Hello, Internet
So, last night – technically this morning, at about 4:30 AM, I finished a rough draft of a chart intended to add a tiny bit of snark to an otherwise embarrassing debate. A comment on how formulaic our political process has become. That the conversation that takes place in our commercials, our campaigns, our debates. . . it has nothing to do with the business of governance or the bettering of our nation. I threw that chart, a slapdash gif file, up onto a few sites I frequent as well as my own, and called it a night.
Then my inbox exploded.
To be honest, I’m a bit blown away. And flattered. And, let’s not mince words here, pleased. This blog has always been a bit of an experiment for me, culling and combining the different subcultures of my life into one living, raging, visceral, flowing document. These were the types of things I was saying, politically, in 2002. Back in a time when I got hate mail on a weekly basis for being either a communist or a terrorist or a fascist – and varying combinations there-of. Now I get far more people telling me that I’m a breath of fresh air, for most common definitions of the word “fresh”. Those of you who dislike my language should feel free to peruse one of the other fifty ho-jillion web sites out there on the internet. I’ll consider less swearing when our leaders start acting less stupid.
I’ll admit to being taken a bit by surprise. Hell, if I’d known I was going viral, I’d have cleaned up the place a bit more! But for my long term readers (you poor, glorious bastards), I promise that nothing around here is going to change. Well, maybe my templates. And probably my update frequency. But certainly not my attitude. For my new readers, you should know that I am not married to every aspect of liberalism. At least not as conventional American politics defines it. And there are times, though admittedly less often than not recently, when I agree with conservatives. What I’m sick to death of is neo-conservativism. And that is what I will attack mercilessly in this space until something even stupider comes along.
And yes, regulars, I’ll still be covering gamer culture. Sony is due to do something incredibly stupid any day now, and I’ll be there!
Now, with that bit of business out of the way, I’m happy to announce that fans of the Sarah Palin Debate Flow Chart can now reference it on the go, over morning coffee, on a cold winter day, or even in the comfort of their own pants! Because I have a new CafePress site up where you can get the flow chart on damn near everything.
I’m also rather psyched to note that the original post that garnered all of this attention over at DailyKos has been Dugg nearly 10,000 times. If you like the chart, or just like my site in general, click on over and show the love!
Absolutely love your flowchart. Found it thru Yahoo buzz. Would buy a tee shirt with it, but am desperately hoping (and doing my own part to see) that she will be GONE by Nov 5… ;-) thereby making it and her obsolete… But, like your style and opinions.
Oh, don’t be surprised–that flow chart ruled! Well done. Keep the comment coming.
Noocular.
I expect a FREE t-shirt because I know where you live! ;)
God, I couldn’t stop laughing when this popped up on DKoss. Just what I needed.
As I watched the debate, I thought I could see her mind (what little there is) chugging through an rat maze, trying to locate the exit. Even tried to diagram her sentences and just gave up.
You dear sir, unknown to me before are now on my hero list!!
DO MAKE IT A TEESHIRT ~ It would be a reminder of how much work we have to do so this never happens again.
Cheers, C
andrew is totally right. i posted it on ravelry.com as soon as i saw it, in a sarah palin must be stopped group, and folks were nuts about it. and i emailed it to my husband, who works for google, and he said that folks were talking about it all afternoon. so go you! now off to cafepress.
Excellent flowchart Aden.
I´m linking to you now!
Yep, I’m another one here because a friend sent me the flowchart and I’m anal enough to follow URLs to see where they lead.
I’m really enjoying your blog, and will spread the word.
Please feel free to use the word fuck wherever you like. :)
Dude, nice work on the flowchart but gotta say, Bush has once again screwed you over, the economy is so jacked up, i can’t afford to pay 18-20 bucks for a t-shirt that comes in a 3 pack for 5.99 at walmart. Thank bush for that!
Excellent blog, excellent flowchart, but Palin’s degree is in communication, not journalism. Many schools are still serious about teaching the latter major. Communication is a made up subject for jocks, cheerleaders and homecoming queens.
Yes, the flowchart is brilliant – I encountered it on flickr.
I only managed to catch the last half hour of the debate and wondered if my confusion was due to that. If the two of them hadn’t been so earnest, you’d have to use the word ‘ethereal’ to describe the total lack of content in the debate.
I was dying to ask what a hockey mom is – I’ve heard of soccer moms – are hockey moms soccer moms who live in colder climates? Here in Canada (where we actually play a lot of hockey), it’s usually the dads who take the kids to the skating rinks.
Just a shout-out from someone who lives 2.5 miles from Gladys Wood Elementary and who drives by it every morning after dropping my kid off a day care! Does that mean I get extra credit? Brilliant synopsis.
The internet is a wonderful thing. The flowchart made my day when I found it posted on a friend’s facebook page. And don’t be surprised – people love it when someone else says what they’re already thinking and even more so if their thoughts can be reduced to graphics.
I’m glad you’re able to make money off of it – even if it becomes memorabilia (we’ll all look back at our t-shirts and mugs and say, “Hey, remember that silly Alaskan lady who had no business being in a presidential election? Good times.”) Let’s hope (and vote Obama!)
