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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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 Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 8:45 am Post subject: American politics as reality TV, the saga continues .... |
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What a year, folks! What a year! Where to start? It never stops!
We've had Rich Iott, a Republican - Tea Party candidate for the United States House of Representatives from the state of Ohio who likes to dress up as a Nazi, and not just any Nazi, an officer of the Waffen SS.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/10/why-is-this-gop-house-candidate-dressed-as-a-nazi/64319/
http://wonkette.com/425747/gop-young-guns-house-nominee-loves-playing-nazi-dress-up
And then there was Glenn McConnell, Republican, President of the South Carolina State Senate, who had his picture taken with Blacks dressed as slaves recently.
http://newsone.com/nation/newsonestaff4/sc-republican-dresses-up-as-confederate-soldier-with-slaves/
http://www.thespec.com/print/article/256513
They said they were just historical re-enactments. Re-enactments can be useful ways to learn from history. But it sure looks like Republicans are learning the wrong lessons from the Civil War and World War II.
What were they thinking? And what were the people who voted for them thinking?
And now we've got Joe Miller - GOTP. He's no re-enactor; he's not even an actor. Joe Miller's the real thing!
In the latest episode of Real American Politics -- 99501, Sarah Palin's personally anointed candidate for the U.S. Senate to replace incumbent Lisa Murkowski - R(IP), Joe Miller - R(TP) had his shaved-headed personal body guards handcuff and "arrest" a journalist who was asking him questions he did not want to answer. The body guards also seized the reporter's video camera and erased footage of the encounter, though they claim they just accidentally dropped it.
http://www.adn.com/2010/10/17/1506223/miller-security-guards-handcuff.html
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/10/joe_miller_really_doesnt_want.html
http://www.slate.com/blogs/blogs/weigel/archive/2010/10/18/joe-miller-has-a-posse.aspx
(Someone please send the Miller campaign some brown shirts.)
In addition to refusing to answer questions from journalists, Miller says he won't participate in any more debates with the other two candidates, Democrat Scott McAdams and Murkowski, who is running a write-in campaign.
This is right out of Sarah Palin's play book. When she ran for governor, she defeated Lisa Murkowski's father, then the incumbent governor, in the Republican primary. However, she, too, faced a three-way race, with a moderate Republican running on a third party, I think called the Moderate Republican Party, or something like that, unlike the real Republican Party.
So when it came time for one of the most important debates toward the end of the campaign, Palin simply didn't show up. She phoned in an excuse about a "prior engagement."
When you've got the evangelical religious right behind you, who needs debates, or to answer reporters' questions from the heathen press? They don't go to debates, and they don't read non-evangelical newspapers.
Palin has endorsed other Tea Party - Republican candidates around the U.S., but this is the race closest to her heart, and the candidate she knows best, personally. And her hand-picked candidate hires goons to intimidate anyone he doesn't like.
This is not an aberration, but rather what the GOP has become, brought into sharp focus. To save itself, the Republican Party has sold its soul.
Remember, Palin was the GOP's vice presidential candidate, and millions of Americans voted for her. Had she become the VP, and then had to assume the presidency, this is very likely the sort of person she would have appointed to run the United States of America.
And if Americans vote for Mr. Miller and others like him in this election and in 2012, what you see here may well be the future of American life. Even if Miller only gets 2 percent of the vote, it will be a sad, sad commentary on the state of my country.
If foreigners ask me, I tell them I am an American. If they unjustly criticize America, I defend my country. But privately, I am deeply ashamed. When I see goons hired by the leading candidate for the United States Senate arresting a reporter, it makes me sick to my stomach. This is not America.
Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of RAP - Real American Politics. The scariest show on reality TV. |
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The Happy Warrior
Joined: 10 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 9:27 am Post subject: |
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This is all noise. I read the above and there's not one word on a position or policy stance a Republican candidate has taken.
Yeah, as an American I'm ashamed, too. We're unworthy of good politics.
Who needs debates, indeed. |
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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:58 pm Post subject: |
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Miller wants a license to kill .... Canadians???
Good morning, Canada! You're going to love reading this:
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Miller cites Communist East Germany as effective in dealing with border security
The scuffle between the editor of Alaska Dispatch and Joe Miller's security guards at a public forum in Anchorage late Sunday is getting much national attention today. Getting lesser but growing attention is Miller's answer at the forum to a question from the audience about how he would deal with illegal immigration. Anchorage blogger Steve Aufrecht was there and is among those today who are criticizing Miller's response that Communist East Germany would be a good example for the U.S. to emulate in achieving border security. He quotes Miller as saying:
"The first thing that has to be done is secure the border. ... East Germany was very, very able to reduce the flow. Now, obviously, other things were involved. We have the capacity to, as a great nation, secure the border. If East Germany could, we could."
