# To the Right-Wing Automatons Who Value Bush More than the Bill of Rights **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 19, 2004, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101 "2004-10-19T20:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/21 "2004-10-19T22:02:37Z")
> [@The King of Soup](#): > > The Museum of Modern Arf, with its emphasis on depictions of dogs, seems to have a sense of humor. Are you suggesting we’ve been woofed? ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/22 "2004-10-19T22:03:39Z")
Makes perfect sense, really. The more poisonous the president, the crazier his defenders are. Saw the same thing going on back in the Nixon administration. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/23 "2004-10-19T22:17:48Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Are you suggesting we’ve been woofed? I’m suggesting that \*in this case \* we’re barking up the wrong tree. Of course, three women were recently ejected from a Bush rally for wearing T-shirts with logos expressing approval for the Bill of Rights, so anything’s possible. But the only source for this story is a press release from the museum, and I’d like to see a little more before I bite. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/24 "2004-10-19T22:56:50Z")
Every week, it seems, some idiot on this message board claims that a law exists when it doesn’t. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to drill down to someone’s hysterical claims along the lines that the Patriot Act permits the cops to break down your door and search your underwear without even asking a judge. People have insisted that President Bush could be criminally prosecuted because “he lied to Congress!” Seldom do those claims get derision here, richly deserving though they are. Now this OP reveals that idiots come in all stripes; the family described in the OP evidently believed that something “demonic” or “unpatriotic” was somehow against the law. This belief, too, is richly deserving of derision, and I see it is getting its fair share here. I would note that one of the claims apparently made by the family does describe an illegal act: no one, museum or otherwise, is permitted to display obscene material. Of course, given their other charges, it is safe to conclude that they were unfamiliar with the legal definition of obscenity, and it was thus unlikely in the extreme that they were reporting something that was actually obscene. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2004, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/25 "2004-10-19T23:05:06Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > I would note that one of the claims apparently made by the family does describe an illegal act: no one, museum or otherwise, is permitted to display obscene material. Of course, given their other charges, it is safe to conclude that they were unfamiliar with the legal definition of obscenity, and it was thus unlikely in the extreme that they were reporting something that was actually obscene. They know it when they see it. Seems to fit the legal definitions I’ve seen. 🙂 Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![fallapart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fallapart/32/3018_2.png) [@fallapart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fallapart)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/26 "2004-10-20T00:07:13Z")
> [@andros](#): > > You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. Oh, you mean “morons.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/27 "2004-10-20T00:19:34Z")
Is the president’s penis really small enough to be covered by that tiny hand? I thought the flightsuit images established that our president was better endowed than _that_! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/28 "2004-10-20T01:03:50Z")
cup != contents ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/29 "2004-10-20T04:31:27Z")
> [@fallapart](#): > > Oh, you mean “morons.” > 😃 Hey, thanks! Appreciate it! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![fallapart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fallapart/32/3018_2.png) [@fallapart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fallapart)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/30 "2004-10-20T04:39:57Z")
> [@chique](#): > > Hey, thanks! Appreciate it! :rolleyes: Actually I was just finishing the “Blazing Saddles” reference that andros (I assume) was making. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/31 "2004-10-20T05:12:12Z")
> [@fallapart](#): > > Actually I was just finishing the “Blazing Saddles” reference that andros (I assume) was making. And again my ignorance of pop culture bites me inna ass… Sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![fallapart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fallapart/32/3018_2.png) [@fallapart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fallapart)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/32 "2004-10-20T05:27:26Z")
> [@chique](#): > > And again my ignorance of pop culture bites me inna ass… > > Sorry about that. No worries 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/33 "2004-10-20T05:51:37Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Every week, it seems, some idiot on this message board claims that a law exists when it doesn’t. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had to drill down to someone’s hysterical claims along the lines that the Patriot Act permits the cops to break down your door and search your underwear without even asking a judge. People have insisted that President Bush could be criminally prosecuted because “he lied to Congress!” - Rick Um… hijack… assuming he wasn’t a sitting president, he _could_ be criminally prosecuted for lying (or perjuring himself, at least) to Congress, no? Is anyone else reminded of that bit in _Catch-22_ where Colonel Cathcart goes, “Atheism is against the law, isn’t it?” ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/34 "2004-10-20T06:03:55Z")
Heh. This goes squarely in the “Publicity you just can’t buy” category. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Death](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecccb3/32.png) [@Evil\_Death](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Death)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/35 "2004-10-20T09:28:41Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > Damn. I guess I need to take down the photo I have of George Bush with the mustache, devil horns, and dick and balls. Indeed. You don’t want to misrepresent Bush by giving him a dick and balls. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/36 "2004-10-20T09:43:39Z")
> [@GaWd](#): > > Absolutely amazing, and at the same time, it’s not hard to imagine. I know lots of moronic right-wingers who’d have a shit-fit if confronted by a picture of our fearwess weader portrayed so pornographically. > > Y’know, getting back to our “god-fearing” roots and all that drivel… > > Sam Meh. The King of Soup is right. This is manufactured bullshit. You could get the same sort of shit-fit from moronic left-wing weenies by painting a portrait of a child playing with a gun. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/37 "2004-10-20T12:00:46Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > Meh. The King of Soup is right. This is manufactured bullshit. You could get the same sort of shit-fit from moronic left-wing weenies by painting a portrait of a child playing with a gun. Just to clarify, I was trying to point out, though I have no personal knowledge of this case, that the entire incident could have been staged by the gallery. It just doesn’t seem likely that a family bedecked with Bush/Cheney buttons and stickers would find an exhibit titled “Questioning Power Now More than Ever,” pay to see it, and call the police. If this family was what everybody here seems to assume, the natural thing would have been to organize a protest/boycott, which would generate publicity for _them_, not call the cops and disappear, generating publicity only for the exhibit. I also find the timing suspicious–the offended family showed up very early in the show’s run, when publicity would do the gallery the most good. I also note that the museum’s press release is the only source for the story, and even the outlets carrying it aren’t treating it seriously enough to make a couple of phone calls. The press release also plays with the truth by saying the Didriksen painting was removed from the City Museum prior to its current showing because it was deemed “offensive.” This doesn’t seem to be the case (follow the link). Finally, there is almost a tradition of drawing attention to art by playing up its controversial aspects, real or imagined. I just wouldn’t be surprised if the truth were that the offended family turned out to be the gallery owner’s brother-in-law and a couple of friends trying to get the show into the paper on the cheap. If so, it worked. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/38 "2004-10-20T12:36:20Z")
> [@Really Not All That Bright](#): > > Um… hijack… assuming he wasn’t a sitting president, he _could_ be criminally prosecuted for lying (or perjuring himself, at least) to Congress, no? Sitting president or no, he could only be prosecuted for perjury if he lied while under oath. Lying to Congress, in and of itself, is not illegal. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/39 "2004-10-20T12:59:44Z")
Often, testimony to Congress is under oath. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101/40 "2004-10-20T13:16:34Z")
Can you cite an example of a “left-wing weenie” calling the cops over some art as you’ve described? No? Didn’t think so. Now piss off and take your constant _tu quoque_ fallacies with you. You’ve overplayed that hand so often it’s making you look stupid. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/to-the-right-wing-automatons-who-value-bush-more-than-the-bill-of-rights/270101.md?page=3)