November 4, 2006 -
How bizarre is the Rick Santorum campaign commercial we covered on GamePolitics yesterday?Even more bizarre than we initially realized.
Of course, there's the issue of the arch-conservative Santorum bragging about his support of liberal icon Hillary Clinton's video game violence initiatives.
But, wait. Who remembers Santorum cozying up to the video game industry back in June, when he was one of three senators on hand as the ESRB rolled out its new "Commitment to Parents" program?
Oddest of all is the elbow that U.S. Senator - and, presumably, role-model - Santorum delivers to the face of one of the wrestlers at the very end of the campaign commercial. You know, the commercial dealing with, um, how much Santorum opposes video game violence.
Comments
Hey, if it bullshit works for them, it can work against them.
If you elbow somebody in the face in a video game, then you're a serial killer. If you elbow somebody in the face in front of a camera, then you're fit to be one of the nation's leaders.
Need more be said?
That is both hilarious and cynically depressing at the same time.
I didn't want to watch your stupid commercial anyways . . . .
~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~
glad I cast my vote for Casey rather than Santorum
Hrmm... Ok, it doesn't work on Safari, but it works just fine on Firefox and Opera.
It works if you run Safari in 'Rosetta Emulation Mode.' My point was that a workaround is not 'friendly.'
Anyway, I was joking; I have pleny of reasons to dislike Santorum that aren't computer related.
~~All Knowledge is Worth Having~~
I don't really care about him either(one reason being that I'm Canadian), but I'm not going to attack his commercial without seeing it first.
Anyways, yeah, hypocrite. Is there anything else to say about this?
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I hope he ment to fail that.
First of all, the basis of the commercial ISN'T his direct involvement in the anti-game legislation. It was mentioned (almost in passing). Old Santos real crime is probably working with H. Clinton on ANYTHING...but that's just a matter of taste.
I'm anti-censorship in all it's forms, and as such have followed Lieberman's demise closely...but not just old Lieby, but the history of Democrats actively working to censor media is astounding...Lieberman, Clinton (H.), Gore and Tipper, too. The party that claims to know what's "best for the people" seem to think they truly know what's "best for the people". Now if only they could get their own personal lives in order before they start deciding others'...hmm.
Back to the video...wouldn't it be peachy if gamers (mostly online) took a breath? Jack Thompson and his rants only hurt his own cause (and ironically help ours). The most clear message I got from this advertisement, whether intentional or not, is that he's comparing his actions to pro-wrestling..which is fake.
So he compares his actions to a fake sport...fake wrestling...could mean his actions are all for show. By appearing to be "tough on whatever" within a fake environment, he could mean that he's "fake tough on fake problems" which WOULD mean...tada...like most politicians he'll go through the motions, put on a good show, and most likely get jack squat done.
For my money folks, I'd take a fake politician throwing fake punches to fake problems any day over a REAL politician throwing REAL punches to fake problems. If these imbeciles think they can make up for absentee parenting and neglected policies (minors aren't allowed to buy 'M' games) by blaming the game developers...wow.
...and to Hillary and the rest of the nut jobs, remember this. I know what's best for me better than you EVER will. I saw both sides of the argument just in this internet post. You've yet to see both sides of the issue and you're getting paid for it. Leave what you don't know alone. Please.
Actually, Hot Coffee gave Hillary a platform, but her Family Entertainment Protection Act, aka S.2126 mentions video game violence over and over and over... to wit, the opening section of Sen. Clinton's bill:
....(2) Experimental research and longitudinal research conducted over the course of decades shows that exposure to higher levels of violence...
(3) ...a 2003 comprehensive review of the literature concluded `the scientific debate over whether media violence increases aggression and violence is essentially over...
(4) New research shows that exposure to violent video games causes similar effects as does exposure to violence in other media...
(5) Research shows that children are more likely to imitate the actions of a character with whom they identify, and in violent video games...
(8) The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has determined that certain video games contain intense violence and explicit sexual content that makes them inappropriate...
(9) Research shows that children whose parents monitor and control their access to violent media...
etc., etc. Hillary mentions game violence much more than sexual content. No question that both fall into the "inappropriate" category to which Santorum is refering. But to infer that he is talking about sexual content and not game violence here seems at odds with the facts of Hillary's legislative efforts that he claims to support.
"his support of liberal icon Hillary Clinton’s video game violence initiatives."
The linked commercial says NOTHING about video game violence. Instead Santorum says "inappropriate material" in children's video games. And, to be more specific the inappropriate material which got Hillary Clinton riled up about video games was the sexual content in Grant Theft Auto, i.e. "Hot Coffee, NOT violence.
So, there is nothing hypocritical about Santorum's participation or actions in the commercial with regards to video games. In addition I don't live in Pennsylvania, and I couldn't care less about Santorum's political beliefs or status, but as a campaign commercial it's pretty well done and effective.