I will be voting for Obama, but propaganda like this is just sad. It is easy for anyone with a computer to edit together fancy little videos like this, either taking the best or worst moments of a person and making them look bad.
I’ll bet we could find video of Charles Taylor or Bin Laden playing with children and probably handing food out to the poor. Does that mean that we should all band together and say that the two of them are good people?
Instead of using all of the great technologies we have today to make up skewed versions of the truth that fit out own personal views, perhaps we should try to use them for finding the truth and realities of the world.
Propaganda only promotes confusion in an already mislead populous.
Comment by Stevn Shoppman — September 9th, 2008 at 8:03 am #
I couldn’t agree more with Stevn’s take on this. It’s easy to take anything anyone says out of context and twist it to fit our own personal agenda. Surely nobody here is naive enough to believe that the same couldn’t be done to Obama, are they?
Comment by Ryan Hukill — September 9th, 2008 at 8:07 am #
And one more thing. Your site is pretty cool Jake.
Comment by Stevn Shoppman — September 9th, 2008 at 8:09 am #
Just because the video is propaganda-like in nature, doesn’t make its message any less true. FACT: John McCain does agree with George W. Bush on many, MANY key issues. This video is really just a fun way of saying that. The message behind it isn’t any less true.
The reason videos like this grab peoples attention is because people hear lines like “John McCain voted with bush 90% of the time” about 100 times a day now. So sometimes, to get the message across, you have to show them outright: “Look he clearly has similar policies as the republican administration that has been running Washington for 8 years, its time for an ACTUAL, REAL change.”
Technology frees us from the mundane and old school, that is why we all embrace it so much everyday. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Comment by Jake Marsh — September 9th, 2008 at 8:11 am #
Regardless of how the election turns out, I expect to see restrictions on political speech. McCain pushed for campaign finance “reform” – Obama is down with that as well. Obama goes further – his short career is filled with attempts to silence dissent. He sued to remove all his opponents in his first run in Illinois; he won his senate speech by getting sealed divorce records unsealed; while running this year, he’s tried to have ads that attack him shut down.
Both candidates prefer to have “our betters” manage speech for us. I find it amusing that so many people see Obama as something special; he’s another sleazy pol looking to shut us up and keep us in our place.
Comment by James Robertson — September 9th, 2008 at 8:12 am #
“he’s another sleazy pol looking to shut us up and keep us in our place.”
That’s quite a statement. I’m wondering what “our place” is that James refers to… Is James unhappy he is in the place he’s currently in? I’d say that our ability to produce, publish, share with the world and render judgment on the type of video shown here, just the freedom to be able to have the right to even view such a piece of “propaganda”, heck even the fact that we have a choice at all as to who leads our country, is a pretty good place to be in at all.
If you’re unhappy with the sleazy “pols” running our country, by all means run for office yourself and see if you can do things better. The nature of our leaders reflects the nature of our citizenry, if we elect corrupt leaders, doesn’t that say something about the American people more than it does the politicians themselves?
Obama’s not a savior, nor is McCain… neither one’s going to change America in any fundamental way, the path we’ve followed is of our own making, over decades, centuries, little can change based on who’s in the White House. Americans have to want to change, and frankly, I imagine most Americans are quite comfortable and content being in “the place” where they are.
Comment by Jason Welker — September 9th, 2008 at 8:23 am #
Our “place” is to take direction from our “betters” in government and media. McCain is certainly onboard with that philosophy – witness campaign finance “reform”. Obama is down with that idea as well, and seems to want to take it even further. He’ll likely go along with a restoration of the Fairness Doctrine, which will shutdown all manner of political speech.
Comment by James Robertson — September 9th, 2008 at 8:33 am #
“He’ll likely go along with a restoration of the Fairness Doctrine, which will shutdown all manner of political speech.”
@James Robertson – That’s just dumb. Saying things like that makes you sound immature and frankly, it makes you sound stupid.
Comment by Jake Marsh — September 9th, 2008 at 8:36 am #
Jake:
Pelosi and Reid both back such a return, as do many other members of the Democratic Caucus. Obama hasn’t held anything like a firm position on any issue, so it’s hardly dumb to assume he’d let his compatriots pass legislation they – and many of their backers – like.
If you think it’s “dumb”, please show me how.
Comment by James Robertson — September 9th, 2008 at 8:40 am #
@steven I’m with Jake here (kinda) – propoganda is never more powerful than truth, and never works unless there’s not truth behind it. most Dem’s think there’s some truth to this video, and I think it’s well composed to bring out the message.
