AOC offended Team Mitch gets gropey

[plague311]

AOC is getting all uppity and:

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday night after a photo surfaced on social media, showing a group of young men “groping and choking” a cardboard cutout of the freshman congresswoman — while wearing shirts that read “Team Mitch.”

I have no idea in what context this happens, the article is a bit light on information. From an NBC article:

Some of those in the photo are seen making a “thumbs down” sign, while one is seen “choking” the cardboard resembling the freshman congresswoman and another “kissing” the cutout while hugging it around its waist

The GOP is borderline obsessed with AOC.

 

[TragicMonkey]

To be fair, who would willingly touch Mitch? His own team would rather kiss a cardboard replica of his enemy. I'm not saying Mitch is a hideous deathshead marionette, but he did get kicked out of Icecrown Citadel for being too corpsey.

 

[Belz...]

As much as I hate Moscow Mitch, what does he have to do with kids who wear shirts about him? And that's essentially a storm in a teacup. There's no news there. Oh, no! These youths are groping a cardboard cutout! That's so dehumanising!

 

[Segnosaur]

AOC is getting all uppity and:

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called out Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday night after a photo surfaced on social media, showing a group of young men “groping and choking” a cardboard cutout of the freshman congresswoman — while wearing shirts that read “Team Mitch.”

I think the important thing to remember is that its the left wing that supports violence.

/sarcasm


From another article:

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/oca...onnell-photo-young-men-team/story?id=64801761
...McConnell’s campaign manager Kevin Golden says the young men in the photo are high schoolers and not employed by the campaign. He added that the campaign does not “condone” this behavior, but did not specifically denounce it either.
...
The teens are supporters who attended an annual political picnic in Kentucky.


And of course not to just leave it there, they had to get in their little 'whataboutism'...

“We've watched for years as the far-left and the media look for every possible way to demonize, stereotype, and publicly castigate every young person who dares to get involved with Republican politics,” Golden said. “Team Mitch in no way condones any aggressive, suggestive, or demeaning act toward life sized cardboard cutouts of any gender in a manner similar to what we saw from President Obama's speech writing staff several years ago,”

 

[plague311]

As much as I hate Moscow Mitch, what does he have to do with kids who wear shirts about him? And that's essentially a storm in a teacup. There's no news there. Oh, no! These youths are groping a cardboard cutout! That's so dehumanising!

All of it took place at his event. They weren't just wearing shirts about him, they were at an actual fundraiser\event for Mitch. That's where they got the shirts.

Thank you for sharing your opinion about not giving a **** that this happened. I'm assuming now that you won't be engaging further because this isn't news and is beneath you, yeah?

 

[Segnosaur]

A little more about it (from Snopes):

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/team-mitch-aoc/
On August 3, 2019, several Kentucky politicians and political candidates descended on Fancy Farm, Kentucky, for the annual St. Jerome Catholic Church Picnic....U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is facing reelection in 2020, was among the speakers there. “Team Mitch” T-shirts were a fixture of the event, as were cardboard cutouts of politicians from all sides of the political spectrum.

So it was (in part) a church thing.

 

[newyorkguy]

AOC is getting all uppity...The GOP is borderline obsessed with AOC.

They do seem to fear her and I'm not really sure why. She's a first term, Hispanic member of Congress from New York. With the Clintons I got it. If anyone could unite working class / middle-class voters across racial lines, the GOP is finished as a major party. Bill Clinton was the GOP's worst nightmare: a charismatic working class white Southerner who was a Democrat.

The McConnell staff has denied the young men in the photo are members of Team Mitch. They claim they are high school students.

“Team Mitch in no way condones any aggressive, suggestive, or demeaning act toward life-sized cardboard cutouts of any gender,” said McConnell campaign spokesman Kevin Golden. Link

.

 

[Ziggurat]

AOC is getting all uppity and:



I have no idea in what context this happens, the article is a bit light on information. From an NBC article:



The GOP is borderline obsessed with AOC.

What level of outrage are we supposed to have about men mistreating cardboard cutouts of women? Do we ignore it? Do we say we disapprove and then move on? Do we demand some sort of action from politicians? Do we try to get them fired from their jobs? What's the standard you would like to see here?

