# Why didn't John Kerry run Simpsons clips in his campaign? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 31, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450 "2005-08-31T17:09:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/21 "2005-08-31T19:16:46Z")
The obvious, boring, non-partisan answer is that he would have had to get Groening’s permission, and if I were Matt Groening, there’d be no way in hell I’d give it, because I’d want to stay as far as possible from that media circus. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/22 "2005-08-31T19:49:53Z")
Given what little I’ve seen of Groening’s politics in the past, I suspect he’d have cheerfully given his blessing for Kerry to stick it to George. More likely, IMO, is that Fox ( **cough_ahem_RupertMurdoch\*cough** ) wouldn’t have given permission. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/23 "2005-08-31T20:02:59Z")
> [@Hentor the Barbarian](#): > > Are you simply pretending not to understand Kerry’s statement, or do you believe that he actually changed his position on the $87 billion? Not that it matters, really, but I’m wondering where you are coming from on this. Haven’t noticed many of **Stephe96** ’s posts before this, have you? He’s regurgitating whatever crap the right-wing talksters put out. The funny thing is that he’s in some kind of wacky world where he seems to be a year beind his fellow gurgitators. -Joe, no food ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/24 "2005-08-31T20:11:28Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Haven’t noticed many of **Stephe96** ’s posts before this, have you? > > He’s regurgitating whatever crap the right-wing talksters put out. The funny thing is that he’s in some kind of wacky world where he seems to be a year beind his fellow gurgitators. > > -Joe, no food Fine, if you think Kerry was well-advised to say “I actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it” during his campaign, more power to you. I hope you guys continue to hire Bob Shrum. Next you’ll tell me that John Kerry kinda supports the war in Iraq. Sort of. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/25 "2005-08-31T20:18:49Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Fine, if you think Kerry was well-advised to say “I actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it” during his campaign, more power to you. Not what I said. > [@Stephe96](#): > > I hope you guys continue to hire Bob Shrum. Not what I said. > [@Stephe96](#): > > Next you’ll tell me that John Kerry kinda supports the war in Iraq. Sort of. Maybe. Not what I said. Three strikes and you have to go sit in a corner for five minutes? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/26 "2005-08-31T20:22:54Z")
No, this is what you said: > [@Merijeek](#): > > Haven’t noticed many of **Stephe96** ’s posts before this, have you? > > He’s regurgitating whatever crap the right-wing talksters put out. The funny thing is that he’s in some kind of wacky world where he seems to be a year beind his fellow gurgitators. > > -Joe, no food Forgive me if I didn’t feel the need to personally attack _you_ ! ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/27 "2005-08-31T20:30:27Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Fine, if you think Kerry was well-advised to say “I actually voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it” during his campaign, more power to you. I hope you guys continue to hire Bob Shrum. Was he well advised? No. But surely you’re aware that what he said, though it may sound odd to a layperson, actually makes sense when it comes to how things work in Congress. Kerry voted for the version of the bill that he wanted. That version of the bill did not pass. Another version came up that he didn’t like. He voted against that. Kerry didn’t flip flop on that. His position stayed consistant. > [@](#): > > Next you’ll tell me that John Kerry kinda supports the war in Iraq. Sort of. Maybe. It’s posible to believe that we were mislead into this war, but since the damage has already been done we have to stick around to make sure it doesn’t turn into a disaster. I realize it’s hard to make this fit into a soundbite, but this is not flip flopping either. The point the OP is making is that “flip flop” is a standard, boilerplate Republican smear. Even if it’s not actually waranted, Republicans will appeal to voter ignorance so they can make it **appear** that their opponent is flip flopping. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/28 "2005-08-31T20:48:56Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Given what little I’ve seen of Groening’s politics in the past, I suspect he’d have cheerfully given his blessing for Kerry to stick it to George. I doubt it. If this is true, why wasn’t he on the campaign trail? During the first Gulf War, both the pro-war and the anti-war factions asked for permission to use Bart on T-shirts and stuff. He turned them both down. He said that he didn’t want his characters to have anything to do with either of them. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/29 "2005-08-31T20:57:38Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > No, this is what you said: > > Forgive me if I didn’t feel the need to personally attack _you_ ! I didn’t personally attack you. That would be against the rules here in GD. I attacked your posts. Posts that are nearly verbatim repeats of posts made by all sorts of your mindset over the last several years. You show no ability to think outside of a very narrow track, and as such I was advising various posters not to waste time dealing with you. Mostly because the people I was directing my comments at have danced the same dance many times with other time-wasters who are, essentially, completely identical to you. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/30 "2005-08-31T21:11:00Z")
John Kerry or [thread=284567]“Grimey”[/thread] as he liked to be called… ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/31 "2005-08-31T21:18:01Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > You show no ability to think outside of a very narrow track,-Joe Huh. Well, if that’s not a personal attack, I don’t know what is. ---
**Author:** ![Kozmik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8dc957/32.png) [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/32 "2005-08-31T22:54:51Z")
The fact that _The Simpsons_ had Sideshow Bob call his opponent a flip-floper back in 1994 speaks much to the Simpsons’ writers political acumen. Matt Groening often says in the commentaries that if a political joke is not true today it will be true tomorrow. Just take a few examples from ‘Lisa the Beauty Queen’, “I want to show you what you’re fighting for, if there was a war on.” Or from ‘Three Men and a Comic Book’, “Let the good times roll!” It would have been a great idea to show these clips. They would bring home the message that we had peace and prosperity in the Nineties. And Kerry could have turned the tables with the flip flop attacks. People might say “Those Republicans! They’re using the same tactics a cartoon used.” More than that, subconsciously, they will watch the cartoon and will see themselves. The point is it’s the same old mud slinging, there’s nothing new. It’s all politics as usual folks. They say when your older and wiser you realize that. It’s just a never ending cycle, there will always be war, peace, war, economic boom, economic downturn, prosperity, crisis, war, peace. It never ends… unless… ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/33 "2005-08-31T22:59:47Z")
