CSotD: According to a highly-placed crybaby …
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We'll start with something completely stupid and work our way up.
One of the oddities of our political scene is that the conservatives who criticize the climate of "victimization" and attack minorities for complaining over unfair treatment and condemn any demand — even any request — for politeness as "Political Correctness" turn out to be the biggest crybabies and whiners in our society, particularly since they're basically whining over (A) not being allowed to completely dominate the landscape or (B) being called on their inconsistent bullshit.
Today, the moaning and weeping is over (B).
Ted Cruz made a campaign commercial which not simply included, but centered on and starred his children, so Ann Telnaes created an animated .gif criticizing him for exploiting his kids for political gain, depicting him as an organ-grinding Santa with a pair of monkeys dancing to his tune.
Cue Niagara Falls.
Poor little heartbroken Teddy unleashed the waterworks, because, while his children can be trotted out and exhibited as part of his campaign, nobody is allowed to comment on the fact, unless, I suppose, they can find a way to do it without mentioning the kids, which might be hard to pull off.
I'm not a huge fan of cartoonist explanations, believing that the work should speak for itself. However, Telnaes had included a note acknowledging that, while families are generally off-limits, "when a politician uses his children as political props, as Ted Cruz recently did in his Christmas parody video in which his eldest daughter read (with her father’s dramatic flourish) a passage of an edited Christmas classic, then I figure they are fair game."
Agreed.
It's one thing to have a shot of the kids in a general commercial. There was a time a few years ago when every politician was required to put on a flannel shirt and look folksy with the family.
But when you put them front-and-center, you've declared them part of the campaign. And, if this isn't "front-and-center," I don't know what is:
Not only was Telnaes justified in commenting on his use of his kids as campaign fodder, but she was justified in the "trained monkey" depiction, because that was one helluva lot bigger, and more hard-coached, role than simply "Merry Christmas, Daddy!"
So the poor victimized Cruz burst into tears, and the rightwing media burst into tears, and it was so sad to hear their sobbing that the Washington Post apologized and pulled the cartoon and deleted Telnaes's explanation and it's all gone, please don't cry, Teddy.
"It’s generally been the policy of our editorial section to leave children out of it. I failed to look at this cartoon before it was published. I understand why Ann thought an exception to the policy was warranted in this case, but I do not agree." — Fred Hiatt, Editorial Page Weasel
Perhaps from now on, Fred should get a shared byline, since Ann is only permitted to reflect his judgment and not her own.
And, by the way, Fred: I know your real title is "editor" and not "weasel," but the word "editor" means "person who reads and approves things before they are published."
I was simply striving for greater accuracy. You have your policies, I have mine.
UPDATE: While the Post does not allow criticism of Presidential candidates' advertising tactics, it apparently does allow the throwing of its own staff members under the bus.
Juxtaposition of the Season
While a lot of cartoons are based on the "houseful of out-of-town relatives" scenario, this pair brings up the horrific demands of spending time with the people who nominally live with you all the time.
Wiley's character looks with horror on spending an entire day while Stantis's pair discuss the strange notion of a full week, but the real difference — from a cartooning POV — is that Wiley draws on a kind of age-old phenomenon of the workaholic, seen in any number of holiday specials, while Prickly City examines a more societal estrangement.
In both cases, I can relate: Youngest child had a tendency to asthmatic broncitis as an infant, and I was, at the time, working some long hours, which included making a call to a client from the recovery room after he was born.
His mother found this a bit insensitive, for some reason.
The real Road-to-Damascus revelation, however, came several months later, when I had to take a few days off and found myself sitting next to his oxygen tent in the hospital late at night, wondering what the poor little mug had to do to get his father's attention.
I refer to that period of my life as "The Year Daddy Was Absent" and am grateful it didn't last any longer than it did.
Go thou and wise up.
And Stantis is right that nothing happens between Christmas and New Years, which is why you end up with those "Year in Review" features. Even if reporters wanted to dig in and work, there are no announcements being announced, no press releases being released and their sources cannot be reached for comment even if they were willing to make one.
All of which undermines the idea that there is only one holiday this time of year.
All those good, righteous, patriotic, right-thinking people who turn on the waterworks if you say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" aren't exactly eager to get back to their desks when The Only Holiday Good Americans Observe has ended.
Historic Note: Don't try to wrap your warped, xenophobic Political/Religious delusions in our history: The Puritans not only didn't wish anybody a Merry Christmas, but had a law against celebrating the day at all.
But for goodness sake, I wouldn't really tell this to the rightwingers. They'd unleash a display of butthurt waterworks that would make the Sorcerer's Apprentice look like a dripping faucet.
I mean, simply saying the words "Happy Holidays" in front of the delicate flowers is enough to turn on Niagara Falls.
Come'ere, ya whiners. I'll give yez somethin' to cry about.
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