 

[plague311]

They do seem to fear her and I'm not really sure why. She's a first term, Hispanic member of Congress from New York. With the Clintons I got it. If anyone could unite working class / middle-class voters across racial lines, the GOP is finished as a major party. Bill Clinton was the GOP's worst nightmare: a charismatic working class white Southerner who was a Democrat.

I completely agree.

The McConnell staff has denied the young men in the photo are members of Team Mitch. They claim they are high school students.

One of them has apparently apologized as well. It sucks that this type of inappropriate behavior gets shrugged off. If she were a man with these views the thought wouldn't even cross these stupid little kids' minds. Since she's an attractive, assertive woman she just has to deal with these actions because...reasons. Apparently.

 

[plague311]

What level of outrage are we supposed to have about men mistreating cardboard cutouts of women?

None, if it doesn't bother you then just ******* move on.

Do we ignore it?

Obviously you can't, but if you don't give a ****, I don't know why you'd participate. That's the neat new thing here though. For some reason you have to post in a thread to tell everyone how much you don't care about the topic of the thread.

Do we say we disapprove and then move on?

If you want, no rules from me.

Do we demand some sort of action from politicians?

I'm not demanding ****. It was on my news feed, and it was relevant to politics in that it a) happened at a political event b) included people involved in politics c) was degrading to someone in congress.

Do we try to get them fired from their jobs?

I don't even know that they have jobs. I think they're high schoolers.

What's the standard you would like to see here?

I don't have a standard because I wasn't specifically calling anyone to action. I posted something that I felt was newsworthy. Just like you corrected someone about assault weapons in a thread that no one cared about the information you presented. You obviously felt some level of butthurt to go off on a tangent of questions.

 

[Segnosaur]

As much as I hate Moscow Mitch, what does he have to do with kids who wear shirts about him? And that's essentially a storm in a teacup. There's no news there. Oh, no! These youths are groping a cardboard cutout! That's so dehumanising!

Remember, after Kathy Griffin had her picture taken with a fake head resembling Trump, the republicans went ballistic, despite the fact that she had nothing to do with the 2016 election campaign. (And afterwards she did issue an apology of sorts, suggesting she 'went to far'.)

Now, here you have a bunch of people who are engaging in the same sort of imagery (i.e. suggesting harm on a political figure), but the individuals involved have not issued any sort of apology (at least that I'm aware of), and the Turtle's campaign team's attempts to distance themselves from the photo basically involved a bunch of 'whataboutisms'.

Frankly, I'd say the photo with AOC is a bit more disturbing. Kathy Griffin is a comedian; at least some of what she does is part of her attempts at show biz. On the other hand, the actions of the students in the photo seem to be of a more genuine "I have no problem disrespecting this person".

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Mitch posted a picture of tombstones of the candidates who ran against him in Kentucky in the past - including the current one.

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/05/mcconnell-mcgrath-tombstone-tweet-1448627

Moscow Turtle is intentionally provoking, forcing the GOP to support him even when the despise him.

 

[Belz...]

Thank you for sharing your opinion about not giving a **** that this happened.

Well, that escalated quickly. Why do you take this so personally?

Kids being stupid isn't exactly news, and it doesn't say anything about Mitch McConnell who, might I remind you, is an ass hole of colossal proportions already?

 

[Belz...]

Remember, after Kathy Griffin had her picture taken with a fake head resembling Trump, the republicans went ballistic, despite the fact that she had nothing to do with the 2016 election campaign. (And afterwards she did issue an apology of sorts, suggesting she 'went to far'.)

Yeah, it's silly when they do it, too.

I just can't get worked up about teenagers doing stupid things to inanimate objects.

On the other hand, the actions of the students in the photo seem to be of a more genuine "I have no problem disrespecting this person".

And what about when we call Trump and Republicans all sorts of nasty names here? Is that not disrespecting them? Or do they deserve our heated disagreement and not AOC?

 

[plague311]

Well, that escalated quickly. Why do you take this so personally?

I didn't realize I took it personally. Thanks for clarifying.

I don't understand why people think swearing means a person is upset, offended, or took something personally. You openly said, and continue to say, that this isn't news and it means exactly nothing.

So why participate? I just don't get it.

Kids being stupid isn't exactly news, and it doesn't say anything about Mitch McConnell who, might I remind you, is an ass hole of colossal proportions already?

