So, this weekend, Rick Santorum launched a fundraising campaign called “Conservatives Unite Moneybomb.” Yes, the man whose name has become shorthand for icky sex fluids launched a fundraising campaign with the acronym “CUM.” It seems like the Republican presidential race for 2012 has teetered far over the edge of “ludicrous” and into “We can’t tell if this is The Onion or not anymore” territory.
Which leads me to my question for you today. What is the most ridiculous thing you’ve seen a politician do in your lifetime? I don’t mean the “serious” ridiculous. I mean the hilarious, the kind that might have been SNL-skit content except that it really happened by a candidate who took themselves seriously for political office. Give me your best political snafus in the comments.
44 replies on “Lunchtime Poll: Politics and Parody”
I don’t have any snafus to share. . . Just an absurdity to those who know anything about systems of care. . .
Local commissioner’s race we had a prominent local business person running as a libertarian. No surprise there right? (I live in a rural, conservative area.) No, the absurdity of the matter is that he wanted to privatize the foster care, MH, DD, and Addiction Services in our county. That’s right, cut off state funding for these outside of Medical Assistance Card. Thankfully, he lost. (A friend of my mother’s took the seat he was vying for- though it makes her
the token Democrat.)
Even if this doesn’t qualify, I want to thank you for a LTP that brightened a day made dull by chronic pain. Brava!
That’s … that’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard of in my life.
YAY Token!democrat mom-friend!
Thanks for the thanks! I needed to laugh cynically at stupid, powerful men, today.
In my hometown, one of the candidates for Mayor was an 18 yr old kid. His old locker was also my locker and at one point my freshman year, he came up to me while I was at “our” locker and started talking about how great that particular location was, how handy it was being numbered 123 and all sorts of other things that he felt, as a senior, needed to be passed onto a freshman.
OMG. He may have not done anything ridiculous while campaigning (he lost, very much so) but he was a nutjob in school. Don’t elect 18 yr olds, just… don’t.
Though, it was in a great spot. Near the restrooms, near the exit, near the weight-room (he and I appreciated that fact for different reasons).
ADAM SCOTT!
What? The kid’s name was Ryan.
See Twiddle’s comment – Adam Scott is a character on Parks and Recreation who, as an older teen, became his city’s mayor… and consequently bankrupted the city trying to build a hockey rink or something similar. His character’s actually pretty great, but your story reminded me of him. :)
That is hilarious. I have never seen the show but now I’m certain the writers have done their research.
I’m sure the kid I knew would have tried something similar…
Ahahah! Love Adam Scott! [Parks and Rec reference]
New Zealand had a Prime Minister affectionately known as “Piggy”. He once called a snap election while off his face on schnapps, then when he retired from politics, he joined the Rocky Horror Show and was the Narrator.
As Prime Minister he was an insufferable git, but as entertainment no one could beat him.
Ahhh! When? Name? Must…google…
Rob Muldoon, PM over the late 70’s and early 80’s.
I’ve just recalled we have a cartoon of Muldoon in our spare room. Mr Cesy who used to be a card carrying Young Nat has quite the love for Muldoon. It’s rather frightening actually.
I’m kinda jealous? That’s so much more entertaining than Santorum.
Santorum is either, as said below an excellent performance artist, or has no sense of humour. I’m hoping for the former even though I think it is the latter.
Muldoon had a wicked sense of humour. His secretary used to get phone calls from a man who was mentally ill and thought the Government was reading his brain with a satellite. Every day the secretary would say, no you cannot speak to the PM. One day Piggy went past his secretaries desk when this man rang again. He heard what was going on, and told the secretary to put the call through to his office. He listened to the man rant and rave, and said “Right, I’ve stopped it now” and hung up on him. The man never called again…..
I was told that story by a (very recent) former MP who was high up in Government for a long time. She was a Labour MP, the opposition to Muldoon’s National Party and even she thought that story was just brilliant.
That IS brilliant.
This is absolutely amazing! I don’t think a Canadian PM has done something that ridiculous (though Mackenzie King comes close with his psychic romps with his mother and dead dog).
There’s gotta be a limerick in there somewhere.
There once was a PM named “Piggy”…
Who liked to have a little drinky,
He called an election,
And it was a bone of contention
About whether he also got jiggy!