Comment by brianlburns — September 9th, 2008 at 8:52 am #
To me something well composed convinces people by showing both sides of a story and convincing people of one side or the other.
Maybe I am just old fashioned, or maybe it is because I have seen the harmful effects of one sided stories around the world.
I propose that anyone who thinks that propaganda is a good way to get a point across read a history book and realize that propaganda has been one of the strongest and most negative influences of all time. One perfectly great example is the Crusades. Throw a book about an imaginary idea/savior to people and you can get them to join an army to kill loads of people.
The Crusades are an extreme example. However, if I was to show this video to my mother, who is currently likely to vote for McCain, it would only turn her off to the idea of voting for Obama. Of course McCain has similar views to Bush on some things, they are both Republican. If this video actually had some facts about why Obama is a better candidate, instead of only proving the reality that McCain is a Republican it might actually sway more minds instead of just reinforcing all of us who are already convinced.
Comment by Stevn Shoppman — September 9th, 2008 at 9:57 am #
@Stevn Shoppman – you are correct in that this video does little to show why Obama is a better choice than McCain. Thank you for pointing that out, I will do my best to post a new video soon comparing the two candidates on their views. However, I do not back down from saying that sometimes propaganda is necessary to rally people behind a cause. Not saying propaganda is always a good idea, but in this case it seems that many if not most Americans don’t take the time to research things for themselves, so if I want “my” candidate to win, I must do anything and everything I can do bring information about them to the masses.
Comment by Jake Marsh — September 9th, 2008 at 10:03 am #
While I agree with Stevn, I also see the value in videos like these. If someone takes the time to go back and look at this old footage and find the similarities, I applaud them. Jake makes a great point, “…most Americans don’t take the time to research things for themselves” This is something we can’t all do and don’t all have time to do. Regardless of presentation or intent the message is clear. McCain and Bush have similar views and similar intent. The same negative impact it might have in this video could show a positive spin for people who want to live in a Bush-like U.S. (God forbid) for the next 4 years.
Comment by Mike Wilton — September 10th, 2008 at 11:15 am #
Where did you get that awesome flash video player, I know it’s open source as I have seen it on another website before but in green but I can’t seem to find it. Could you be so kind as to where you got it from please.
I will be voting for Obama, but propaganda like this is just sad. It is easy for anyone with a computer to edit together fancy little videos like this, either taking the best or worst moments of a person and making them look bad.
I’ll bet we could find video of Charles Taylor or Bin Laden playing with children and probably handing food out to the poor. Does that mean that we should all band together and say that the two of them are good people?
Instead of using all of the great technologies we have today to make up skewed versions of the truth that fit out own personal views, perhaps we should try to use them for finding the truth and realities of the world.
Propaganda only promotes confusion in an already mislead populous.
Comment by Stevn Shoppman — September 9th, 2008 at 8:03 am #
I couldn’t agree more with Stevn’s take on this. It’s easy to take anything anyone says out of context and twist it to fit our own personal agenda. Surely nobody here is naive enough to believe that the same couldn’t be done to Obama, are they?
Comment by Ryan Hukill — September 9th, 2008 at 8:07 am #
And one more thing. Your site is pretty cool Jake.
Comment by Stevn Shoppman — September 9th, 2008 at 8:09 am #
Just because the video is propaganda-like in nature, doesn’t make its message any less true. FACT: John McCain does agree with George W. Bush on many, MANY key issues. This video is really just a fun way of saying that. The message behind it isn’t any less true.
The reason videos like this grab peoples attention is because people hear lines like “John McCain voted with bush 90% of the time” about 100 times a day now. So sometimes, to get the message across, you have to show them outright: “Look he clearly has similar policies as the republican administration that has been running Washington for 8 years, its time for an ACTUAL, REAL change.”
Technology frees us from the mundane and old school, that is why we all embrace it so much everyday. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.
Comment by Jake Marsh — September 9th, 2008 at 8:11 am #
Regardless of how the election turns out, I expect to see restrictions on political speech. McCain pushed for campaign finance “reform” – Obama is down with that as well. Obama goes further – his short career is filled with attempts to silence dissent. He sued to remove all his opponents in his first run in Illinois; he won his senate speech by getting sealed divorce records unsealed; while running this year, he’s tried to have ads that attack him shut down.
Both candidates prefer to have “our betters” manage speech for us. I find it amusing that so many people see Obama as something special; he’s another sleazy pol looking to shut us up and keep us in our place.
Comment by James Robertson — September 9th, 2008 at 8:12 am #
“he’s another sleazy pol looking to shut us up and keep us in our place.”
