How sick is this gif?

[indigobusiness]

Be afraid, be very afraid when this passes for humor in America.

[dubyaD40web]

1. That is sick.....

but my twisted mind does find the humor of it.

[realisticphish]

2. yeah

i'm appalled, yet supressing the laugh desire...

:hippie: The Incorrigible Democrat

[Castro]

45. Doesn't seem too bad

Considering we are on the internet....I have seen worse....what else you got....

[theboss]

3. I laughed....God forbid me

I can't help; I love bad taste.

[BloodyWilliam]

23. Heh, me too.

I love the sick-as-shit Something Awful-type (www.somethingawful.com) humor. And while it's all still extremely horrible, it's nice to find some dark humor that doesn't focus on Jesus for once. ;)

[Robin Hood]

4. Liberation Republican style.

What else should we expect from liars and thieves?

[Blue-Jay]

5. Sick but kinda funny.

/ashamed

[TeacherCreature]

6. only a republican could find this funny

a really sick republican.

[Bucky]

8. I like gallows humor. Sue me

Anything that keeps this perversity in the public's mind is a good thing. People who see this will never hear the teapot song agains without remembering what this administration has done to thousands of innocents and to the integrity of our nation.

I'm not offended by the .gif. I'm only offended at the incidents that made it popular.

[indigobusiness]

12. When you laugh at the gif

you laugh at the incident it represents.

[thebigidea]

58. golly, I wonder what kind of site hosts it?

Here's the first update on the home page:

No cafe latte's for you!
Jul 22, 2:03pm :: by: Tom Alday :: filed in: liberal idiots

Anti-war loons whine and complain about unfair conditions when they plan to bitch and moan….oh i mean “protest” the Republican National Convention in New York later next month, they want the city to provide (free of charge) things like transportaion and free water for them to drink, the fine NYPD tells them to kindly go and sodomize themselves with a broomhandle :

--

Ha ha! See, its funny.

Black humor is great, but its even better when its actually funny.

Generally humor works better when its aimed at the oppressor, not the oppressed.

I've attempted to laugh at this "abuse scandal" as well:

http://www.terminalproduct.com/torture.rm

Not exactly a masterpiece, but at least its mocking the torturers, not the tortured.

[SoCalDem]

7. Political humor has always been "Gallows humor"

I actually have seen worse than that.. In fact I will post one I saw and saved.. and considering the timing of the AbuGrahib torture, I think it may have BEEN the definitive one.. (it was near Christmas time, remember?)..








others I have seen on the web

[Bucky]

9. Right. Part of the shock value is that it's perverting a children's song

The soldiers who tortured this prisoner were once sweet innocent kids. They had to be trained to do monstrous things.

The prisoner who got electroded and humiliated was also once a kid who played equally innocent games. He never deserved that. I think this .gif helps remind us of that.

[indigobusiness]

14. Mocking the song is nothing

compared to mocking torture...snap out of it!

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[redqueen]

37. Nice rationalization

hey... if it works for you...

:(

[thebigidea]

69. hmm... well, lets look at other art on that site...

hmmm. I'm guessing the "artist" is definetely part of the "its not torture, its abuse, and besides that, 9/11!" crowd.

[indigobusiness]

74. "Shut up"?..."open your eyes"?

You'd better go back to art school and restudy juxtaposition.

And while you're at it, go back to high school and study philosophy and ethics.

Then come back and lecture me with your pretentious "shut up"s.

Your analysis is laughable in the extreme.

[BloodyWilliam]

24. Dammit!

The Christmas tree one made me giggle. I'm a bad person...

This is horrible crap that's going on... so why do I find these photoshops funny?

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[comradebillyboy]

13. a proto-terrorist

pre-emptively taken out by our armies of liberation under the heroic and fearless leadership of our dear leader.

but still the original post was quite funny, if a bit twisted

[indigobusiness]

16. "quite funny"???

wtf

Have I fallen through the looking glass?

I am sickened.

[nolabels]

28. I wonder how the people that it happened to really feel about it ?

To be so elementary, one good reason for comunication (which includes pictures, see cave drawings) is that it can help alert others of danger. If one of the girl's parents would have done this most would thought of them as monsters.

Why do others give a person like Bush a free pass?




http://www.angryblueplanet.com/

We have no values, only greed of rich people that don't need what they have anyway :argh:

Pentagon, media agree on Iraq war censorship

Reporters to be “embedded” in military
By Henry Michaels
5 March 2003

Use this version to print | Send this link by email | Email the author

During the 1991 Gulf War, the White House and the Pentagon imposed unprecedented censorship on media coverage. With the willing agreement of the corporate-owned media, American military activities in the region were mostly off-limits to journalists. Defense Department censors cleared photos, video footage and battlefield dispatches. Reporters were allowed to travel only in “pools,” accompanied by US military escorts.

