM"Humor *is* horror."
Reminds me of that old Mel Brooks line: "Tradgey is when I get a paper cut, comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."
Posted by: Governor Breck at September 17, 2004 9:54 AM