That’s quite a statement. I’m wondering what “our place” is that James refers to… Is James unhappy he is in the place he’s currently in? I’d say that our ability to produce, publish, share with the world and render judgment on the type of video shown here, just the freedom to be able to have the right to even view such a piece of “propaganda”, heck even the fact that we have a choice at all as to who leads our country, is a pretty good place to be in at all.
If you’re unhappy with the sleazy “pols” running our country, by all means run for office yourself and see if you can do things better. The nature of our leaders reflects the nature of our citizenry, if we elect corrupt leaders, doesn’t that say something about the American people more than it does the politicians themselves?
Obama’s not a savior, nor is McCain… neither one’s going to change America in any fundamental way, the path we’ve followed is of our own making, over decades, centuries, little can change based on who’s in the White House. Americans have to want to change, and frankly, I imagine most Americans are quite comfortable and content being in “the place” where they are.
Comment by Jason Welker — September 9th, 2008 at 8:23 am #
Our “place” is to take direction from our “betters” in government and media. McCain is certainly onboard with that philosophy – witness campaign finance “reform”. Obama is down with that idea as well, and seems to want to take it even further. He’ll likely go along with a restoration of the Fairness Doctrine, which will shutdown all manner of political speech.
Comment by James Robertson — September 9th, 2008 at 8:33 am #
“He’ll likely go along with a restoration of the Fairness Doctrine, which will shutdown all manner of political speech.”
@James Robertson – That’s just dumb. Saying things like that makes you sound immature and frankly, it makes you sound stupid.
Comment by Jake Marsh — September 9th, 2008 at 8:36 am #
Jake:
Pelosi and Reid both back such a return, as do many other members of the Democratic Caucus. Obama hasn’t held anything like a firm position on any issue, so it’s hardly dumb to assume he’d let his compatriots pass legislation they – and many of their backers – like.
If you think it’s “dumb”, please show me how.
Comment by James Robertson — September 9th, 2008 at 8:40 am #
@steven I’m with Jake here (kinda) – propoganda is never more powerful than truth, and never works unless there’s not truth behind it. most Dem’s think there’s some truth to this video, and I think it’s well composed to bring out the message.
Comment by brianlburns — September 9th, 2008 at 8:52 am #
To me something well composed convinces people by showing both sides of a story and convincing people of one side or the other.
Maybe I am just old fashioned, or maybe it is because I have seen the harmful effects of one sided stories around the world.
I propose that anyone who thinks that propaganda is a good way to get a point across read a history book and realize that propaganda has been one of the strongest and most negative influences of all time. One perfectly great example is the Crusades. Throw a book about an imaginary idea/savior to people and you can get them to join an army to kill loads of people.
The Crusades are an extreme example. However, if I was to show this video to my mother, who is currently likely to vote for McCain, it would only turn her off to the idea of voting for Obama. Of course McCain has similar views to Bush on some things, they are both Republican. If this video actually had some facts about why Obama is a better candidate, instead of only proving the reality that McCain is a Republican it might actually sway more minds instead of just reinforcing all of us who are already convinced.
Comment by Stevn Shoppman — September 9th, 2008 at 9:57 am #
@Stevn Shoppman – you are correct in that this video does little to show why Obama is a better choice than McCain. Thank you for pointing that out, I will do my best to post a new video soon comparing the two candidates on their views. However, I do not back down from saying that sometimes propaganda is necessary to rally people behind a cause. Not saying propaganda is always a good idea, but in this case it seems that many if not most Americans don’t take the time to research things for themselves, so if I want “my” candidate to win, I must do anything and everything I can do bring information about them to the masses.
Comment by Jake Marsh — September 9th, 2008 at 10:03 am #
While I agree with Stevn, I also see the value in videos like these. If someone takes the time to go back and look at this old footage and find the similarities, I applaud them. Jake makes a great point, “…most Americans don’t take the time to research things for themselves” This is something we can’t all do and don’t all have time to do. Regardless of presentation or intent the message is clear. McCain and Bush have similar views and similar intent. The same negative impact it might have in this video could show a positive spin for people who want to live in a Bush-like U.S. (God forbid) for the next 4 years.
Comment by Mike Wilton — September 10th, 2008 at 11:15 am #
Where did you get that awesome flash video player, I know it’s open source as I have seen it on another website before but in green but I can’t seem to find it. Could you be so kind as to where you got it from please.
Thank you.
Comment by Seb — December 18th, 2008 at 6:00 am #