Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

President Biden is doing good where he can, and getting it done.

Cancel the cowardly WaPo and set up an equivalent monthly donation to ProPublica.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

The republican speaker is a slippery little devil.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

The worst democrat is better than the best republican.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Putin dreamed of ending NATO, and now it’s Finnish-ed.

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Because of wow. / First They Came For the Orc Rogues

First They Came For the Orc Rogues

by | 131 Comments

This post is in: , ,

This is kind of bizarre. Apparently Republicans in Maine have decided to attack a Democratic candidate and DKOS participant for… playing World of Warcraft:

Maine state Senate candidate Colleen Lachowicz is not a witch.

She is, however, an orc assassination rogue with a potty mouth — and the Maine Republican Party believes that disqualifies her from public office.

In an unusual press release issued Thursday, the Maine GOP attacked Lachowicz for a “bizarre double life” in which she’s a devotee of the hugely popular online role-playing game World of Warcraft. In the game, she’s “Santiaga,” an “orc assassination rogue” with green skin, fangs, a Mohawk and pointy ears.

Lachowicz is a Democrat running against incumbent state Sen. Tom Martin in south-central Maine, a heavily Democratic district of about 80,000 people. Martin, elected in 2010, is the first Republican to hold the seat since the 1960s, and his seat is one Democrats are eager to flip back.

The guild in question is Wreck List on Garrosh, and it is a Daily Kos guild for the most part. The GM is a very sweet woman whose character is Dkosmama, a hunter. How do I know this? Well, because I am in Wreck List. I transferred my old UD mage that I used to just pvp with in 2008 or so over to just hang out and play casually. My toon’s name is Cankersore. And I can tell you, Wrekc List’s guild chat is the tamest environment I have been in since maybe doing leaf rubbings in pre-school.

What a truly bizarre avenue of attack- “YOU CAN’T ELECT HER, SHE PLAYS… VIDEO GAMES?” It’s like some shit out of Footloose.

To donate to her campaign, click here. Help a gamer dork out.

Reader Interactions

131Comments

  2. 2.

    beltane

    The Republicans tell me that if you play World of Warcraft backwards your computer will being to chant the Satanic mass in pig Latin. Is there any truth to this?

  7. 7.

    LT

    Seriously – isn’t this just dumb? I don’t play video games of any kind, almost never have as adult – but seriously, Aren’t there a REALLY LOT of Republicans on WoW?

  11. 11.

    dmsilev

    @LT: There are a lot of every type of person who plays WoW in particular, never mind video games in general. Something like 10 million people pay for subscriptions for the thing.

    That’s a respectable number for just about any hobby.

  12. 12.

    28 Percent

    At this point, we should all just be glad she’s an Orc rogue and not an undead warlock or shadow priest. ‘Cause that’s a flyer that goes to 11.

    The Act Blue link says the money won’t actually go to her campaign – what gives?

  14. 14.

    dmsilev

    @LT: Fair enough; I’m more a single-player type of gamer myself so I don’t really have a first-hand sense as to the demographics. The overall point still holds, that this is about as stupid an attack as “she builds model railroads in her basement!”.

  15. 15.

    Another Halocene Human

    Help me Balloon Juice, you’re my only hope.

    So my apt complex is encouraging us to decorate our doors for Halloween. I printed out a giant headshot of Romney and wrote up top “President Mitt Romney”. Then under his vacuous head I wrote: “Scared Yet? [BOO!] Happy Halloween!”

    I thought this was funny. My wife thinks the neighbors will think that not only are we Romney supporters but we’re race-baiting since our neighbors next door and catty corner are Black.

    I had to take the sign down but she says I can make a new one… if it’s CLEAR we don’t support RMoney.

    So… caption suggestions????

  17. 17.

    Califlander

    And one of the foreign service officers killed in Libya played Eve Online. Hmm … I sense a pattern here …

    DEMS GOT GAME!

  20. 20.

    LT

    @@Citizen_X: Because it’s called “World of Warcraft.”

    Just for starters. I mean it isn’t just a guess that Repubs are more into guns and shooting things and war – generally – than Dems.

    I am just guessing though.

  22. 22.

    D0n Camillo

    @amk:

    A heavily democratic district and yet a rethug won? Why? How?

    2010 was a great year for assholes in Maine. Just look who became governor.

