# Hilarious PSA spoof from Rep. Eric Cantor **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 12, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448 "2009-02-12T00:00:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/1 "2009-02-12T00:00:35Z")
I put this in Great Debates because that’s where my Crystal Ball told me it would eventually end up (though I argued passionately with it that MPSIMS was the more appropriate spot for the thread, it won the argument [again] so here we are). > [@](#): > > This isn’t going to make the big unions very happy. GOP House leader Eric Cantor’s office has come up with an intriguing response to the AFSCME ad bllitz targeting GOP leaders: Sending over a video that portrays AFSCME union members as 1970s-era goons. from [here](http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/stimulus-package/gop-leadership-response-video-depicting-afscme-members-as-goons/). [Here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3mw49mk_x0&feature=PlayList&p=626BAC6269BDB3E4&playnext=1&index=10) is a direct link to the video on YouTube. I am completely on the opposite side of the stimulus plan/spending bill argument from Rep. Cantor, but I just think this video is fuckin’ hilarious. Best of all, even as it tries to deride AFSCME members as foul-mouthed cretinous goons, it actually stands up for them by showing a WASPy Republican type driving around and realizing for the first time that somebody (but not him, thank God!) actually has to _do_ all the crappy and thankless (but necessary) work that AFSCME members toil at while he’s at the investment bank office, behind the wet-bar, fucking his WASPy blonde secretary. Win! ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/2 "2009-02-12T00:06:45Z")
Once we get past the usual “What’s wrong with it, can’t you take a joke, and it’s no worse then what the Democrats do so that makes it o.k.!” responses from the true believers, would someone from the right side of the aisle like to try to defend this? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/3 "2009-02-12T00:22:40Z")
On the one hand, I don’t think it’s anything worth getting angry about, or that it really needs defending, but on the other hand, it also looks pretty pointless to me, and not at all funny. I outgrew the phase where someone saying bad words on TV was funny about 25 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/4 "2009-02-12T00:37:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Once we get past the usual “What’s wrong with it, can’t you take a joke, and it’s no worse then what the Democrats do so that makes it o.k.!” responses from the true believers, would someone from the right side of the aisle like to try to defend this? Oh hell, that’s easy. Since the Democrats became Socialists Republicans have become the new Democrats and that means never having to say we’re sorry. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/5 "2009-02-12T00:39:25Z")
I’m not a fan of unions, but I don’t think 1) it’s funny and 2) is an appropriate thing to come out of a congressman’s office. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/6 "2009-02-12T00:42:33Z")
I just like that he’s very much against obscenity on television. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/7 "2009-02-12T00:47:18Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I’m not a fan of unions, but I don’t think 1) it’s funny and 2) is an appropriate thing to come out of a congressman’s office. Cantor would apparently agree > [@Rep Cantor arguing on the floor for an anti-obsenity bill](#): > > CANTOR: The use of obscenity…should not and cannot be tolerated. As a parent, I share the concerns of many regarding the level of offensive television and radio programs that are transmitted into our homes. The recent violations that have occurred disgusted not only me, but damage our society. To be fair, the video in question was never broadcast, but still. Of course the main problem with it is, as the OP points out, its crappy propaganda. The Union goons are kinda likable guys doing the real work, and the guy in the suit seems detached. Sorta like those Mac ads where the PC character is memorable and fun and the Mac character comes of as a douche. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/8 "2009-02-12T01:05:51Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > I’m not a fan of unions, but I don’t think 1) it’s funny and 2) is an appropriate thing to come out of a congressman’s office. That exactly where I come down on this. Just like the ‘Obama the Magic Negro’ kerfuffle recently, I say leave the comedy to the professionals. Even though it might be funny on it’s own merits this stuff has no business being sent out from an elected official’s office. Our tax dollars at work indeed! ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/9 "2009-02-12T01:27:40Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Once we get past the usual “What’s wrong with it, can’t you take a joke, and it’s no worse then what the Democrats do so that makes it o.k.!” responses from the true believers, would someone from the right side of the aisle like to try to defend this? From the linked story, including this update: [link](http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/stimulus-package/cantors-spokesperson-apologizes-for-labor-goon-video/) it appears to be an old video that’s been around on youtube for some time. A staffer in Cantor’s office sent it as a “joke”…and now that staffer has apologized. What needs defending? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/10 "2009-02-12T01:32:46Z")
Hmmmm… after reading some of the replies I am mildly surprised, but then, there is no accounting for personal taste (I’m talking about _mine_ here, and the fact that in this case, I’m even having a little trouble accounting for it:p). I don’t even know why I found it funny-- I am not the type that finds humor in anything simply because it’s “potty-mouthed”, but the swearing here was only to help establish the character of the narrator. I suppose I found it funny because it is just so odd-- odd that a Repub would use it to try to make his anti-stimulus bill point–especially considering that he probably hides behind the Flag and Family Values Shinola, yet sent out a profanity-laced video. And as I mentioned earlier, I also find it odd because I think the video is more sympathetic to the unions then to the knob-gobblers who would cum on their own faces if they managed to bust them. Ohh— I want to add that mostly I started this thread just to link to the video so others could see it. Whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/11 "2009-02-12T01:45:34Z")
Cantor’s a chump, but that video is hilarious. It’s pretty much a non-sequitur as a response, so you wonder if the staffers really understood the humor. But it’s not like he read it into the congressional record. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/12 "2009-02-12T03:52:41Z")
You guys know it’s a voiceover of an actual ASCME ad, right? ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/13 "2009-02-12T04:07:44Z")
Hilarious. But entirely inappropriate. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/14 "2009-02-12T20:28:48Z")
Why would anyone think that was \*\*anti-\*\*union? The only part that wasn’t all about boosting what AFSCME does was when the guy didn’t know what it stood for. Or is Cantor in favor of holes in roads & piss in drinking fountains? ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/15 "2009-02-12T20:42:25Z")
_Look for The union leader We know he’s down there Just dig up the yard_ Help me out here with some more lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/16 "2009-02-12T21:16:49Z")
> [@furt](#): > > Hilarious. But entirely inappropriate. Egg-zactly. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/17 "2009-02-13T02:21:15Z")
> [@](#): > > That exactly where I come down on this. Just like the ‘Obama the Magic Negro’ kerfuffle recently, I say leave the comedy to the professionals. Even though it might be funny on it’s own merits this stuff has no business being sent out from an elected official’s office. Our tax dollars at work indeed! So what are we supposed to do now that we have a professional comedian elected to the Senate? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hilarious-psa-spoof-from-rep-eric-cantor/485448/18 "2009-02-13T02:38:01Z")
It was funny.