With the help of this cozy relationship, the war crimes committed by the United States and allied forces were systematically covered up, while the Iraqi forces were demonized. Every mainstream media outlet reported ad nauseam that US “smart bombs” had inflicted devastating damage on Iraqi military targets, yet spared civilian lives. Only later was it revealed that the vast majority of the bombs were unguided missiles and that thousands of innocent Iraqi men, women and children were killed.

The same media organizations reported that 300 premature babies in Kuwait died when Iraqi soldiers removed them from incubators, which were sent to Iraq as loot. These Pentagon-inspired fabrications were afforded front-page treatment, but the retractions, which came months later, were buried on inside pages.

After the lies emerged, discrediting the media in the eyes of many people, the proprietors sought to blame US authorities. In a May, 1991 letter to then-secretary of defense Dick Cheney, the Washington editors of 15 big media outlets criticized the Pentagon for exerting “virtually total control” over coverage.
(snip)
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2003/mar2003/med-m05.shtml

[lagniappe]

15. Nice response. Some of these posts are very freeperesque.

[indigobusiness]

18. Man, they are disgusting beyond belief...

And not the least bit liberal in spirit.

I fear the party has been contaminated and infected.

[theboss]

33. Is that Hunter S. Thompson?

I suggest you actually read some of his books before commenting on disgusting humor and lacking a liberal spirit. Because he is damn funny.

"I think he's Samoan. But despite his race, he is very important to me."

[redqueen]

38. Was he referring to someone who had been tortured?

Was he joking about it?

[theboss]

41. Has he ever made a joke about torture?

Possibly. I can't recall the entire canon of the top of my head. He has made jokes about cutting people's heads off, assasinating JFK, killing prostitutes, beating up women, "niggers," "Samoans," rape, various foreigners, drug addiction, Nazis, and god knows what else.

[redqueen]

44. This is really not rocket science

Did he make these jokes using pictures of ACTUAL victims?

[indigobusiness]

51. It occurs to me that you are overwhelmed by content and miss

what the writing is actually about.

If you think HST has ever made fun of rape or cutting off heads, etc, you are sadly mistaken.

You missed the point.

[theboss]

78. I got the point

I think you are missing the point of the picture which is nothing more than just a sick (but funny) juxtaposition.

Of course, I still think the "Cripple Fight" on South Park was one of the five funniest things ever on tv.

[indigobusiness]

89. You are missing the point if you think it is " nothing more"

The cripple fight was skillfull and funny, but that is another story.

And they weren't making fun of cripples. They were making fun of Action Movies, and the fools that love them.

[indigobusiness]

49. I was reading Hunter Thompson long before you were "theboss"

so don't try and preach to me on that.

His humor is liberal in the extreme, and hardly disgusting.

[theboss]

77. I love HST

But his books are filled with drugs, violence, paranoia, and extreme malice.

[thebigidea]

81. And if there's one thing HST is known for, its mocking the tortured

Maybe you should read his recent comments about the "abuse scandal."

[indigobusiness]

92. You miss the message...

[DrWeird]

19. "Yo, Adrian! I did it!"

Hey, don't blame me. You asked for it.

[redqueen]

20. Amen

Would it be as funny to you if it were your son? Your husband? Your brother?

That is someone's son, someone's brother. Probably someone's husband.

Shame.

[indigobusiness]

21. I guarantee nobody experiencing it, first hand, would laugh.

Convenient compassion.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

25. APPALLING!!!

[Comicstripper]

36. OK

Do you really want me to? 'Cuz I could. You don't seem to understand the nature of humor.
So, just let me know and I'll give you some caption ideas if you want them.

[redqueen]

39. No

for the love of that poor child and the family... please don't.

What the hell is happening to us?

[indigobusiness]

94. Is it it possible he is actually that dense?

Thick as a brick.

And with a Buddha avatar, to boot. Amazing.

[in_cog_ni_to]

11. That's disgusting.

How could anyone find that humorous? :grr:

[mrboba1]

17. I dunno...

All it did to me was turn my stomach...

[RebelYell]

22. No wonder they want to kills us all off

nt

[SheepyMcSheepster]

26. sometimes people can find humor in things that should really not be funny

obviously people have different opinions about this type of humor.
in my opinion, i find that observing humor in tragic circumstances helps to drive home the absurdity of it all. Bill Hicks was a master of this, he makes very valid observations that are cloaked in irreverant/sick/not-nice humor. this type of communication speaks to me at a level that outright discussion does not.

it is your perception of this type of display that makes it what it is to you.

i am not saying i find this .gif to be humorous, but i reserve the right to find dark humor as way of communicating feelings and opinions on things that are tragic.

