Hillary going after explicit video games = PURE GENIUS

[geek tragedy]

Why? Because it seems really freaking stupid and lame to us.

Part of Hillary's goal is to be taken seriously by cultural conservatives, especially those living in the South. One of the major obstacles she faces to the White House is Southern Democrats running away from her because she'd be seen as a decadent Northern elitist liberal.

How to counteract this? Well, it's not enough to proclaim that faith, traditional morality, yada yada yada are very important. It's not enough to have a stand 100% consistent with a culturally conservative outlook.

To really gain ground, she has to get decadent Northern elitist liberals (like me!) snickering at her silly, old-fashioned sense of morality. That will earn her credit amongst cultural conservatives--because they can sympathize--they think we laugh at them all the time. She just joined the club.

Now, no one's going to vote for her on the basis of this issue. But no one's going to vote against her for it either--video games are just not a relevant issue to voters.

However, she will gain mucho credibility with cultural conservatives. And it'll make the Clenis issue evaporate. "Are you going to tell me that Ms. Ohmigod There's Sex in Videogames is part of the decadent cultural elite?"

She just pulled a Sistah Souljah on a multi-billion dollar industry. It's brilliant.

[aquart]

1. Nobody ever said she was stupid.

[ClassWarrior]

2. Duh. Besides, that game is obscene.

And I'm not talking about hidden sex scenes, either.

NGU.

[barbaraann]

3. She should go after the Abu Ghraib photos first.

n/t

[RC]

4. I agree, the video games are just a distraction.

[dflprincess]

5. Especially SEX in video games

My eldest nephew (25) has Grand Theft Auto and I'm way more shocked about the violence in it. Nobody was making much noise about that.

[Cloister]

15. What are you talking about?

When GTA: Vice City came out, there were lots of complaints about the violence - particularly the cop killing aspect. I guess since it was mostly "right wing religious nuts" complaining, it didn't count.

[BoneDaddy]

27. GTA

I know what you are saying... Where was all the hullabaloo about the violence in that game. We are back to that old double standard of sex vs. violence.

Janet Jackson's tit is more dangerous than video games with explicit violence kida nonsense.

What do we tell the children about Janet and Michael?
Well, as soon as you unglue your 12 year old from GTA where he is violently cracking open people's heads and receiving hummers from hookers cause he found out the secret code.

[JNelson6563]

22. But that would upset the Rethugs!!

We can't have that!

[annabanana]

6. Hows about she go after some EXPLICIT TORTURE PICS!!!

She saw them.. Why is she letting Bushco hide them??

[electron_blue]

7. that's what I've been saying...

but you said it better.

[dcfirefighter]

8. I'd vote againster her for it

but then i'd vote against her anyway, in the primaries.

[WCGreen]

9. No person whi is adverse to HC is going to vote for her

for standing up to Grand Theft Auto...

Come on.....

It just gives her something to talk about because she doesn't have the balls to take on the real issues......

[Donna Zen]

10. Talking to the folks she's courting:

Folks you may cite her supposed genius but I sat and talked with some of very folks she's targeting. They see right through what she is doing. In fact, they are offended by this and brought it up. I didn't start the conversation, they did.

They see it as pandering, and actually, they also don't like censorship of a product that is already marked for adults. Believe it or not, many people who voted for bush play this game. As far as the religious right goes, come on, are they ever going to vote for Hillary no matter how many times she stands up with Randall Terry?

Kids without their legs are obscene no matter if they are Iraqi's or American. Hillary should think about the cynical vote she made: Grand Theft Iraq.

[WCGreen]

11. Grand Teft Iraq, I love it.....

[Nikki Stone 1]

16. Yeah, apparently Rush isn't buying her, so neither will his audience

And those are the people she is going to court with this kind of tactic.

[Clark2008]

25. Absolutely correct, Donna.

I LIVE in a red state and the moderates who are fed up with the conservatives and are considering an alternative think Hillary's nothing but a panderer.

[zulchzulu]

12. Yay! Hillary is for artistic censorship! Woo hoo!

Gimme a fucking break.

[Warren DeMontague]

13. Yeah. I will forgive her all this video game bullshit if she gets on TV

Monday and says "The Bush Administration needs to COME CLEAN with the COURT ORDERED RELEASE of the IMAGES FROM ABU GHRAIB because THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE A RIGHT TO KNOW WHAT WAS DONE IN THEIR NAME"..

She can spend the rest of the year running around DC going "stop putting smut in video games!", I won't care.

She may be 'politically genius' but since she has apparently SEEN the evidence WE CAN'T, and she knows what those images contain... if she's a moral human being, that's what she'll do.

I won't hold my breath.

[Al-CIAda]

14. Yes sir. n/t

[Neshanic]

23. That's what I want too, until then she's a pandering tool.

[shugah]

17. not pure genius

kinda dumb, in fact, if her goal is to run for prez. she is turning off kids that could vote for her in '08. they won't because they now know her as the "take away my video games" candidate. if you think they will explore the issues much further than that when voting time comes... well, most of them will not. additionally, the so-called "morals voters" are never (never, never, never) going to vote for her. and she is also not appealing to parents who have kids that play video games. most of us like to think we are doing okay raising our kids. the parents who are too frazzled to know every single scene of every single game (think of single moms working a couple of jobs trying to make ends meet) are going to reject her attempts to shame them.

there are people who will vote against her for "video games." but you are right that no one is going to vote for her based on "video games."

