I got this today in an e-mail. It is gallows humor of the most pressing and timely type.
GEORGE W. BUSH ACTION FIGURE RECALLED; WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION NOT INCLUDED
Contrite Manufacturer Apologizes for Missing WMD
A G.I. Joe-like action figure depicting President George W. Bush as an
“Elite Force Aviator” was recalled today by its manufacturer after
consumers discovered that the $39.95 toy did not include the weapons of
mass destruction pictured on the toy’s packaging.
The Bush action figure was packaged in a box showing the President in his
aviator flight suit made famous in his landing on the aircraft carrier
Abraham Lincoln, uncovering weapons of mass destruction in a
suspicious-looking Iraqi warehouse.
But once parents bought the toy and brought it home, they found that the
box contained only the action figure of the President and no weapons of
mass destruction whatsoever.
Janis Martino, 32, a mother of two in Lansing, Michigan, said her son
Tyler was “really disappointed” when he opened the toy’s packaging and
found no weapons of mass destruction inside.
“He felt tricked,” Ms. Martino said. “You can’t tell someone that there
are weapons of mass destruction and then have there not be any.”
Ms. Martino also said she felt “gypped” by the high price tag, saying, “If
there were no weapons of mass destruction, what were we spending all of
this money for?”
As it announced the recall, the action figure’s manufacturer today
apologized for the words on the packaging that read, “Make Elite Force
Aviator George W. Bush Find and Destroy Saddam Hussein’s Weapons of Mass
Destruction!”
“We apologize for that phrasing,” the manufacturer said. “But even if it was a little misleading, it was only sixteen words.”
That’s the problem with ideological jokes; they don’t have to be funny in order to be successful. People with weak senses of humor will pass them on just because they agree with them. If you’re The Onion, then you can manage to have stuff that’s ideological and funny at the same time. If you’re joe@forewardhappy.com, not so much.
As far as political jokes go, the one in the OP is average at least. I mean, here’s your typical political joke (collected on the internet):
Yeah, because nothing could possibly be funny if it differs from our ideological viewpoint. True believers must remain utterly humorless about the cause.
Of course, long before the missing accessories debacle, more than half of the units sold were angrily returned by consumers who insisted that they had actually taken the Al Gore Internet Invention Action Set through the checkstand.
I don’t think that this type of thing need be funny per se (as in The Onion) - it can exist purely to make a satirical point. As far as I can tell, if it makes those who agree nod sagely and those that disagree denounce it as pathetic then it’s achieved its purpose.
You write that as if the joke offends you in some way. I’ll agree that it’s not hilariously funny, but as Martiju pointed out it’s just somebody trying to make a point. Does this offend you because you don’t agree with it?
Here’s the action figure in question, for those who haven’t seen it.
The makers did surprisingly well in reproducing the vaguely confused look that Bush habitually wears.
Of course, for those who prefer pretend “real” soldiers, rather than pretend “pretend” soldiers like Bush, you can always go for the Military Forward Command Post, complete with the “battle-worn” look lacking in so many other military toys.
Yeah, I guess you’re right. But I think if you’re going to bother to make a point in joke form, you ought to make it funny. Otherwise, you might as well put it in a late-night talk show monologue.