[indigobusiness]

27. There is a big difference between irreverent and dark humor,

and sick humor that betrays a degeneration of character.

A culture without absolutes and lines that aren't crossed is in the process of self-destruction. Party on, dude.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

30. are you prepared to draw the absolutes and lines?

do you find the daily show's "Mess-o-Potamia" segments on Iraq to be sick humor?

i am not defending this guys little gif, i understand why you feel so strongly about it.

[redqueen]

31. If I may step in here

"Mess-o-Potamia" does not involve taking an image of someone's loved one being tortured and turning it into a crude animation.

on edit: IMO this is not about absolutes and lines, it's about common Cheneying sense.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

86. in my opnion "mess-o-potamia" makes light of the whole situation

including this picture of this victim. is it right to make light of a situation that has cost thousands of lives?

[redqueen]

88. I see a difference

between making light of a situation which encompasses the unconscionable and making light of a photo of an actual victim of the unconscionable. Apparently you don't see it.

This is where we agree to disagree.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

90. fyi i have never said that i find this gif humorous.

i agree that it is in poor taste. the only point i was trying to make is that humor can be used in illuminate even if the subject of the humor is appalling. again, this is open to how you interpret it. i am not telling you what you should and should not find funny for whatever reasons.

if you want to get down to it, the guy in the photo i assume is still alive, where as this whole war has killed and maimed thousands. is it funny to joke about any of it?

[indigobusiness]

91. They aren't making light of the whole situation.

They deal with serious situations is a comical light.

They are the most serious in criticism when the rubber meets the road.

[indigobusiness]

32. Not at all...that is funny as hell, and has a productive point.

Absolutes and standards should be self-evident to a genuinely advanced and enlightened society.

Parody and self-criticism is essential. Whatever the issue. Be it war or stuffed shirt, nose-in-the-air snobbism. But when you skate near the edge, you'd better know the boundaries, or you will certainly fall into the abyss.


Your question baffles me.

[SheepyMcSheepster]

82. sorry for offering up another question, but....

which question baffles you? there were two.

as for "mess-o-potamia" i could see that as making light of all the deaths and destruction that has been brought along with operation iraqi freedom. that is not very funny is it? the whole situation is not funny at all.

"Absolutes and standards should be self-evident to a genuinely advanced and enlightened society."

that clears everything right up eh? seems pretty ambigious.

anyway, i am not looking for an agrument here, i don't really care for this guy's gif like i stated previously, my only point is that humor is a very subjective thing that can be viewed through many different lenses.

[indigobusiness]

95. Only ambiguous to a bean-counter mentality.

It spoke to the possibility that we are a failed society, despite all our self-congratulating. Even the most primitive cultures possess the wisdom of boundaries and going so far, but no further.

If we have lost this understanding, and cultural wisdom, we are not an advanced and enlightened society that we think we are. That was the point.

[redqueen]

29. Could the fact that some find this funny

be evidence of, and a contributing factor to, the increasing callousness and militarization of society?

Just a thought...


And let me reiterate:

This image is on the net. This is not a Bill Hicks joke.

This is someone's son... someone's brother... maybe someone's husband... father.

What if it were your son? Your brother? Your husband? Your father?


God forgive us.

[indigobusiness]

40. Common sense implies a boundary of decency common to us all

That is the point.

We have been tested as a society and are failing, miserably.

This sort of thing holds a mirror up to us as a people... Do you like what you see in the reflection?

[redqueen]

46. No I don't

IMO it makes mocking the Rush Limbaughs of the world hypocritical, as this kind of over-the-top 'humor' is his ilk's stock and trade.

[indigobusiness]

53. It hardly makes mocking Limbaugh hypocritical.

Taking the culture to task is an obligation, in all forms, and not the least bit hypocritical.

[redqueen]

56. OK I should have said having any kind of righteous indignation

about Limbaugh joking about torture.

[indigobusiness]

63. Still fail to see the hypocrisy

maybe on Limbaugh's part.

Quit listening (hearing) to him years ago.

[redqueen]

73. When he made light of the torture...

When he joked about how Chelsea is 'ugly'...

Now some laugh at this animated gif making light of the torture...

And some engage in vitriol launched at Jenna & Barb (with the appropriate rationalizations, of course)

Plenty of hypocrisy to go around, IMO.

[indigobusiness]

76. Still don't understand the hypocrisy...you haven't explained what you

meant. You just cite "examples".

I don't see the hypocrisy.

[redqueen]

80. OK I'll try again

It seems to me to be hypocritical to complain about how insensitive Rush and his ilk are when mocking Chelsea or the victims of torture, and then turn around and mock Jenna & Barbara, and laugh at this gif - participating in mocking the victim in the picture.