Aufrecht's post includes video with an audio recording of Miller's comment.
As The Times of London reported a few years ago, linked here via Fox News, East German troops during the Cold War had official "licence to fire" on citizens trying to flee across the heavily fortified 860-mile border into West Germany or across the Berlin Wall into West Berlin. Hundreds of people died in the attempt. |
http://www.adn.com/2010/10/18/1507198/miller-cites-communist-east-germany.html
Hmmm, let's see now.... what country does Alaska share a border with?
Yes, that's right class, it's Canada.
How long is that border?
That's right, it's 1,539 miles.
And what is the total length of Alaska's border, including coastline?
It's 7,119 miles long.
What about the entire United States?
America's borders are 7,612 miles long (12,248 kilometers), and its coastline is 12,383 miles long (19,924 kilometers).
And what does Joe Miller want to do?
Well, he didn't exactly say, but some readers would interpret it as a call to build a wall along the border, as did East Germany, manned with armed guards (from private security firms?) at close intervals with orders to shoot to kill anyone crossing illegally.
I think this is a very practical proposal. It is a sure-fire way to get the country out of it's "recession" (Great Depression II?) and back to full employment.
Having dealt with U.S. Customs agents at the Alaska-Canada border, and noticed their mighty itchy trigger fingers, I suspect Miller has their votes.
Of course, in East Germany, the ones crossing the border illegally were the East Germans trying to get out. As far as I know, the East Germans didn't have a big problem with foreigners trying to get in, except for Paul Newman in that Alfred Hitchcock movie. But who knows? Perhaps some Canadians might want to flee socialism for the freedom of America. I say, shoot 'em!
So does this mean Joe Miller wants to shoot Americans trying to flee to Canada?
Will this mean I would be eligible for political asylum if I can survive the hail of bullets to get into Canada?
Anyone want to predict the jokes on The Daily Show?
Stay tuned for more RAP - Real American Politics. It must be real, because no one could make this stuff up!
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Yeah, funny, eh? This is who is leading in the polls to represent Alaska in the U.S. Senate.
| Quote: |
Miller tops fundraising race in Alaska in past 2 months
By Erika Bolstad
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON -- Republican Joe Miller's primary upset of Sen. Lisa Murkowski helped the tea party-backed candidate raise $1.17 million over the past two months, more money than his two opponents combined during the same period.
Miller, who spent a week in Washington, D.C., last month at a series of fundraisers with Republican leaders in the U.S. Senate, also had the help of conservative organizations such as the Club for Growth and FreedomWorks. Their endorsements -- coupled with the backing of the Tea Party Express -- helped put Miller in touch with a wide network of potential donors.
The Fairbanks lawyer also made multiple appearances on Fox News and other national news and talk radio programs, platforms that extended his fundraising reach well beyond Alaska. |
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/16/1876318/miller-tops-fundraising-race-in.html
Have a nice day. |
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rollo
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 12:36 am Post subject: |
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| Total fun! The self destruction of the Republican party has brought out the whackos. Enjoy!! |
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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 4:35 am Post subject: |
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How not to win Hispanic votes in Nevada:
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October 18, 2010, 3:06 pm
Angle Says Students �Look Asian�
By MICHAEL D. SHEAR
Sharron Angle, the Republican candidate for Senate in Nevada, appears in a video to have offered a strange assessment of a group of Hispanic students at a meeting last week.
A high-profile race that Republicans once viewed with great confidence is proving tougher than many had imagined.
The video, posted by the Nevada journalist Jon Ralston, shows Ms. Angle saying that �some of you look a little more Asian to me� at a meeting of the Hispanic Student Union at Rancho High School outside Las Vegas.
The tape, apparently made by a student, shows many in the audience murmuring in surprise as Ms. Angle makes the remark, which began with a comment about the need for �a sovereign nation.�
�So that�s what we want is a secure and sovereign nation and, you know, I don�t know that all of you are Latino. Some of you look a little more Asian to me. I don�t know that,� Ms. Angle said. �What we know, what we know about ourselves is that we are a melting pot in this country. My grandchildren are evidence of that. I�m evidence of that. I�ve been called the first Asian legislator in our Nevada State Assembly.�
Mr. Ralston, on his blog, noted that he had �no idea what she is talking about.� |
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/18/angle-says-students-look-asian/?partner=rss&emc=rss
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/us/politics/20race.html?hpw
I don't know enough about this candidate to pass judgment based on this comment, alone.
At the least, it is inarticulate, and at worst it suggests she is ignorant about racial matters and pretty stupid when it comes to campaigning. Candidates can get tired and say things that don't make sense. But how can someone with a brain say anything this stupid to a room full of Hispanics?
What bothers me, though, is that the bar keeps getting lowered, lower and lower, each election, on what constitutes a minimally qualified candidate. There are people who will eagerly vote for a candidate who cannot even name one newspaper she reads. And now you've got a candidate in Angle who apparently can't speak or think clearly.