It apparently is news as I found it on my...Google News feed. What you mean to say is it isn't news to you. That would be accurate.

Mitch McConnell is an *******, and this took place at one of his events.

 

[Segnosaur]

What level of outrage are we supposed to have about men mistreating cardboard cutouts of women? Do we ignore it? Do we say we disapprove and then move on? Do we demand some sort of action from politicians?

How about an apology from the individuals involved?

How about a straight forward castigation by Moscow Mitch, along the lines of "suggesting violence against our political opponents is wrong", without engaging in any sort of "whataboutisms"?

How about an acknowledgement of the huge amount of hypocrisy in the republican party, that condemns Kathy Griffin for her photo with a fake head resembling Trump, but which seems to be quite fine with suggested violence against AOC.

Do we try to get them fired from their jobs? What's the standard you would like to see here?

Absent an apology, I'd like to see them fired from their jobs (or, since they were high schoolers, I'd like to see any future employers shy away from hiring them, at least the one that was suggesting 'strangling'). But since they are from Kentucky (one of the more backwards states in the U.S.) they are more likely to be regarded as heroes.

 

[Belz...]

I didn't realize I took it personally. Thanks for clarifying.

Well I can only speak for myself but I don't usually use bleeped-out words when I'm perfectly calm.

I don't understand why people think swearing means a person is upset, offended, or took something personally.

The reason being that you, plague311, usually don't spread these swear words in your posts, so when they're present, I kind of think you're at least a bit miffed.

So why participate? I just don't get it.

You don't get why I'd comment about the fact that I don't understand why something I don't consider to be news makes the news and gets people worked up? Don't we do that all the time?

It apparently is news as I found it on my...Google News feed.

Just because some news media think they can get sweet sponsor money by making me click on their article doesn't mean I have to agree that the story is newsworthy.

 

[plague311]

Well I can only speak for myself but I don't usually use bleeped-out words when I'm perfectly calm.

I've explained several times that I am, obviously, different than most others. I swear all of the time, both typing and talking. In fact, I believe you and I had this exact conversation when this happened last time.

The reason being that you, plague311, usually don't spread these swear words in your posts, so when they're present, I kind of think you're at least a bit miffed.

You sure? I would bet if you meandered around and took a browse at the bulk of my posts you'd see an above average level of asterisks. I actually have to put forth mental effort to not swear in posts. It takes a lot of work.

You don't get why I'd comment about the fact that I don't understand why something I don't consider to be news makes the news and gets people worked up? Don't we do that all the time?

Yup, that was my point. I've never personally done it that I remember. I don't get the point of it. You hop in to say "this isn't newsworthy" for no other sake than to let others know? Why? How does this progress the conversation at all? Or is the goal to kill it?

Just because some news media think they can get sweet sponsor money by making me click on their article doesn't mean I have to agree that the story is newsworthy.

You're absolutely right, but if something isn't newsworthy or interesting to me I just don't engage. Simple as that. This has happened in a few threads I've started lately. There are hundreds of threads on this forum that I don't find interesting and not one have I entered just to tell everyone involved that the subject doesn't interest me.

 

[Segnosaur]

I just can't get worked up about teenagers doing stupid things to inanimate objects.

Even if you chalk up their actions to just "teenagers doing stupid things", those teenagers could apologize. (After all, its been several days; they must have had at least a few more rational people to talk some sense into them.)

And even if you absolve the teenagers due to their age, you have the question: Why isn't Moscow Mitch more straight forward with his condemnations? Why the 'whataboutism'?

And what about when we call Trump and Republicans all sorts of nasty names here? Is that not disrespecting them? Or do they deserve our heated disagreement and not AOC?

The issue with AOC was not just the disrespect. (If it were just the teenagers giving a thumbs-down it probably wouldn't be an issue.) It was the imagery that suggested violence (the mock strangulation). People here may disrespect republicans (I regularly call Trump "Stubby McBonespurs" and Mitch McConnell "The Turtle" and "Moscow Mitch"), but I have never called for violence against said people, and I'm not aware of anyone here who has.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

As much as I hate Moscow Mitch, what does he have to do with kids who wear shirts about him? And that's essentially a storm in a teacup. There's no news there. Oh, no! These youths are groping a cardboard cutout! That's so dehumanising!

You seriously don't see the problem?