Any clearer? Need more work? Am I totally off base?

[indigobusiness]

83. I see your point...I thought for a minute your were comparing apples

and oranges.

They are hypocritical at every chance, no case need be made. I thought you were saying it was hypocritical to take to task the nature and substance of the gif.

I'm no goodie two shoes, but "beyond the pale" is a profound concept.

[TrustingDog]

35. desensitisation... don't fall for it and laugh...

it's disgusting and nothing else.

[indigobusiness]

43. Exactly... have you ever noticed how shocking it is

the first time you do something you consider wrong, but the second time it is not so shocking? Pretty soon, you do it with ease and you don't consider it wrong at all.

This, I have been guilty of, and it taught me a lesson at an early age. Tolerance is good, but tolerating corruption is catastrophic.

[redqueen]

47. Succinct and well-stated

Desensitization...

How long until the modern version of Circus Maximus goes full tilt?

Panem et circenses...

[noiretextatique]

42. i don't think it's funny either

:shrug:

[Nadienne]

48. It makes me ANGRY

I bet whoever made the gif, made it with the intention of turning torture into a less-than-serious offense. "It's okay. See? It's funny!"

:nuke:

It isn't funny to me.

If it's funny to you, well, who am I to tell you how you should or shouldn't feel?

But think about it: Liberals are the butt of many jokes. As are gay/lesbian people. As are the homeless. And this little bit of humor reeks of the same ostracizing, might-makes-right, Rush Limbaugh-smugness.

:nuke:

It's not funny to me.

[West Coast Democrat]

50. I'm trying to see what's funny about it...

but I don't see where comparing a teapot to an Iraqi prisoner has any irony. It's just sort of a lame visual joke.

[indigobusiness]

55. It just betrays an underlying inhumaneness...

a lack of empathy and shallowness of character.

[West Coast Democrat]

67. Very true...

and that's why I don't see anything funny about it. And I like humor as much as the next person.

[indigobusiness]

70. Yep, but the truly funny is getting hard to find

amidst the meanness.

[Mr_Spock]

52. LMAO - oh, that's terrible, did I just laugh at that?

n/m

[EV1Ltimm]

54. i find nothing wrong this gif

or being called a girlie-man
or having jenna stick her tongue out at me
or the sing-along at the end of "the life of brian"

I fail to see how this gif is corroding the foundation of pure, righteous, american comedy built of monumental endeavors such as "bachelor party", "dumb and dumber" and "jackass".

[redqueen]

57. Jenna was not tortured (?)

The sing along are actors.

This is an actual victim.

[EV1Ltimm]

62. and it's funny.

[Name removed]

60. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[EV1Ltimm]

65. you see, i think that's funny too!

Man, I'm a barrel of monkeys!

And if you must know, I've been shaving for weeks now.

[NervousRex]

71. Shaving for weeks?

It takes me about 10 minutes to shave....keep practicing, you'll figure it out.

[EV1Ltimm]

72. hay oh!

you know, I bought my wife a henway the other day...

[indigobusiness]

75. About two pounds.

I figured if you did shave, it would take you weeks.

[EV1Ltimm]

79. good lord, such vitriol.

Does my opinion warrant such personal attacks?

Is my taste of humor not to your liking? Should I fall in line with what the rest of the GD community finds humorous? I really wish that you and I could see eye-to-eye regarding what we find funny and not funny, but that isn't bound to happen while you are enraptured; wrapped in the wings of self-serving outrage.

Dark humor is just that, dark. Some people just don't "get it". But, unlike some people, I don't hold it against them.

[NervousRex]

59. It's as funny as this....

Or this...

Oh, this one is a hoot...gallows-humor at it's best...(spitting coffee on the keyboard.)

[NecessaryOnslaught]

84. Or this

[Cocoa]

61. I hope the people that made this are kids

same with the people who think it's funny.

Over the age of say, 23, then I'd call it sick.

[indigobusiness]

66. You ARE liberal...

Something to be said for that, I guess.

[Dover]

64. Wow, I hope this thread is simply full of sick freeper interlopers...

and not our own.

[indigobusiness]

68. I've been hoping

the same thing.

[central scrutinizer]

85. "I'm Geroge W Bush and I approved this

torture" Oops, I mean ill treatment. Mustn't use the T word.

[indigobusiness]

87. That's making fun of Bush, not torture...

sheesh

[gatlingforme]

93. That's hilarious.(sarcastic) I can't wait tosee what else someone

will make fun of. Maybe the euthanasia of animals or something just as funny. (SARCASM)

[Moderator]

96. Locking......

Due to personal attacks and lack of civil discourse.



DU Moderator