> [@Kozmik](#): > > The fact that _The Simpsons_ had Sideshow Bob call his opponent a flip-floper back in 1994 speaks much to the Simpsons’ writers political acumen. Matt Groening often says in the commentaries that if a political joke is not true today it will be true tomorrow. Just take a few examples from ‘Lisa the Beauty Queen’, “I want to show you what you’re fighting for, if there was a war on.” Or from ‘Three Men and a Comic Book’, “Let the good times roll!” > > It would have been a great idea to show these clips. They would bring home the message that we had peace and prosperity in the Nineties. And Kerry could have turned the tables with the flip flop attacks. People might say “Those Republicans! They’re using the same tactics a cartoon used.” More than that, subconsciously, they will watch the cartoon and will see themselves. > > The point is it’s the same old mud slinging, there’s nothing new. It’s all politics as usual folks. They say when your older and wiser you realize that. It’s just a never ending cycle, there will always be war, peace, war, economic boom, economic downturn, prosperity, crisis, war, peace. It never ends… unless… You know, not everyone in this country likely thinks that _The Simpsons_ is the be-all, end-all of American culture. For my part, I love the show. I think it’s hilarious. (And, by the way, it ridicules the Democrats just as often as it does the GOP…and I happen to _love_ the establishing shot of the Springfield GOP headquarters that looks just like Dracula’s castle! With the wolves baying in the distance! That’s killer stuff!). But, seriously, as much as you and I might love _The Simpsons_ …had John Kerry somehow tried to align himself with the show and work Bart and Homer into his campaign, he would’ve been a national laughingstock…well, I mean _more_ of a laughingstock than he already was! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/34 "2005-09-01T01:26:14Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, if that’s not a personal attack, I don’t know what is. Um…is it really a ‘personal attack’ to call an inability to think outside of a very narrow track an ‘inability to think outside of a very narrow track’? ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/35 "2005-09-01T01:35:35Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > Um…is it really a ‘personal attack’ to call an inability to think outside of a very narrow track an ‘inability to think outside of a very narrow track’? Is it a ‘smear campaign’ to call a flip-flopper a ‘flip-flopper?’ ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/36 "2005-09-01T02:28:41Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > Is it a ‘smear campaign’ to call a flip-flopper a ‘flip-flopper?’ If he actually were a flip-flopper, maybe. Totally unlike a person who would start a war for one reason, then continually move the goalposts as reason after reason are shown to be bunk but we’re already in up to our eyebrows so we have to stay the course! But of course, we don’t have that… Have you read ANY of the rebuttals to the “flip-flopper” stance that have been posted to this thread. Or are you running through the boards with your hands over your ears screaming “LALALALAICAN’THEARYOU! BUSHISGOD!”? ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/37 "2005-09-01T02:42:50Z")
[QUOTE=jayjay] If he actually were a flip-flopper, maybe. Totally unlike a person who would start a war for one reason, then continually move the goalposts as reason after reason are shown to be bunk but we’re already in up to our eyebrows so we have to stay the course! But of course, we don’t have that… [QUOTE] Oh, is that the war John Kerry voted for and continues to support? The war, in fact, that he has said he’d _still_ vote to authorize even _knowing_ there were no WMD? Is that the war you’re talking about? Cite: [http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/09/kerry.iraq/](http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/09/kerry.iraq/) _Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry said Monday he would not have changed his vote to authorize the war against Iraq, but said he would have handled things “very differently” from President Bush._ So he’d still vote for it…but he’s also kinda against it. Kerry can go before a pro-war crowd and say, “As you all know, I voted for this war!” But he can also go before an anti-war crowd and say, “As you all know, I’m against this war!” A lot of people think that sort of talk makes him, you know, a flip-flopper. By the way, do you think Kerry supports or opposes gay marriage? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/38 "2005-09-01T02:53:45Z")
Kerry voted for some other war, one that would have been fought after Iraq was proven to be a threat that could not be removed through diplomatic means. That’s not the war Bush started though. The war Bush started was some war based on false pretenses for no good reason. I don’t see what the big deal is. He’d still give the president the power to use force when appropriate, but he didn’t think Bush used that power given to him by the Senate appropriately. And he was right. > [@](#): > > Kerry can go before a pro-war crowd and say, “As you all know, I voted for this war!” But he can also go before an anti-war crowd and say, “As you all know, I’m against this war!” Did this happen? > [@](#): > > A lot of people think that sort of talk makes him, you know, a flip-flopper. What talk? Why haven’t you withdrawn your previous claim now that you’ve been shown Kerry didn’t change his mind regarding the $87 billion? ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/39 "2005-09-01T02:56:00Z")
> [@The Tooth](#): > > I don’t see what the big deal is. He’d still give the president the power to use force when appropriate, but he didn’t think Bush used that power given to him by the Senate appropriately. And he was right. > > ? If he doesn’t think Bush handled the war correctly, why the hell would he _still vote the same way_ ?!?! Why not simply vote, “No,” as did Ted Kennedy? ---
**Author:** ![Joools](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6de8d8/32.png) [@Joools](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joools)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450/40 "2005-09-01T03:02:54Z")
> [@Stephe96](#): > > If he doesn’t think Bush handled the war correctly, why the hell would he still vote the same way ?!?! Why not simply vote, “No,” as did Ted Kennedy? Yeah, why won’t that darned flip-flopper change his mind already?!? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-john-kerry-run-simpsons-clips-in-his-campaign/319450.md?page=3)