  30. 30.

    El Cid

    I frequently find myself at a loss knowing that actual reality will soon be seen as some sort of fictional remembrance, that what passed into history was instead some sort of delusion. I imagine myself telling the assembled circle of young people around the fire, and having to say, ‘No, no, this was real, this really happened.’

  32. 32.

    max

    @Another Halocene Human: So my apt complex is encouraging us to decorate our doors for Halloween. I printed out a giant headshot of Romney and wrote up top “President Mitt Romney”. Then under his vacuous head I wrote: “Scared Yet? [BOO!] Happy Halloween!”

    I have to agree with your wife. People won’t get it the way you meant it.

    So, take a headshot of Romney, ink him in as a vampyre and write something like, ‘I already stole your candy, Moocher!’

    JC:What a truly bizarre avenue of attack- “YOU CAN’T ELECT HER, SHE PLAYS… VIDEO GAMES?” It’s like some shit out of Footloose.

    Dude. Those middle-aged people in the movie? They’re all like in their 70’s now, as are their real world avatars. (‘Barack Obama is gonna steal my medicare and give it to sluts and whores!’)

    It ain’t like Footloose, it IS Footloose.

    max
    [‘Have you made your sacrifice to Satan today?’]

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    As any WoW account can play up to 10 different characters, she may also have a cutesy pink-haired gnome priest who specializes in healing.

    That would not be a reason to vote for her any more than the ludicrous insinuation posited by her opponent’s party.

    That she has found an outlet she enjoys to relax and decompress is laudable, not laughable.

    It is no more of a “bizarre double life” than it would be if she played Bingo at church each and every week.

    Reminded of one of Mencken’s best quotes:

    Puritanism: the haunting fear that someone, somewhere is having a good time.

  35. 35.

    Johnny Coelacanth

    I renewed my subscription to WoW because of this. Ok, I would have renewed it anyway. Ok, I should have donated the money instead. Ok, I should have spent the money on something more important. Ok, I’ve spent far too much time and money on WoW anyway. Ok, I still need to buy Mists of Pandaria, but Wreck List here I come.

  36. 36.

    Corner Stone

    @El Cid:

    I imagine myself telling the assembled circle of young people around the fire, and having to say, ‘No, no, this was real, this really happened.’

    And then? What do you imagine next?

  41. 41.

    eemom

    How are you gonna make potato salad for the entire population of West Virginia if you keep posterating every five minutes?

  42. 42.

    Steve

    It seems to me that it might be bad politics to attack a local candidate in such a ridiculous way that they suddenly get national publicity. I have a funny feeling Santiaga might be about to have a good fundraising week.

  43. 43.

    NotMax

    @Another Halocene Human:

    Happy Halloween, takers.

    What, no Swiss chocolate?

    It has nothing whatsoever to do with Halloween, but I have to share another the image described prompted to mind:

    Houston, the Vulture has landed.

  44. 44.

    trollhattan

    Willard decides the 47% thing just isn’t him.

    In an interview Thursday night with Fox News, Romney was asked what he would have said had the “47 percent” comments come up during his debate in Denver on Wednesday night with President Barack Obama.
    __
    “Well, clearly in a campaign, with hundreds if not thousands of speeches and question-and-answer sessions, now and then you’re going to say something that doesn’t come out right,” Romney said. “In this case, I said something that’s just completely wrong.”
    __
    He added: “And I absolutely believe, however, that my life has shown that I care about 100 percent and that’s been demonstrated throughout my life. And this whole campaign is about the 100 percent.”

    http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/04/4883448/romney-on-47-percent-i-was-completely.html#storylink=cpy

    Thank you, mister iphone bartender dude.

  45. 45.

    SatanicPanic

    Here is the problem right here:

    she’s “Santiaga,” an “orc assassination rogue” with green skin

    Racists.

  48. 48.

    trollhattan

    @dmsilev: Didn’t think I could become any more cynical, but Willard is shoving me into unexplored territory. Don’t believe I’m a better person for it, either.

  51. 51.

    Marc McKenzie

    Huh–maybe if she was a CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE player they would have cut her some slack….

    ….But in all seriousness–WTF? I mean, look, the GOP has nothing left. Forget about Romney’s “win” last night–the POS lied his rear-end off and all the servile MSM can do is fellate him.

