March 22, 2007 -
Ever since a 2006 campaign appearance by former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, the popular MMO Second Life has become an increasingly politicized venue. With the 2008 presidential campaign already underway, SL could well become a political battleground.Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has a virtual campaign headquarters inside the game world, for example. Now, in what may be the first example of negative campaigning within SL, a user has opened a location designed to slam Republican candidate and former Big Apple mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Second Lifer Gen. JC Christian describes the parody site, Disco Rudy's in his blog:
Disco Rudy’s is laden with features to help visitors live that very special lifestyle. The first thing a visitor sees is an information kiosk he or she can click to learn more about Rudy’s marriages, divorces, wives, and mistresses.
TechPresident has more, including an interview with JC Christian, who explains his rationale in creating the anti-Giuliani site:
For various reasons, I prefer to work under a pseudonym... I coined Disco Rudy as a nickname for Giuliani because I think it highlights his hypocrisy and that of many of his supporters. Here we have a guy with a lot of relationship baggage of the kind many conservatives are constantly railing against, yet is doing very well with social conservatives.
Comments
The only reason that he's so popular is because he's more "conservitive" than McCain
However, McCain is a REAL conservitive. He actually has solutions to our problems here in the US without resulting to socialism (aka the plan of Obama and Clinton, don't even get me started on Edwards)
There are not enough people playing the game, however, to make this worthwhile. It is like speaking economics to a group of twenty with a number of them not caring to begin with.
Liberal/Democrat groups think it's funny that social conservatives are endorsing someone like Giuliani when you consider that many of these types would like to make "covenant marriages" the law of the land. Social conservatives hate divorces-- Rudy has had least two divorces/separations. It's also amusing given the fact that the three major Democratic candidates have only been married once and are still married. Although I will concede that Clinton's marriage obviously is one for political reasons. Apparently hypocrisy doesn't matter in the social conservative world as long as the candidate promotes their agenda and has an (R) by their name.
I should have addressed the "mistress" reference in my post as well, since that was the quote. I imagine this is mainly a dig at the Clinton "scandal" so I'll talk about that. As you might (not) remember, almost everybody, liberal and conservative were dismayed by Clinton's behavior in the Oval Office. Do you remember the enormous media coverage that got? Especially from the so-called "liberal media?" They turned on him just as bad as the Republican Congress did. The difference between social liberals and social conservatives on this issue back then was that social conservatives want to view the White House the same as the Church. They seem to want a "Minister of the US" not a President. Of course the real reason they were so public with their indignation was that Clinton was a Democrat. If Reagan had done the same thing they wouldn't have tried for impeachment, didn't matter if he was lying or not. Social liberals, on the other hand, while embarrassed at Clinton's behavior and his lying about it, think that these matters are best dealt with by the people involved. It was ridiculous to have hearings and grand juries for what should have been a private family issue. So when Liberals/Democrats hear about this Republican frontrunner's success with social conservatives (sc's), one can't help but laugh and shake their heads at the blatant hypocrisy involved in endorsing such a candidate. Is it because Giuliani hasn't lied about his mistresses? Then again, maybe he has lied and we just don't know it. Apparently, sc's lack integrity as well. They just want to win elections, have access to power, and advance their draconian agenda. Again, however, like I said in my previous post, it all comes down to whether you have a (D) or an (R) by your name.
The French figured this out awhile ago when someone set up the Caricavatars island in SL.
What the hell else is it for, then? SL is supposed to be like a virtual world, and political activism is an important part of modern culture. Therefore, it has its place in SL. Next question.
Second Life is going to be littered with these in the coming months.
People have the right to express whatever they want in this country... and other people have the right to choose to express agreement or criticizm, or to outright ignore them.
As far as turning this into a Dem v Gop who-woulda-got-away-with-what contest, here's some unbiased facts to review:
Clinton was NOT impeached, but the charge he would have been up for was perjury and obstruction of justice in testimony he gave to a Grand Jury regarding his exploits. Now while many can agree what happens between two adults should remain private, what many people tend to forget is that the REASON those questions were asked in the first place were to set precedence of character for the sexual harassment lawsuit against him by Paula Jones... which had been delayed for years due to Clinton's deferential position as President as the judiciary tried to determine whether or not they would allow the suit to continue while he was in office, or to postpone it. In that context, the questions asked of him were obviously VERY relevent for the Grand Jury to ask.
Common sense dictates "we should elect our politicians based on their job performance and commitment to this country, not on what happens in their bedrooms." But perjury and obstruction of justice (allegedly) occurred in the courtroom, not the bedroom. Therefore it isn't very relevent what Guiliani may or may not have disclosed about his affairs, but moreso who asked and why. Inserting one opinion, I think it's commendable he's been seemingly honest and open about potentially embarassing personal matter without the threat of a subpoena.
To conclude the history lesson, Scooter Libby just went up on the same charges of perjury and obstruction of justice and was convicted. I say good. Republican, Democrat, President or civilian, if you are proven guilty of a crime, you do the time. Public officials are equally accountable, no more no less... that's the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.
That being said, there is room for more than one negative campaigner down here... So welcome to the Anti-Giuliani's, CARICAVATARS is 100% behind you!
Christophe Hugo
For links to real presidential campaign HQs in Second Life (Wesley Clark, Hilary Clinton, Obama, and Edwards at the moment) check here:
http://rikomatic.com/blog/2007/03/changes_in_virt.html
news...
news...
Your right, I didn't watch much news back then, I was still in elementary school. My point was that Republicans wouldn't have moved for impeachment of Reagan if he had been caught in a similar situation as Clinton. If the Democrats had control of Congress during the Clinton thing I doubt they would have tried to impeach. It's all partisan politics when it comes to relative non-events like the Clinton affair. I know Reagan had some problems with Iran-Contra, but I never heard of any extra-marital affair during his tenure.
Not your personal army. GB2moaningaboutJack
".......If Reagan had done the same thing they wouldn’t have tried for impeachment, didn’t matter if he was lying or not......."
Ummm you must not have watched to much news back then.... i remember differently.
JC Christian. Very subtle. For your next project, may I suggest "Holly R. Thanthou"
:)
Lots of conversation starters are there for the debating!
I'll say this, he's definitely an interesting person, and an interesting choice for the Republican party!
If you'd like to view, its http://www.hesnoaltarboy.com which is a twist on his quote regarding Patrick Dorismond. I feel when you live in a glass house and throw stones....