Let me ask you something: If you elect someone who is dumb as a rock to the U.S. Senate, who do you think will be making the decisions on votes?
It doesn't really matter. Politics is just reality based entertainment.
What's next?
Stay tuned to RAP. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:24 am Post subject: |
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| She also is skeptical about autism. If Harry Reid doesn't win re-election he can blame himself 100% since the woman is a fool and an embarrassment. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 7:37 am Post subject: |
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| Autism has replaced ADHD as the diagnosis for boys who won't sit still. If she is skeptical about if it exists, that's unreasonable. If she is skeptical about the dramatic surge in autism diagnosis, that's reasonable. |
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rollo
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: China
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| Posted: Wed Oct 20, 2010 2:48 pm Post subject: |
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Strange the asian remark being seen as racist. I live in china , a friend of mine is hispanic and is marrried to a beautiful Chinese woman. Jusst the other night we were sitting out chatting and he said, doesnt she look Mexican. I nodded and we talked about how Asians and many hispanics look alike. Native americans are of asian descent and most hispanics in America are los indios. So can someone explain to me why this was a bad or racist thing to say.
the woman is a nutjob whose message i despise but i dont think she said anything racist. |
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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 5:36 am Post subject: |
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From Maureen Dowd's column on Marilyn Monroe, et al:
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You struggle to name Supreme Court cases, newspapers you read and even founding fathers you admire? No problem. You endorse a candidate for the Pennsylvania Senate seat who is the nominee in West Virginia? Oh, well.
At least you�re not one of those �spineless� elites with an Ivy League education, like President Obama, who can�t feel anything. It�s news to Christine O�Donnell that the Constitution guarantees separation of church and state. It�s news to Joe Miller, whose guards handcuffed a journalist, and to Carl Paladino, who threatened The New York Post�s Fred Dicker, that the First Amendment exists, even in Tea Party Land. Michele Bachmann calls Smoot-Hawley Hoot-Smalley.
Sharron Angle sank to new lows of obliviousness when she told a classroom of Hispanic kids in Las Vegas: �Some of you look a little more Asian to me.�
As Palin tweeted in July about her own special language adding examples from W. and Obama: � �Refudiate,� �misunderestimate,� �wee-wee�d up.� English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too. Got to celebrate it!�
On Saturday, at a G.O.P. rally in Anaheim, Calif., Palin mockingly noted that you won�t find her invoking Mao or Saul Alinsky. She says she believes in American exceptionalism. But when it comes to the people running the country, exceptionalism is suspect; leaders should be � as Palin, O�Donnell and Angle keep saying � just like you.
In Marilyn�s America, there were aspirations. The studios tackled literary novels rather than one-liners like �He�s Just Not That Into You� and navel-gazing drivel like �Eat Pray Love.� Walt Disney�s �Fantasia� paired cartoon characters with famous composers. Even Bugs Bunny did Wagner.
But in Sarah�s America, we�ve refudiated all that. |
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/opinion/20dowd.html?_r=1&src=me&ref=homepage
Rollo, I didn't say she was racist, and the blog did say that, either.
I think the point is she appears to be stupid, and seems to be seeking votes on the platform: Vote for me, I'm as stupid as you.
The remark, taken as it is, alone, says she is stupid and doesn't understand Hispanics, not to mention politics.
The remark could be put into a meaningful context, but I don't know that was how it was presented. America is a melting pot, Hispanics look like Asians, Asians look like Native Americans, Native Americans look like Jews, Jews look like Arabs, Arabs look like .... We are all one America.
OK, that would annoy everyone, but it would make some sense.
It seems more like there were some half-formed ideas that escaped her lips before she could figure it all out. That seems to be a common problem with Tea Party candidates. Or quarter-formed.
But the problem is really with a large segment of American voters, who are willing to accept and vote for people running for Senate or Vice President who aren't half as bright as many city council or school board members.
Foreigners watching what is going on, especially those who don't understand America, probably won't be saddened by the collapse of the United States as a leader. I wonder how they will like China as their new boss.
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Perpluxzled by the word "refudiate"?
