Matt Yglesias

May 30th, 2008 at 3:47 pm

Against Rice-a-Roni

Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO)’s ongoing campaign against San Francisco continues to amuse:

There was some controversy last time around about whether or not “San Francisco” just means “gay” but this time I think there can be no doubt. Perhaps his opponent will be able to get Dockers to finance a ferocious pushback.






55 Responses to “Against Rice-a-Roni”

  1. Z Says:

    Does the narrator kind of fudge “Kay Barnes” into “Gay Barnes” in the middle? “The Kansas City Gay Pride Club supports Gay Barnes…”? Is it just me?

  2. Zed Says:

    Does the narrator kind of fudge “Kay Barnes” into “Gay Barnes” in the middle? “The Kansas City Gay Pride Club supports Gay Barnes…”? Is it just me?

  3. live Says:

    Does the narrator kind of fudge “Kay Barnes” into “Gay Barnes” in the middle? “The Kansas City Gay Pride Club supports Gay Barnes…”? Is it just me?

    Nope, it’s not just you — I was about to make exactly the same observation.

  4. Mike Meginnis Says:

    I heard it too.

    That’s some pretty sweet desperation, yes it is.

  5. Dan Cock Says:

    “Small Businessman Farmer Sam Graves” seems like kind of a stretch for someone who has been a politician since 1992.

  6. JimmyJack Says:

    Wow just came on here to comment on the “Gay Barnes” thing… I listened to it 3 times just to make sure.

    I’ll betcha a dollar three eighty that ‘ol Sam is a foot tapper.

  7. Keith M Ellis Says:

    I don’t think there’s any question that the narrator says “Gay Barnes” in the sentence about the KC gay organization.

    I’m not sure why Matt and other bloggers aren’t clued in to this and mentioning it prominently:

    Same Graves Calls Kay Barnes “Gay Barnes”

  8. Eric the Political Hack Says:

    Can Sam Graves stop beating around the bush, and just openly say, “Vote for me, I’m not a fag.”

    I don’t know much about MO politics, but I’d be really happy if this backfired.

  9. David Says:

    I heard it too. Wow. Just…wow.

  10. Trevor Says:

    And Levi’s! A full-spectrum pants-based counterattack!

  11. Sandy Says:

    I’m from the Kansas City area originally, and while its not necessarily a bastion of homosexuality, it certainly has a fairly large gay and lesbian community. Maybe I’m confused, this is KC, right? I mean, we’re not talking about the bootheel. This would work very well in most areas of Missouri, but KC, STL, and Columbia, not so much. We’ll see. This is pretty disgusting, and I think most people are smart enough to pick up on it. Famous last words, I know…

  12. too many steves Says:

    Well, if she came back with a Dockers campaign, *that* would be pretty gay.

  13. Stacy Says:

    I love the idea of producers instructing the narrarator that she’s needs to make the “Kay” sound a little more “gay.”

    “No, don’t use a lisp. I mean literally, make the Kay sound like GAY.”

  14. Tim J Says:

    Love the Jaws music…like Kay’s going to eat him or something.

  15. Doug Says:

    Just for the record, there’s no way Sam Graves doesn’t suck cock, right?

  16. Hector Says:

    I fully support Sam Graves because he fully supports the Christian way. America could use more Sam Graves’s.

  17. Ya know Says:

    If you’re not smart enough to know that apostrophes don’t make a word plural, even if it ends in “s”, then you don’t get to comment on politics. It’s just that simple.

  18. Ya know Says:

    If you’re not smart enough to know that apostrophes don’t make a word plural, even if it ends in “s”, then you don’t get to comment on politics. It’s just that simple.

  19. Hector Says:

    That post wasn’t by me, by the way.

  20. blah Says:

    I want to see more of the dancing chicks with the champagne glasses.

  21. scythia Says:

    I think it’s a case of poor diction, not malicious intent.

    That being said, if this ad is already in public consciousness, why not push back? Since a simple “fuck you” just isn’t possible in today’s political discourse, pick a point to focus on and hit back. Go on the offensive, show strength. The ad still gets seen, but you mute its message.

    On the other hand, if this ad is NOT in the public consciousness–if it’s not broadly distributed, or if people are simply tuning out political advertising (likely, I think, especially in heartland/socially conservative areas–it’s best to let it die.

  22. Ya know Says:

    I retract my snark, as I was clearly not smart enough to only post once.

  23. Tiparillo Says:

    Dockers and Levi’s are the same company. The GAP and Charles Schwab are also prominent SF brands. Though Schwab would throw off the whole pants-based counterattack angle.