    The GOP has no real issues to campaign on. They are following a 30 year-old philosophy that has failed miserably. They cannot go for the real issues, and thus, they pull this nonsense.

    Fuck ’em. Make them pay in November, and enough talk about “sitting it out”.

  53. 53.

    trollhattan

    @amk:
    It’s late enough I wondered if I was hallucinating the article. To the question, “Does he really think we’re that stupid?” the red “yes” light just melted.

    GW Bush without the elegance.

  57. 57.

    Mike in NC

    I was stationed in Maine in 1981-1982 at Bath Iron Works during a ship’s overhaul. Liked the place.

  58. 58.

    Another Halocene Human

    @NotMax: I love that comment about Swiss chocolate!

    I think the “takers” line would also get the wifely veto.

  59. 59.

    handy

    Huh, these guys never hung out at Crossroads or IF AH on Llame server–those places were filled with wingnuts. Night elf hunters were usually a dead giveaway.

  61. 61.

    Another Halocene Human

    @arguingwithsignposts: If this lying, thieving, big-bird-killing douchebag doesn’t scare you, nothing will! Happy Halloween.

    I THINK WE HAVE A WINNER! Thank you, Balloon Juice!

  63. 63.

    Troy J

    Chuck Norris even did an ad for WoW. Does this make him a RINO or require him to engage in some sort of quest to defend his honor? Truly messing with the nerd/Norris axis brings dark magick.

  65. 65.

    Culture of Truth

    Pic of Romney on your door:

    “If you are middle class please leave 30% of your candy.”

    “If you are poor and lazy please leave half of your candy.”

    “If you are a millionaire job creator you may take the candy left by everyone else. Thank you.”

  66. 66.

    Another Halocene Human

    @D0n Camillo: Maine finally got around to switching from R to D (so did RI) and because ME also has rural teabagging crazee base, what Camillo said.

  68. 68.

    Higgs Boson's Mate

    Playing WoW = bizarre double life, but tap dancing in an airport men’s room, or hiking the Appalachian Trail, or dressing in a diaper and cavorting with prostitutes isn’t? The irony chip in my PC just blew out. The cognitive dissonance chip is using 100% of the CPU.

    I am now toying with the idea that what Republicans really want is for the rest of the country to validate their diseased mentality.

  72. 72.

    WaterGirl

    @Another Halocene Human: I still have a halloween card of Ronald Reagan sitting at his desk with a President Reagan nameplate.

    Caption read: “Happy Halloween. This was the scariest card I could find!”

  73. 73.

    Ronzoni Rigatoni

    @dmsilev: Or, his sister is a (gasp!) Thespian—A line actually used successfully against then-Senator Claude “Red” Pepper down here in sunny Florida a number of years ago.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    Kaplan Daily editorial board has unkind works about Willard.

    President Obama has no adequate plan to cope with the frightening level of debt the U.S. government is accumulating. Republican nominee Mitt Romney has a plan to make it worse.
    __
    To understand that harsh assessment, you have to spend a few minutes with some facts that Mr. Romney did his best to obscure Wednesday.
    __
    “First of all, I don’t have a $5 trillion tax cut,” he said.
    __
    In fact, Mr. Romney has proposed lowering income tax rates, abolishing the estate tax and making other changes that would cost $5 trillion over 10 years. When he says he has no such plan, he means that he intends to make up for the lost revenue by closing loopholes — what’s benignly known as “broadening the base.” Moreover, he says he can close so many loopholes for rich people that the middle class will end up paying less.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/romneys-ruinous-tax-plan/2012/10/04/191ed8f8-0e28-11e2-bb5e-492c0d30bff6_story.html?hpid=z5

  75. 75.

    Villago Delenda Est

    Someone needs to get all Deathwing on the assess of these Republican Troggs. They need to be beaten about the head and shoulders with clue by fours of “we can’t believe how stupid these twits are” by gnomes, dwarves, orcs, taurens, blood elves, night elves, and pandarans. Not to mention goblins, trolls, worgen, draenei, and humans.

  76. 76.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @trollhattan:

    My plan to attack the “crippling debt” is to tax the motherfucking shit out of every stockholder of Kaplan Daily Test Prep and their parent company, with special attention to trust funds set up for their vile spawn.

