Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Is This the Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?

For the past decade, it's been extremely difficult to distinguish genuine right-wing whackaloonery from over-the-top satire. While Poe's Law applies specifically to creationists, I tend to expand it to encompass the entirety of right-wing cogitation. I usually refer to this expansion of Poe's Law as Ruppert's corollary, after the infamous "is he a real troll or a parody troll?" Gary Ruppert. The latest bit of "so over the top, I have a hard time believing it's true" lunacy is a group calling itself Protect the Polls (nod of the naked noggin to Sadlynaut Thread Bear). "Protect the Polls" is, if not a Juvenalian satire of the darkest hue, the vile son of ALEC and the NRA:


Over the past year Voter Fraud has become an important issue in Florida. Governor Rick Scott has spearheaded the issue by creating new Voter ID laws to curb illegal voting. But the fear remains that it may be too little too late. Florida gun owners are uniting to bring a new law to the table called Protect the Polls. The logic behind Protect the Polls is simple. If you are a legal gun owner in the state of Florida and you suspect someone on Election Day is committing voter fraud you can shoot him or her with your licensed weapon and not be charged with a crime. Precedents have already been set allowing these rights, like the important Stand Your Ground law, and in this case, there is more at stake than just one person’s life; this is for the life of this great country.


There is a video from the group posted on teh Youtuber:





I'm usually pretty good at sussing out satire... I figured that Christwire was a piss-take from the get-go, and even commented there as a crazy right-wing uncle type for a while, but I can't determine whether or not "Protect the Polls" is the real deal. The domain name ends in .com rather than .org, but that's not a definite "tell". They are selling overpriced T-shirts with a bloodthirsty slogan, but this sort of over-the-top bloodlust is not out of place in today's right.

Of course, the post title comes from the song Poehemian Rhapsody:


Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Electoral landslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
I'm just a wingnut, voting G.O.P.
Because I'm easy come, easy go
Little high, little low
Any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me

Mama, just killed a man
Put a gun against his head,
Bastard voted as a Red.
Mama, life had just begun
But now I've gone and thrown it all away
Mama, ooo
Didn't mean to make you cry
If Romney doesn't win this time tomorrow
Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters.



UPDATE: It seems that "Protect the Polls" is, indeed, a hoax. Alternet issued a correction in their article. It's hard to be a snarkster in the post-satire world.

12 comments:

Substance McGravitas said...

...and yet...

I'm waiting for more info.

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

Never Forget Poll-land!!!
~

Smut Clyde said...

Poehemian Rhapsody:
Oh very good.

Dr.KennethNoisewater said...

I was willing to believe it was real until the "shooting" part stuff. I can TOTALLY see the wingnuts wanting armed poll-watchers, though. Totally. Wouldn't put it past them even for a second.

Laura said...

Holy crap! I peed my panties a little bit. I started the video, not knowing that Mass had been on earlier watching his YoutubePoop stuff (don't ask). He turns the volume WAY up. When the gun shot went off at the beginning... I jumped! (and peed). ;p

((Hugs))
Laura

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

Hope you had a wastebasket available, Laura.

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

...wait. Does Laura recall that inside joke? No matter. Must press on.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

I'm waiting for more info.

Yeah, it seems like it's a satire, but it's a really nasty one.

Never Forget Poll-land!!!

Solidarity!

Oh very good.

Thanks, Sm*t, if that is your real name!

I was willing to believe it was real until the "shooting" part stuff. I can TOTALLY see the wingnuts wanting armed poll-watchers, though. Totally. Wouldn't put it past them even for a second.

In this post "stand your ground" era, even the shooting doesn't seem too far-fetched.

Holy crap! I peed my panties a little bit. I started the video, not knowing that Mass had been on earlier watching his YoutubePoop stuff (don't ask). He turns the volume WAY up. When the gun shot went off at the beginning... I jumped! (and peed). ;p

Sounds like someone needs to invent Massi-Pads.

Hope you had a wastebasket available, Laura.

Is this a catassing reference?

...wait. Does Laura recall that inside joke? No matter. Must press on.

I'm not getting it, old chum.

Tengrain said...

I got snookered, too, but it just seemed too, too... Phooey.

Rgds,

Tengrain

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

It's really hard to be a snarkmeister these days, parody was killed in an avalanche of "too crazy to be believed" reality.

Thanks for stopping by!

zombie rotten mcdonald said...


I'm not getting it, old chum.


Cool. I have lapped the bloggerhood on inside references, and am now traveling backwards in time. Eventually, I will become Billy Pilgrim. Which is a shame, because he was/is an complete douche-canoe. Not like me.

No matter, must press onward.

Jennifer has the story, I think fish was involved too. We laughed for days, did we laugh!

zombie rotten mcdonald said...

perhaps I did not need that last drink.