  24. adlsad Says:

    Hector,

    When you say “Christian Way,” do you mean Christian Dior, Christian Siriano, or Christian Campbell?

  25. Hector Says:

    Ask the guy who posted under my pen name.

  26. JimmyJack Says:

    Hector:

    That sounded like you all the way. You can’t hide your fascist Christianist tendencies.

  27. Hector Says:

    Screw you, we’re a Christian Nation.

  28. Sam Hutcheson Says:

    When you say “Christian Way,” do you mean Christian Dior..

    Mmmmm, Kanye.

  29. too many steves Says:

    He’s not a fascist Christian, he’s a the closest thing I’ve ever seen to a Stalinist Christian. There’s obviously some huge difference, I guess.

  30. live Says:

    I think it’s a case of poor diction, not malicious intent.

    Seriously? Wow.

  31. croatoan Says:

    My parents are both from Missouri, I’ve visited there for 40 years, and I’ve never heard “Missouri” pronounced the way it is in this commercial (”Miz-ooor-ee”). It’s either “Miz-er-ee” or “Miz-er-uh” in my experience.

    Can Sam Graves stop beating around the bush, and just openly say, “Vote for me, I’m not a fag.”

    Offer not valid in the closet or Minneapolis airport bathrooms.

  32. edsbowlingshoe Says:

    Dollars to donuts Sam Barnes lives on the Rush Limbaugh cocktail: Viagra and Oxycontin.

  33. scythia Says:

    live,

    Yeah, I listened to it a couple of times. I think the narrator’s just failing to put a full stop between “ts” and “k.” If the jaw isn’t moving and the teeth aren’t separating (which I think is common in the Midwest), those two sounds can blend to resemble a “g.” Try it.

    Believe me, I would really like this to be true. But sometimes it’s just not there.

  34. AGuyNamedLevy Says:

    No, Hector. Screw you.

  35. michelle malkin Says:

    Levi’s or Docker’s “pants” based attack? Don’t you know know that Hitler wore pants?

  36. phil Says:

    Pants are a Nazi conspiracy. William Wallace for president!

  37. eriks Says:

    I heard it too.

  38. Richard Steven Hack Says:

    Hector: “That post wasn’t by me, by the way.”

    Like we could tell.

    Hector? “Screw you, we’re a Christian Nation.”

    See? Which one of you was that?

    Or as Wash put it, “Do we care? Are we caring about that?”

  39. Jack Says:

    Why are you people hating on this ad? It is hilarious. And if it works, at least it is direct and honest, and we know exactly what we’re up against.

  40. live Says:

    Scythia wrote:

    Yeah, I listened to it a couple of times. I think the narrator’s just failing to put a full stop between “ts” and “k.” If the jaw isn’t moving and the teeth aren’t separating (which I think is common in the Midwest), those two sounds can blend to resemble a “g.” Try it.

    Well, we are both speculating, but it sounds to me like the person doing the voiceover is a professional actor and/or voiceover artist, and therefore would have enough control over her diction that the “gay” for “Kay” thing would have to be intentional. I’m not a pro voice guy, and I did try it myself and had no trouble making the “K” clear, even without moving my jaw.

    And, given the overall tone of this ad and the previous one, I have no trouble believing they’d do that on purpose. But, as I say, we’re speculating.

  41. Bill Says:

    If you’re going to make this blatant a gay bashing ad why would you NOT say “Gay Barnes”? It’s a no brainer. Even I would insist on it.

  42. battery Says:

    laptop battery
    laptop batteries

  43. levitra Says:

    levitraI bookmarked this site. Thank you for good job!

  44. tramadol Says:

    tramadol
    Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.

  45. buy viagra online Says:

    buy viagra online
    Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.

  46. cheap viagra Says:

    I rarely comment on blogs but yours I had to stop and say Great Blog!! viagra

  47. ethinfelt Says:

    FANTASTIC!


Jump to Top

About Wonk Room | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy (off-site) | RSS | Donate
© 2005-2008 Center for American Progress Action Fund
imageRegisterimageimageRSSimageimageimage image
image
Advertisement

Visit Our Affiliated Sites

image image
image 

Books By Matthew Yglesias
Book Cover

Heads in the Sand

Buy the book


imageTopic Cloud


Featured

image
Subscribe to the Progress Report




Contact Matthew Yglesias
Use this form to contact blog author Matthew Yglesias.

Name:
Email:
Tip:
(required)


imageArchives


imageBlog Roll


imageAbout Matt YglesiasimageimageContact MeimageimageDonateimage