# This started out amusing. By the last line, it wasn't. At all. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 22, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820 "2003-08-22T00:52:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/1 "2003-08-22T00:52:06Z")
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.” * * * Thoughts? Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/2 "2003-08-22T02:03:10Z")
Are you thinking that the email is true? It’s not. And since it’s not, it’s just somebody’s fairly lame attempt at humor. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/3 "2003-08-22T03:16:19Z")
Um no, I was not thinking it was true. I offered it purely as food for thought. Not as a true tale. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/4 "2003-08-22T03:22:35Z")
It’s amusing. Sort of. Pathetic, but amusing because of that. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/5 "2003-08-22T03:25:49Z")
I think it’s funny. Then again, I have a sick sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/6 "2003-08-22T03:41:53Z")
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](mailto: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): > [@](#): > > A teacher asks her class ‘What is an tragedy?’ A boy says ‘Is it when my mum runs me over?’ The teacher says ‘No, thats an accident.’ The boy says ‘is it when a bus full of people goes over the cliff?’ The teacher says ‘No, thats a great loss’. So the boy says ‘Well, it must be George Bush being killed by Bin laden.’ The teacher says ‘Well done! How did you work that out?’ The boy says ‘Well its not an accident and its not a great loss!’ ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/7 "2003-08-22T03:54:57Z")
Yeah, because nothing could possibly be funny if it differs from our ideological viewpoint. True believers must remain utterly humorless about the cause. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/8 "2003-08-22T07:37:45Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/9 "2003-08-22T12:55:42Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![troub](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troub/32/14802_2.png) [@troub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/troub)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/10 "2003-08-22T13:53:08Z")
> [@](#): > > By the last line, it wasn’t. At all. 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? ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/11 "2003-08-22T16:19:35Z")
What’s the relevance of the “but it was only sixteen words” line? I assume it relates to some similar statement made about the RL wmds? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/12 "2003-08-22T16:36:42Z")
[Sixteen words](http://www.dailytarheel.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2003/07/24/3f1f06324e321) ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/13 "2003-08-22T17:06:42Z")
I don’t get it. “gallows humor”?? Your definition of that phrase must be quite different from mine. I find the thing sort of humorous, it’s a good jab at both the toy and the whole WMD issue. What specifically is your problem with it? ---
**Author:** ![Isabelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5a626/32.png) [@Isabelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isabelle)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/14 "2003-08-22T17:18:41Z")
The irony in that is… we haven’t found any weapons of mass destruction! ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/15 "2003-08-22T17:29:20Z")
[Here’s](http://www.kbtoys.com/genProduct.html/PID/2431939/ctid/17?_ts=y&ls=toys&_e=3f464&_v=3F46478Bw0ARa381A32F6E76&_ts=y) 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](http://www.snopes.com/military/command.htm), complete with the “battle-worn” look lacking in so many other military toys. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2003, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-started-out-amusing-by-the-last-line-it-wasnt-at-all/196820/16 "2003-08-22T18:52:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Martiju \* > 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. 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.