[iconoclastic cat]

18. What's that canard? When presented with a fake Repub and a real one...

yada yada I'm really tired today.

[ncteechur]

19. Why doesn't she go after Rummy's and Bush's ass on the torture photos?

[Skwmom]

20. Sense of morality?

She will gain mucho credibility with cultural conservatives? You've got to be kidding?

Ever wonder why they praise Clinton for her political maneuvering?
Americans are becoming fed up with politicians. Painting your opponent as the ultimate politician who will say and do anything to get elected is a great strategy (and Clinton once again plays right into their hands). Brilliant? Only if one thinks people will be ready to elect the "ultimate" politician in 08.

[FrenchieCat]

21. Pandering, you mean?

Is that the way to go these days...caculating every move for the sake of personal political end purpose?

That's how the Bushes are, and I don't like it.

[geek tragedy]

33. Pandering is part of the job description for the Presidential nominee.

Just because we don't like it doesn't make it true.

[Pepperbelly]

24. true enough and what is very interesting is the angst here ...

over a political position that carries no policy consequence. There is no censorship in what she said. Just warning labels. Who gives a shit?

As a musician, I would BRIBE for a parental advisory on my stuff. It's like the key to the bank.

[Geek_Girl]

26. If I was a game publishing company

I would love to have all this publicity.

[CTLawGuy]

28. not exactly genius

more like spineless DLC pandering crap!

Her faux indignation against make believe violence is contradicted by her real support for REAL violence in Iraq.

What a bitch. She deserves that label.

[fujiyama]

29. She THINKS its her Sista Souljah moment

but she really doesn't have the skill her husband has.

I don't know what it is about her but she comes off as fake. No amount of pandering to religious conservatives will do it - just look at Joe Lieberman in '00 - when the other side can still outdo you. At least when Joe did it, I felt he sincerely was a sanctimonious prick. Hillary, ehh...I'm just tired of this "But what about the children!" attitude from everyone. I just wish there would be some personal responsibility from people - isn't THAT what repukes always go on about?

Now don't get me wrong. I'm glad she's doing well in her senate race in NY, but I don't see any of this translating to votes in the south.

[delhurgo]

30. This is not just politics.

She actually believes this and will legislate it if given the chance. I also believe she would appoint judges that would allow censorship based on politically incorrect, hate-speech and for exploiting women or for being too violent.

There are leftists and feminists that really are for censorship and believe that that is the governments right and responsibility. People see this as Hillary moving to the center, but I see it as just the opposite; this is a move to the radical left, for even more bigger government.

And there's no need to position yourself on these moral issues if you seem reasonable on the issues that hurt democrats year after year in pres politics: taxes and spending, national defense, and gun control. Be moderate on those issues and you don't have to pander to the morals voters, not on abortion or on this. They make up a very small fraction of the electorate anyhow. Most people believe in live and let live.

And what happens when the next republican pres candidate seems more of a believer in civil liberties than Hillary is, and says something like "we should try to keep the government out of it". Thats what Bush "said" about television in a debate. In that circumstance, she may gain a couple votes from social cons but she could lose MORE from moderates and left-libertarians - and especially from young voters.

[Kitsune]

31. Except she's losing votes wholesale in the video game generation.

I didn't like her much before this, but if she's going to waste her time and mine on ridiculous crusades like this then there's no way in hell I'll ever waste my vote on her. As others upthread have noted, there are far more obscene things happening in the world right now than a couple of pixelly people awkwardly copulating, fully clothed, in a hacked version of a video game that is intended for people who are, in all likelyhood, already sexually active.

Brilliant? Call it what it is: fucking idiotic.

[geek tragedy]

32. Generation X-box doesn't vote nearly as much as older voters do. eom

[Pepperbelly]

34. what is the policy consequence of her proposal?

I think it's all talk. I do not understand the big deal.

[Kitsune]

35. The policy consequence is that things that matter get ignored.

That's my primary complaint with it, though I (like, I expect, most gamers) am also annoyed that elected officials love to harp on one of my favorite pastimes as somehow morally degenerate and evil.

It was the same with Dungeons and Dragons in the 80's, frankly. At least we as a society seem to have outgrown demonizing tabletop roleplaying games. >.>

[Pepperbelly]

36. Here's the thing ...

nobody expects that anything will come of this ... She pissed away an afternoon, got all the gamers pissed off, and at the end of the day ... that's where it will stay.

Shit, I play PC games. I give a shit what a pol sez about it and if you are over 18, there is no way it's going to affect a single thing. Of course, as a rock musician, I am used to having pols talk shit about things I love. NBD. Pols pander! Stop the presses!

[Kitsune]

37. You may have a point, but it's still a wasted news cycle.

And we can't afford wasted news cycles, especially right now. She's only pissing off gamers and she's never going to win a single person over with this; anyone who doesn't like Hillary at this point will almost certainly never like her. There are far more important things that she should be harping on. I suppose I'm asking too much of Dems to get together and coordinate a damn message once in a while. Caligula* gives them all the ammo they could possibly need for it!

And yes, as I'm over 18, it means nothing to me personally what they do about age limits on video games. However, I haven't forgotten what it was like to be under 17 and get carded to see a movie that was less violent than movies I'd seen when I was about 9. I still get carded when I buy video games now, for crying out loud, and I find that just a little ridiculous. I have always found most statutory age limits to be slightly ridiculous.

Anyway, I hope Hillary takes a trip to Akihabara sometime. She's never seen explicit video games. The minigame that the Hot Coffee mod unlocks pales by comparison.