Finally. Someone with some journalistic balls points to the naked emperor and makes it quite clear, in a loud and unshakable voice, that what we’re all looking at isn’t a “smallish, fur-lined scepter.”
Perhaps what’s been missing all these years in my discussions on meaning, intent, and the idea that what we believe we’re doing when we interpret — that is, how our conscious ideas about the process influences the product of that process in ways that would make Heisenberg nod knowingly — is crucial to any useful discussion of epistemology, has been my failure to introduce the public to a “racist” talking goat endeavoring to sell (on the meta level, and through absurdist intertextual sequencing) Bloombergian nightmare water.
Which I can assure you was just an oversight on my part. I mean, I’ve used egrets and copulating bunny clouds. Eventually I would have gotten around to a talking goat, don’t you think?
Of course, the fact that one award-winning journalist bucks the outrage trend and tells the (rather obvious) truth about the Dew ad doesn’t solve our national problem: the spot was still pulled, and its creator has been under siege for his failure to adhere to the “tolerance” dictated by the PC thought and speech police.
And so until companies become less risk-averse, and laugh off the ludicrous charges that self-serving racialists and race-baiters throw at anything that they can wrangle into some contour of supposed racism, we as a nation will continue to allow shame and grotesque racial and gender politics from identity groups shape and in many ways control, our thinking.
As I’ve tried to demonstrate here over the years, the end product of this kind of leftwing hermeneutics is progressive tyranny and consensus-based truth, a repudiation of the Enlightenment and its reliance on rationalism and individual autonomy supplanted by an embrace of anti-foundationalism and post modernist relativism, where collectivism is ascendant and the individual is subsumed, molded, and managed by the decrees of motivated interpretive communities.
But be that as it may, let’s do this. Is the talking goat ad (created by a black rapper, mind you) racist? Or even more, is the Mountain Dew ad “arguably the most racist ad in history”?
You decide. Consider it a reader poll, which I’m pretty sure is, in the current thinking, the way we’re to determine such things. Because if most of us agree it’s racist, well, that it has to be so, right?
Textualism.
(h/t Guido)
And, LZ Granderson is both black and gay so he has absolute moral authority on all topics.
I’m of the opinion that this ad was designed to get pulled to generate buzz.
Let me just say, having been granted not just the dispensation but the Courage™ to finally come out as the progg I am, that I never found The Holy Hand Grenade the slightest bit funny.
And Jeremy Clarkson’s constant references to homosexuals? Well.
Those damn Brits.
not quite a goat more of a horse’s ass
And it’s this visceral thing. It’s the guy, mostly the guy, the white guy, mostly, who is gun absorbed.
Would have to be a black gay unemployed homeless lesbian who has been disabled after having been shot with an Assault Rifle.
Which is to say that all the exclusive privilege smeared all over all the Exclusively Privileged by the progg left is sheer BS.
That irony they will never grasp, of course, much less take responsibility for the underlying ethical corruption it exposes in them. And this, as any progg tome or progg political platform or installation of progg art attests, constitutes tolerance for, in their case, their Other.
In Progglandia, tolerance is best practiced by not tolerating the phantoms of your own mind.
Progressivism is simply not a valid position or national platform. It’s a bad religion practiced by dysfunctionals. It is a disorder.
I see this as covering half of the remaining distance to awareness, actually. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again. Now, do that again.
We need a list to consider.
And that was just the top 25. It didn’t even consider last years most racist ad (which coincidently, is from exactly one year ago), much less this weeks top contender.
Obviously, we are awash in racism, and vigilance needs be aggressive and eternal…
Quotes about goats/I googled it
2 funny[2 are funny ,not ‘too funny]
,
In olden, olden times, the land of Hessen was surrounded by great forests which were inhabited by many wolves. Many a family of goats attempted to enter the land, but were torn apart by the bloodthirsty beasts. One day a weak little kid goat was making his way toward Hessen. He had hardly entered the forest before a wolf confronted him and wanted to tear him to pieces.
Filled with fear, the little kid said, “My mother is coming too.”
The wolf thought, “Don’t spoil your appetite. The mother will be a better meal for my hungry stomach.” And he let the little animal pass in peace.
Sure enough, soon afterward the mother goat appeared. The wolf was about to pounce on her, when she — filled with fear — said, “My husband is coming too.”
“Stop!” thought the wolf. “Her husband is larger and will be a better meal for you. Wait to eat until he comes.”
Finally the ram goat approached. The wolf’s heart laughed inside his body when he saw the stately fellow. He was about to spring on him and grab him by the throat when two things caught his attention: the ram’s spikes and his bag.
“Tell me, ram,” what are those big spikes on your head, and what is that bag for between your legs?”
“Oh,” replied the ram, “the spikes are a pair of pistols, and the bag is where I carry my powder and lead.”
In that moment, as such animals often do, the ram rubbed his left horn against his flank. The wolf thought that he was loading his pistol, and he took to flight. Thus the first family of goats arrived happily in the land of Hessen. Their descendents have multiplied so much that Hessen now provides the neighboring lands with its surplus every year.
Poland/Germany
Three goats went into a grove to eat leaves. The first had one little belly, the second had two little bellies, and the third had three little bellies.
The one with one little belly was soon full and was the first to go home. But a wolf laid himself across the narrow mountain path and said, “Run! Run, or I’ll eat you up!”
The goat said, “Don’t eat me up. I am very skinny, but a goat will soon come who has two little bellies. He will fill you up.” And the wolf let him go.
Then came the second goat, the one with two little bellies, and who was now full. The wolf said to him as well, “Run! Run, or I’ll eat you up!”