You’re dead-on right about Sarah Palin. You nailed her ass to the wall. She’s trailer trash pretending to be a politician. Keep up the good work.
Your flow chart kicks ass!!!
I like this post better than your last one. You’re too clever a writer to rely so heavily ‘swear” words for emphasis. And BTW, she’s not a bitch. She’s not smart enough to be a bitch. She’s the other ‘B’ word, Bimbo.
I saw the flowchart on tumblr, then I saw somebody else´s linking to it on twitter, and it made me laugh both times. Then I realized there was a (minimal) link to your blog and I liked it / added it to my. This is probably what most people went trought. I think the cafepress was a terrific idea. You could exploit the flowchart a little more, send it to fox news or something.
You left out the part where she has to “smile real big” “wink wink” “bat eyelashes” while “stick needle in opponent’s eyeball” but otherwise this is pure genius! I heard some “gosh darn it” and “gee whiz” language too. I half expected to hear “golly gee, Batman!” and then see her start punching Biden and then we’d see big flashy letters saying things like POW! and KAZOWIE! That would have been almost as enlightening.
@ Don Buddin: according to the wikipedia.org article referring to Sarah Palin, she has a degree in both. That article also lists references to it as well.
Brilliantly clever. I sent folks to your URL.
>Here in Canada (where we actually play a lot of hockey),
Yes, I think that’s it exactly–a hockey mom is a northern-climes soccer mom.
I shouldn’t tell this joke when ladies are present, especially when folks are trying to wean our friend off of swear words; but have to relate one I heard while living in Canada (where yes, they are all nuts about hockey):
Q: Why do Canadians do it doggy style?
A: So the woman can watch the hockey game too.
Brilliant!
Yawn!!!!!
So witty, incisive and droll.
She’s been elected governor (one of 7 women in the country, third youngest, highest approval rating at 80%) and did so w/o benefit of personal/family connections, wealth or the unexpected departure of her elected predecessor. And she does this with probably the fullest personal life plate of any of the others. And you – on your self-congratulatory blog – dismiss her as “stupid”. “This blog has always been a bit of an experiment for me, culling and combining the different subcultures of my life into one living, raging, visceral, flowing document”. Oh please please tell us more, like what color is the linoleum in Mom’s basement. The smugness, lack of wit and cliched analysis is stunning.
Remember the days before we knew who Sarah Paline was? Ah, those were the days….
Registered with Digg specifically to Digg your flowchart. Have now Dugg. Hilarious!
You’ve got to add that “wink wink” to the flow chart and possibly “you guys”
This flowchart is AWESOME! HYSTERICAL! I can just see Palin’s moose-in-the-headlight face when I read and read again this chart! I have forwarded it and your website to about 100 people. Keep up the good work!
OMG, what a great debater she is!
As a retired speech and debate coach, I truly appreciate the genius of this flow chart. The creator had to have been a policy team debater which probably explains the clarity of thought inherent in his analysis. Best single comment I have seen during this election. I am old, not a fan of cyberspace (which has in many ways dehumanized discourse), but for this I am grateful.
My reaction to your flowchart is, I am sure, similar to a lot of folks. Step one: laugh. Step two: put the URL into my browser and see what other nuggets lie beneath.
After reading a bit of your blog I find that I agree with your sentiments, and you’re witty and poignant , if coarse.
I read about your Palin debate flow-chart today in the comment section of the SNL website while watching the VP debate parody. I have no idea who you are (obviously), but I just want to say that it is good to know there are still Americans out there with functioning brain cells. The fact that this election might even be close, scares me. It should be a no-brainer. Anyway, I digress, just wanted you to know that I will pass your blog site on to everyone in my address book! It’s basically everything I’m thinking, you’ve just taken the time to type it all out and share your (correct) opinions with everyone. So Kudos to you. I hope you make a ton of $$ off your flow-chart items because you deserve it. It was brilliant! I’m ordering the coffee mug myself.
Also in Spain:
http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/10/03/cronicasdesdeeeuu/1223009568.html
Sarah Palin did an outstanding job and made Joe Biden look like an incompetent idiot. You liberals are going to be sorry if Obama gets elected and this country becomes a socialist country.
It is obvious that most of you don’t know how the government works. You idiots blame Bush, when it is in fact the Democrat Congress that has created the problems. Bush and other Republicans gave Congress a heads up and asked for help, but the Dem Congress said they were over reacting while they are being paid by Fannie and Freddie.
Those who call Palin trailer trash, probably need to take a hard core look at themselves in the mirror. Palin puts you all to SHAME.
“Sarah Palin did an outstanding job…”
It is actually scary to see how many people share this opinion. How low does the standard have to be!!!
I spent first 28 years of my life (almost half) in communist Russia.
S.P. style and manners remind me (and people I talked with, including conservatives agree) of the type of the person making very successful political career in that society: ignorant-and-proud-of-it, shameless, close-to-simple-people demagogue.
Read this: http://lib.ru/BULGAKOW/dogheart_engl.txt and see if Sharikov reminds you of somebody.
