Friday, September 05, 2008

Your oxymoron is showing

The Republican party keeps harping on Senator Obama and the Democratic party as the party of celebrities and elites.

Ahem

From www.m-w.com
oxymoron

Main Entry:
ox·y·mo·ron Listen to the pronunciation of oxymoron
Pronunciation:
\ˌäk-sē-ˈmr-ˌän\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural ox·y·mo·rons also ox·y·mo·ra Listen to the pronunciation of oxymora \-ˈmr-ə\
Etymology:
Late Greek oxymōron, from neuter of oxymōros pointedly foolish, from Greek oxys sharp, keen + mōros foolish
Date:
1657
: a combination of contradictory or incongruous words (as cruel kindness); broadly : something (as a concept) that is made up of contradictory or incongruous elements

All of the following taken from www.wikipedia.com and www.youtube.com

Fred Gandy
Republican
US House of Representatives

January 3, 1987January 3, 1995


"If there were no Gopher, there would be no Fred Grandy for Congress."

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Sonny Bono
Republican
US House of Representatives
January 3, 1995January 5, 1998




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Fred Thompson
Republican
US Senator
December 2, 1994 – January 3, 2003



This is the closest he ever came to being in the military BTW

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Arnold Schwarzenegger
Republican
Governor of California
Incumbent



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Ronald Regan
Republican
President
January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989



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Did I miss anyone?

I couldn't find an actor who ran on the Democratic ticket. I may have missed one, but I don't think so.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good post. I wish more would see it.

The Knitting Lady said...

Feel free to share this one with everybody. *g*

Jared M. Stein said...

You misunderstand the argument.

The Obama critics are saying "being a celebrity isn't enough", but you are misinterpreting their message as, "celebrities should not be politicians", which is clearly not the case. For instance, Reagan supporters would say he was a good politician in spite of or even complementary to his celebrity status--this is different from saying Obama is the forerunner only because of his celebrity status.

The Knitting Lady said...

I disagree Mr. Stein. I think the message communicated by pieces such as the now infamous Paris Hilton ad, and their constant repetition of the "The Democratic party is the party of elites", and "The Democratic party is the party of celebrities" memes, is quite clearly the idea that "celebrities" should not be politicians. Which I find hypocritical because they are the party that has run a number of actual celebrities, as opposed to politicians who are well known and liked for their stand on the issues.

As for the specific celebrities in question, I did not think Regan was a good president. I have been pleasantly surprised by Schwarzenegger, he's doing a far better job than I anticipated. And I do not know enough about the records of Rep. Gandy, Rep. Bono, or Sen. Thompson to comment.