Post Turtles
by John Weckerle
Recently, an area resident sent me a new version of the old George W. Bush “post turtle joke,” reconfigured to focus on Barak Obama. While I may not have the same opinion as the sender regarding which of the two most resembles a post turtle, I didn’t think much of it; it’s election season and, as tired as we all are of it after the primaries, we’re bound to be seeing a lot of political humor.
I was, however, very surprised at the next message I got, which contained a response from one of the other recipients: “… i’m embarrassed for you. this is pure racism. never send me anything like this again.”
I think we should get something straight from the beginning, lest the election season become unbearably tedious. Certainly, racist comments have no place in a meaningful political debate, and I hold race to be completely irrelevant to the question of whether someone would be worthy of the Presidency. Regardless of how one may feel about the two major party candidates, one thing is clear: this particular piece of humor has no racial implications whatsoever. It is an old joke (probably far older than the tenure of the current administration, from the sound of it) formerly directed at the current President, resurrected and reworked to be directed at the other party’s candidate.
While nobody should be targeted with unfair criticism due to their race, especially during an election, neither should they be immune to the normal banter that typifies our election process for that reason. Let’s not allow ourselves to make everything about race. That would have the effect of stifling what is a very necessary and important discussion on key issues that face the nation – and potentially depriving us of the legitimate political humor that we, as a nation, seem to insist upon during our electoral process.
One Response “Post Turtles”
Well stated, John. I could banter about why this party or that party always seems to take the dark side (no pun intended) but the truth is, every party could use a light bulb or two. Not only to act as a shining example, but to cast the light of truth on themselves and where needed, on their silly crybaby opponents.