He said, “Don’t eat me up. I am only half meat, but a goat will soon come who has three little bellies, and who will fill you up completely.” And the wolf let him go as well.
Then came the third goat, the one with three little bellies. He had finally gotten full.
The wolf said to him, “Run! Run, or I’ll eat you up!”
This goat said nothing in return, but instead, brave and forward as he was, lowered his horns and gave the wolf such a blow that he fell from the cliff into the chasm below and broke his right leg. And there the poor rascal lay. He wanted the biggest and fattest mouthfull, but instead got nothing — but pain.
What about dogs named “Boy”?
Slartibartfast is gettin’ all Zeno on us. w00t!!
So, do we need diversity in police lineups now?
Their descendents have multiplied so much that Hessen now provides the neighboring lands with its surplus every year.
So the moral of the story is: claim to be more dangerous than you really are so that your descendants will be eaten as a product export instead of you being eaten by a lone wolf?
Given the way America is going, that actually isn’t so far-fetched.
So, do we need diversity in police lineups now?
Victims who describe their attacker as protected minority will now be charged with a “hate crime”.
just copying/pasting goat stories
my personal goat story-Stones- Goats Head Soup[1973with Mick Taylor ] was they beginning of the end [xcept some girls]
6 goats for a Stones ticket ain’t cutting it 2013
Call me old-fashioned, but I have a preference for trolls in my goat stories.
Sorry to say this, Jeff, but if the dancing armadillo hasn’t drawn that spotlight over here then there is little more you can do to get traction. Slip the little bastard some more mescaline and tell him to try harder.
And on the other side of the ledger:
http://kotaku.com/space-raccoon-game-changes-its-unfortunate-eyebrow-rais-486397624
A group of college students are creating a browser game that they originally called ‘Starcoon’. You can guess what happens next.
Starcoon
and if, like me, some of your best friends are black
and if, like me, you’re a total race coward who likes to pile on…
Some perspective on food promotion and sale or just how well off do you have to be for this ad to matter much in your world.
heh.
Kagan: “who would want to eat a ferret?”
It’s an AD – who gives a shit?
It would be hilarious as a Skittles commercial.
Funny, I didn’t see the commercial as racists in that the line up was all black men or whatever, I saw it as accusatory of racism.
The criminal is a goat yet, the cops round up a bunch of black men. There is an old National Lampoon photo funny where a person is describing to a police artist the person who robbed her. Her description notes thing s like blonde hair, blue eyes, etc. The artist presents his picture and it is an obvious black man and she says “yes, that’s him”. I was thinking that was the joke in the Dew commercial.
Reading too much into it?
Reading too much into it?
Makes sense to me, but that isn’t the narrative. Obama and company have lead us into a hyper-sensitive world where the mere mention of race becomes the most racist racism ever. Particularly telling is that it looks like (since I haven’t been able to locate the actual full commercial) the ad would be much more offensive to women who have been assaulted, but that gets second billing in the “news” blurbs.
Racism jumped the shark wearing The Fonz’s skis a long time ago, but we can’t seem to get the show cancelled.
yes, I was thinking about the sexists angle too. remember when the Nike commercial with the female runner being chase by a chain saw wielding maniac. How is this different?
This is pretty funny, poor ditz is sure she is offended just doesn’t seem real clear on why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d07WuxXAkGo
It should insult folks intelligence, if they had any.
“The Mendesians then reverence all goats and the males more than the females (and the goatherds too have greater honour than other herdsmen), but of the goats one especially is reverenced, and when he dies there is great mourning in all the Mendesian district: and both the goat and Pan are called in the Egyptian tongue Mendes. Moreover in my lifetime there happened in that district this marvel, that is to say a he-goat had intercourse with a woman publicly, and this was so done that all men might have evidence of it.”
– Herodotus, An Account of Egypt
going to a goat go
that’s a smo smo smoky robinson song
he’s so gay but one drop black
I wormed my way into her heart
with a tub of goat cheese
two goats
one ark
eating trash
i saw the goat commercial and I thought it was ok
it seemed like it might have a metaphor somewheres but before I nailed it down I went into the kitchen and opened a bag of those not particularly tasty puffy vegetable crispy things
they need something – like maybe they’d actually be ok with some kind of light whipped sour cream and onion dip – but then you’re completely defeating the purpose of eating untasty snack products
according to stuff
about offspring
a codfish is a hake,sprag or spat
u got ur pups/hatchlings/larva…colts/foals chicks et al
but my fav is kid/billy
What’s a metaphor?
To raise goats in.
nicely done
[…] One supposes that this is cyclical in nature: at a certain level, you have to start tearing language apart in order to say something that hasn’t been repeated a thousand million times. Of course, when you can have a web site randomly create a po-mo essay, it’s harder to claim that such musing are the result of towering intellects struggling with truth. But then again, since the author is “dead”, these randomly generated essays can have whatever meaning the interpreters assign to them. Jeff Goldstein, call your office. […]
[…] One supposes that this is cyclical in nature: at a certain level, you have to start tearing language apart in order to say something that hasn’t been repeated a thousand million times. Of course, when you can have a web site randomly create a po-mo essay, it’s harder to claim that such musing are the result of towering intellects struggling with truth. But then again, since the author is “dead”, these randomly generated essays can have whatever meaning the interpreters assign to them. Jeff Goldstein, call your office. […]
[…] One supposes that this is cyclical in nature: at a certain level, you have to start tearing language apart in order to say something that hasn’t been repeated a thousand million times. Of course, when you can have a web site randomly create a po-mo essay, it’s harder to claim that such musing are the result of towering intellects struggling with truth. But then again, since the author is “dead”, these randomly generated essays can have whatever meaning the interpreters assign to them. Jeff Goldstein, call your office. […]