Ladies and Getnlemen, if people like Palin rule this country you will fewer reasons to laugh about.
Unfortunately there are plenty of people like previous poster to vote for GOP ticket.
The Ur-Capitalists ks and cmills are just jealous because they can’t make money by selling T-shirts and also because the CBS poll hates them. (But that’s their problem, not mine, tee-hee.)
– bi, International Journal of Inactivism
Okay – that flow chart was hysterical! And unnervingly … very close to the actual event. But I am already biased against Palin, tho not quite as vehemently as you, so … consider the source. I am forwarding, however, to my ultraconservative Palin-fan friend b/c way too funny.
One correction I would offer in your preamble however, about Palin’s position on sexual ed. She actually does not, or at least did not prior to her vp candidacy, support “abstienence only” education in schools. She has publicly said on more than one occasion that she believes that kids should be taught all options, and that abstinence should be one of them. Not much, but something … I find it interesting that the Repubs are actually trying to present her as more conservative than she actually is. But as to her competancy to be VP … but I must say, tho I might not have (had the guts to)put it quite as … crassly … as you, I can’t say that I disagree with the gist of what you said (and probably enjoyed your rant more than I should). Loved the flow chart!!!
you, Mr. Anek sir, have won an internets.
cmills, please go kill yourself.
I don’t support breeding, but if I did, I’d want to have your babies. That’s how clever and hormone-inducing your intellect is! I echo the words of another poster in stating that you’re my new hero; keep that wicked wit coming, please. We need all the coping mechanisms we can get!!!!
Loved it and shared it. Keep up the analysis…I’m adding you to my blogroll!
Loved the chart (that came to us in email)…Posted now at FRESHCHAOS.com with a link back to your site. Kudos & Thanks. It will be both sad and scary if Amerika is dumb enough to elect Palin-droner and McSwain…Bring Peace Home.
I got the chart in an email today. Hilarious and well done!
Aden, I wrote you elsewhere, but I wanted to add my kudos here, too – you rock ;)
On top of my aunt forwarding it to me, my niece (other side of family) also posted it as a myspace thing, too. Freakin hilarious – if I get a t-shirt, will you autograph it?
It’s damned funny to have all these Palin supporters spewing vitrol…the chart was funny enough to get them over here and reading your entry in full, which is an accomplishment in and of itself.
Palin supporters – as the kids say…”Don’t be hatin’!” In particular, that linoleum in the mom’s basement remark made me laugh…if only they knew you irl…they would wish they had half as much substance.
I’m going to link your site w/merch on my blog.
Classic. :)
I’d love to know how much merch you sell.
Laura
http://www.sarahpalinnews.info
Your flow chart inspired me to start my own rant. I have diarrhea of the mouth so I thought I would put it to good use. But of course I have to use a pseudonym since I am kind of well known in the blogosphere. Here is my post on your chart:
http://politicallyastute.blogspot.com/2008/10/inside-sarah-palins-brain.html
ummm…
got that from a friend, then posted it here:
http://www.luckyteambiotech.net/thumbnails/thumb_20081007153507_palin.jpg
and, then, saw the URL – embedded in the image – like you couldn’t make it any more obvious, yet appropriately subtle.
let me know if i’m breeching with ya copy rites. spread tha love i say, i can always give you some bandwidth if you get booted.
nice work tho. v.nice.
i sense an imminent follow-up.
That flow chart was awesome. I would like to include it in my high school paper because I am doing an analysis of the vice presidential debate, and it is the most concise representation of the debate I have ever seen, textual or otherwise.
We will credit you in the paper and you have full copyrights. There will be no editing, only republishing.
Please e-mail me and let me know if it’s okay with you, thanks a lot!
Aden,
I am one of your new readers. My friend showed me your flowchart at work today and I absolutely loved it!
Aden, when are we getting a MY FRIENDS flow chart about McCain?
@Michael from Russia: thanks for your post. I read something to the effect that Russians coming out of the Soviet era would discuss Pravda with Americans, and would say: “yes, but we Russians _knew_ we were being lied to!” :D
Not to cause trouble or anything, but just out of curiousity at what point in Obama’s policical career did he have “the fine distinction of having voted against giving Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq?” I know he gave a speech against the war when he was running for the IL State Legislature, but I also know that he wasn’t in the US Senate when the vote was taken (and in fact squirmed a bit in 2004 during the Kerry election when asked how he would have voted if he’d been there at the time). Just asking.
Edit: Whoops! Thanks for catching that. That section was originally longer, about both the Iraq war and the surge. He voted for the surge as a Senator, but he’s always been on record as being against handing that authority to Bush. Corrected, with appreciation.
-Aden
You know it, aj2005.
This, from my post on the other thread, applies to mention of Obama’s supposed “socialism” here:
Forgot to add: the idea that Obama, with Larry Summers as his adviser and with Warren Buffett, the most capitalistic man in the world, backing him, the idea that Obama intends to make America a socialist state has got to be the most jaw-droppingly out-of-touch statement that anyone has ever made.
“Democracy is Socialism!” Yell it a few more times, maybe the inattentive will believe it.