Let Us Memorialize This Fake One-Day Condi Boomlet Thing With a Wingnut Chain Letter
It's Condi Fever everywhere! And we don't mean the kind where little Middle Eastern children get bomb shell infections during the arbitrary "eh what the hell, sure" American occupation du jour . We mean the hot new Vice Presidential sensation sweeping the land, for a pretermined narrative duration of ~48 hours! And while Mitt Romney is only pretending to be considering the tenured Stanford warlord for vice president as a stunt get the reporters yappin' about things unrelated to his personal finances and employment history, some on the Right are taking the occasion to share their sharp anti-Condi stand while they can. How old is this story, 20 hours? Because yeah, we've already received a comical wingnut forwarded chain email.
Let's give the floor to "Liz in Ohio." She writes a list of furious grievances against Condolleezza Rice, who could be the nation's first black female vice president, and appends a link to a popular white nationalist website. Who knows? Her politics are really anyone's guess. In any event, your Wonkette has made a few minor emphases and comments:
To: Everyone
Please forward this and post it on your websites.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
I just forwarded this popular chain email to everyone in my address book. Please forward this to everyone you know. Urgent.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
Say No to Rice!!!
I hereby vow not to vote for Mitt Romney if he chooses the liberal Condoleezza Rice as his running mate.
We thought the open-borders Rubio was bad. Rice is even worse. Check out some of her positions:
On most social issues, Rice is a liberal.
Like Rubio, Rice supports the Third World invasion of the US. Both legal and illegal immigration are driving down American wages, but Rice doesn't seem to care. Like Cultural Marxists engaged in social engineering, Rice wants to destroy the historic American nation.
Rice is tied to the disastrous foreign policy of the Bush years. Romney should be trying to distance himself from the disastrous Bush years, not embracing them. [This is true! Back to the comedy, Liz in Ohio -- Ed.]
Rice is inexperienced, uninspiring and uncharismatic. (In fact, she's quite unattractive.) [Liz in Ohio/Santelli '16?]
Rice has never held elected office. Theselection of her as a running mate would be blatant affirmative action-- much like Obama getting the early blessing of the Democratic Party wasblatant affirmative action. Aren't Republicans supposed to be againstaffirmative action?
If it's a female that Romney seeks as his running mate, there are much better choices,such as Jan Brewer, who would inspire and energize conservatives. [Liz in Ohio, we agree completely about how great a Jan Brewer vice presidential campaign would be]
If Romney is so naive to select someone like Rice as his running mate, he doesn't deserve conservatives' votes.
Please take the conservative pledge with me and promise not to vote for Romney -- either don't vote for vote third party -- if Romney chooses Rice as his running mate.
Thank you.
Please forward this to everyone you know.
Liz in Ohio
---------- Forwarded message ---------
NeocCons are Bullying Romney into choosing Rice:
http: //www.vdare.com/posts/neocons-condi-rice-for-vp-no-white-men-need-apply
Don't worry out there, in Ohio, Liz. He'll settle for Colonel McBull Connor Sanders in the end.
Yes, indeed. And up above I demonstrate the classic Ironist&#039;s Trap: <i>Hmmm</i>, bloody hell, they don&#039;t get it. Mental face-palm. <i>Now</i> what?
Option 1: Double down and stay in character, but deploy &quot;voice&quot; in full-on absurd, over-the-top architecture; hoping the &quot;audience&quot; catches the quickly-disappearing anchor rope and allows one the opportunity to haul oneself back in from oblivion. <i>Right.</i> Deploy option 1 ... ... oh, <i>bollocks</i> [leans over gunwale and watches end of anchor rope slip into the inky depths].
Option 2: Explain the irony in enough detail so as to provide an exit to all parties - thus stopping the bleeding. (This I also demonstrated above, and it appears to have indeed stopped the hemorrhaging.) Part of Option 2 may well be, as Chichikovovich&#039;s example demonstrates, further explaining to the &quot;audience&quot; that your already deployed irony was not meant to mock them or what is important to them; but is in fact the exact opposite. That you have in fact attempted to display a kinship and an understanding of exactly that which is important to them by recognizing the gravity of their feelings, and as such employed said irony in an effort to provide them a brief respite from said gravity (of feelings). This last part is a messy, most uncomfortable exercise; made necessary if one ever wishes in future to have any credibility with the &quot;audience.&quot; If circumstances force one to this last part of Option 2, the recovery rate, should the &quot;audience&quot; be a new or budding acquaintance, is so slim as to be near non-existent.
Option 3: Create an exit (Acme Hole and Tunnel Paint works well here) and beat a hastened retreat; sometimes just metaphorically, sometimes physically. This option can include distraction and bold deployment of conversation-redirection.
Lessons to be learned: Irony-as-Comedy (as opposed to it being used as a weapon) is nearly all about knowing your audience - and <i>they</i> knowing <i>you</i>. It is a Pandora&#039;s Box if you wish to remain on speaking terms after-the-fact. It is a perilous art form, and should be deployed with due diligence and caution.
[Bell rings] <i>Now</i>, don&#039;t forget that test next Wednesday, people - chapters <i>3</i> through <i>8</i> of your <i>Philosophy of Comedy</i> text. It&#039;s a quarter of your grade!
(Now <i>this</i> paragraph directly above is an example of <i>Mocking-One&#039;s-Self</i>. It is meant here to demonstrate that I am fully aware of my long-winded lecturing monologue, and yet still wish you to at least good-naturedly chuckle and indulge me my comedy misfires; as they are always deployed with the best of intentions. Irony, also.)
Have a great weekend. Cheers.
Injecting straight-faced irony into a &quot;serious discussion&quot; is risky unless your interlocutor actually knows you, or at least your conversational style, fairly well.
I provisionally assume that all comments from recognizable Wonkameraden are intended as snark, unless accompanied by a disclaimer.
After Friday night, I feel quite confident in this.