(This is terrible, I know. I am not a limerick maestro at all).
(I think it’s hilarious.)
Thank you love!
I lol’d.
I found myself chuckling yesterday over Gingrich’s open marriage proposal to his wife when he led the witch hunt against Clinton over his affair, telling America that the institution of marriage was in tatters.
Oh, my Christ.
So, here’s the thing. If both parties are open and agreeable to an open marriage plan, then great. But the motherfucker sprang this on her AFTER he violated their monogamous agreement. What a hypocrite.
Sadly the only thing I can come up with Jack Layton (RIP) playing the spoons during the last Canadian federal election in May, though I’m not sure if that’s what you’re looking for. I don’t think a sketch has been made about it.
Also, during October’s Ontario provincial election in their platform Tim Hudak and the Tories proposed transit cuts and highway expansions to end the “war on the car” so that people could go home and “spend quality time with your family”. It’s like they ran out of things to criticize and just settled for the most bizarre phrasing to get people to vote for them.
I’m snickering at the war on the car.
Our local representative (Mark Souder, for anyone who knows the name) made a youtube video with his assistant about the importance of family values. Â The next week he was caught in his car having sex with said secretary at the state park. Â I’ve never seen news anchors so gleeful at a political snafu. Â Actual words out of the reporters mouth: Â “The YouTube video has since been taken down, but we have it on our website!” Â (Said with huge grin.)
That’s a jewel. Hey, it’s horny-making work, keeping the gays, liberals, and single ladies down.
I saw someone posit that he just has to be running as an elaborate prank/performance art piece. Because… really? REALLY? Either that or his campaign staffers are secretly lefty.
I love the idea of him being surrounded by undercover progressives. “Nah, dude, the voting public would LOVE it if you kinda ran with the whole ‘Santorum’ thing.”
Rachel Maddow (and shadowed by Jon Stewart) said the same thing about the Herman Cain campaign, that it was performance art gone horribly wrong. That was of course after Cain quoted a “poet”, then quoted the Pokemon Movie theme song in reality; his 999 economic plan, which also happens to be the default setting on Sim City; and there was something else I can’t remember at the moment…
I had not heard at least half of that but I am for real trying to hide how hard I’m laughing at work. Thanks for that.
Not political snafu, but it still makes me chuckle because I am an evil person. Â When the Dailymail had the headline for Etta James’ death. Â “At Last Singer Etta James dies at 73…”
http://thefw.com/daily-mail-etta-james-headline/
A facepalm if ever there was one.
My wee ladybrain cannot wrap itself around that. I mean, we collectively giggled when the conservatives/reform party’s acronym was CCRAP for a while, but that’s just a whole other level of WTFery.
Also, what on earth is a moneybomb?!
I don’t know. You’d think they’d have learned that tossing around excessively violent language in the political sphere was a no no after the whole Gabrielle Giffords thing, but apparently, no.
Republicans: Not Good With Words, Ever.
Today’s US political WTF, c/o Rebecca Traister on Twitter:
Irish politicians have a good few… let’s see… ex-Minister for Defence Willie O’Dea play-shoots a photographer… current Minister for Finance says emigration is a “lifestyle choice” (our unemployment rate is ~15%)… ex-Minister for Finance and ex-Prime Minister Bertie Ahern saying he didn’t have a bank account for seven years (while he was in government…!)…
If you don’t laugh you’ll cry.
I wish I were more surprised at the Rand Paul part of that :(
Ditto. :-/
Oh, Rand.
And yes, on the crying if not laughing.
Oh, and when the sponsor of a drug-testing-for-welfare-recipients got a DUI!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/16/kip-smith-dui-arrest_n_1209365.html
Because poor people can’t control themselves around substances.
Cue mirthless cackling.
how is Rick Santorum a real person
I don’t even
I can’t even think of anything that terrible.
this one time Stephen Harper did this, but it was kind of a little bit awesome
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xJLyLxFmwI&w=480&h=360%5D
I lived through the whole Bill/Monica/Ken thing. I don’t think anything else will ever compare to that level of ridiculousness.
OMG that’s amazing. Is that really real? Because the words together don’t even make sense. I have no political snafus because I don’t pay attention to politics as much as I could, but man this has to top the list. That is totally something out of The Onion.
It’s really real. MONEYBOMB.