Definition:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Refudiate
Don't know what real words mean? Just make up your own and let other people feel stupid. |
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rollo
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: China
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| Posted: Thu Oct 21, 2010 4:04 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Gatsby. thats a good answer. Yeah pointing out the obvious makes her look stupid. The fact that this whack job is even being considered by voters is unbelievable. She once said something about the solution to Harry Reid is shooting him
Joe Miller in Alaska has basically came out and endorsed fascism. His comments about East German guards shooting those who tried to escape is one of the most repugnant statements by a candidate in years. |
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rollo
Joined: 10 May 2006
Location: China
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| Posted: Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:30 am Post subject: |
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I am sure the world's citizens must look at American politics like they are watching monkeys at the zoo throwing handful of feces. It is insane. It must also be a little frightening for the world to think that this is a country armed to the teeth> Nuclear weapons out the ying.
we dont just let every yaboo with a bug up his or her butt get up and rant we encourage it , got to love it. |
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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:29 am Post subject: |
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Kill, baby, kill!
| Quote: |
Arizona Republican Pamela Gorman fires guns in ad
By ANDY BARR | 6/29/10 4:39 PM EDT
Arizona Republican congressional candidate Pamela Gorman shoots four separate firearms, including an automatic rifle, in her latest ad.
The ad splices together glamour shots of Gorman, a state senator, with her firing off rounds in the Arizona desert.
�This year a lot of folks think this is our best shot at changing Congress,� the narrator of the ad says. �Course that all depends on the caliber of our candidates.�
The ad then cuts from a shot of Gorman standing with her hair blowing in the wind to her firing a Thompson submachine gun, the favorite weapon of Chicago mobsters and FBI agents in the 1930s, into the desert.
�Meet Pamela Gorman, candidate for Congress in Arizona-03,� the narrator says. �Conservative Christian and a pretty fair shot.�
Later Gorman shoots two separate pistols and an assault rifle. And in one shot she is even instructing a boy how to fire a gun.
The ad goes on to tout her 100 percent rating from the National Rifle Association.
Gordon is competing against a half-dozen other Republicans in the North Phoenix district�s GOP primary for an open seat vacated by Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.). |
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/39179.html
Wow!
Just when you thought it couldn't go any lower, what with candidates who couldn't name a single newspaper they read or court ruling they had heard of, now apparently the latest qualification for elected office is the caliber of bullets you use. (Don't vote for Democrats! They only use .22 caliber shorts.)
I don' know about you, but reading about this makes my blood run cold. Thompson submachine gun? This is the candidate of one of America's two major political parties. I guess their aiming to have one political party.
Last edited by Gatsby on Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:43 am; edited 1 time in total |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:39 am Post subject: |
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Oh turn off MSNBC. It is a firearm.
Vote Democrat!
http://maxkeiser.com/2010/10/31/democrats-give-fannie-and-freddie-a-free-pass-in-congress-in-2004
Financial criminals defending the GSE's. The GSE's are the ultimate in Democrat immorality. A financial elite (I won't point out who is the financial elite) that uses poor blacks and Hispanics as nothing more than debtors to be exploited. That's the Dems. Obama doesn't even know it. And these damn partisans think an advertisement with a gun is a real issue. Gatsby, you are the problem. |
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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:49 am Post subject: |
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mises wrote:
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Oh turn off MSNBC. It is a firearm.
Vote Democrat!
http://maxkeiser.com/2010/10/31/democrats-give-fannie-and-freddie-a-free-pass-in-congress-in-2004
Financial criminals defending the GSE's. The GSE's are the ultimate in Democrat immorality. A financial elite (I won't point out who is the financial elite) that uses poor blacks and Hispanics as nothing more than debtors to be exploited. That's the Dems. Obama doesn't even know it. And these damn partisans think an advertisement with a gun is a real issue. Gatsby, you are the problem. |
A most thoughtful, well-reasoned reply, mises. Thank you for your edifying contribution to this discussion. I will do exactly what you say, once I figure out what it was you said. |
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mises
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: retired
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| Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2010 8:50 am Post subject: |
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| Gatsby wrote: |
mises wrote:
| Quote: |
Oh turn off MSNBC. It is a firearm.
Vote Democrat!
http://maxkeiser.com/2010/10/31/democrats-give-fannie-and-freddie-a-free-pass-in-congress-in-2004
Financial criminals defending the GSE's. The GSE's are the ultimate in Democrat immorality. A financial elite (I won't point out who is the financial elite) that uses poor blacks and Hispanics as nothing more than debtors to be exploited. That's the Dems. Obama doesn't even know it. And these damn partisans think an advertisement with a gun is a real issue. Gatsby, you are the problem. |
A most thoughtful, well-reasoned reply, mises. Thank you for your edifying contribution to this discussion. I will do exactly what you say, once I figure out what it was you said. |
I promise that Maddow or Soros won't tell you.
The focus on the meaningless at the expense of the meaningful is a distraction by design. You actually follow and feel this managed 2 minutes of hate that repeats itself every day. Meanwhile, while you're crying about ad's and guns, there is a class of people who loot every last dime from the state. But you're crying about a gun in an ad. It's just sad. Who gives a damn if some woman says Hispanics look like Asians. Good god, who cares? That is so irrelevant to everything that needs fixing. Who cares if a firearm is used in an ad to appeal to people who like guns. Of all the things to be upset about. This is crazy. |
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