    Make these people ask “do you want fries with that?” for their rest of their lives.

  77. 77.

    MikeJ

    @Tractarian:

    Even better idea, instead print out a giant version of this.

    imgur had a dozen different “Romney killing/firing Big Bird” pics up today. This at a site where the whinging about anything the least bit political can be heard, uhm gee, from space doesn’t work here, that’s for things you can see and you can’t hear in a vacuum. Heard from a long distance? Kinda dull. Damn it.
    +?

  79. 79.

    WarMunchkin

    There are only four classes in MMOs: Tank, Healer, Nuke, and whatever.

    In an unrelated story, #dickwhisperer is at it again:

    Barack Obama received a valuable reminder in his drubbing at Wednesday night’s debate: He is a president, not a king.

  80. 80.

    JCT

    HAHAHAHAHA, apparently Romney just gave his Etch a Sketch a seizure by completely repudiating his 47% remarks on Hateful Hannity’s show. What a hopeless weasel. He probably expected Obama to challenge him on that and had this all ready.

  82. 82.

    Lyrebird

    I was hoping JC would address this bit of ridiculousness! Of course if she would just stick to hunting down flesh-and-blood creatures, there would be no criticism, right? (not meant as a crack against hunting but as a complaint about hypocrites.) Gah.

    and to Halocenes – I like the vampire-fangs idea, too!

  85. 85.

    JCT

    @MikeJ: I can just see him in front of the mirror practicing his “lines”.

    Meanwhile, if “stepping on your dick” was an Olympic sport Phelps would be jealous of Romney by now. He finally has a run of positive (albeit delusional) press coverage and he steps all over it by bringing up the 47% line while executing a double backflip. FAIL.

  87. 87.

    Bernard Finel

    I have to disagree with Cole here. While I would gladly support a WoW player — I am one myself. Had 6 max-level toons in Cata (priest, mage, warrior, druid, DK, and pally) — I can’t possibly support a huntard.

  88. 88.

    Cain

    All these games means that I am longing for Steam on Linux. Come on Valve, give it to me baby.. give me that L4D2 lovin..

  89. 89.

    MikeJ

    @burnspbesq:

    Does that line of Milbank’s actually mean something,

    Milbank was hoping Obama could claim droit du seigneur and take him on his wedding night.

  92. 92.

    WarMunchkin

    @burnspbesq: He thinks Obama didn’t talk to the press enough and [insert logic leap] is a bad debater as a result.

    Standard insufficient village worship rant.

  93. 93.

    danielx

    She is, however, an orc assassination rogue with a potty mouth — and the Maine Republican Party believes that disqualifies her from public office.

    Like that makes her a bad person.

    But if a Republican dresses up in an SS uniform, hey, it’s all in good fun because shut up, that’s why.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/10/why-is-this-gop-house-candidate-dressed-as-a-nazi/64319/#

    I mean, what with the dildos, wetsuits, wide stances and diapers (yeah, I’m looking at you, David Vitter) if they got rid of every Republican who has a rich fantasy life and/or walks on the wild side*, Congress wouldn’t have a quorum. You can ask Newton Leroy Gingrich, he’s an expert on the topic.

    *however that may be defined. Is hiking on the Appalachian Trail included? Oh, yes.

  95. 95.

    pinutos

    My god, this so fucking stupid.

    Santiaga was a founding member of the Wreck List and helped create an atmosphere that attracted professors of archaeology, anthropology and the law. Even reformed bushites.

    She doesn’t play on our server anymore and I miss her cries of ‘stabbie stabbie stabbie’ as we ran into another wipe very much. If there’s anyone that epitomizes democratic values more (both small and large d) I’ve never met them.

    This does have legs, by the way.

    http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/candidate-for-maine-state-senate-attacked-for-warcraft-character/

    http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/10/04/2217255/world-of-warcraft-character-becomes-campaign-issue

    http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ingame/republicans-out-democrat-world-warcraft-witch-hunt-6283586

    And don’t forget Chris Kluwe. You remember him, the guy with the ultimate takedown of ‘marriage protecters’ https://twitter.com/ChrisWarcraft

  96. 96.

    mai naem

    Okay, so the GOP have turned off blacks, Hispanics,gays,Muslims,single women, women who use contraceptives, students who get student loans, students who want to vote, public school teachers, auto workers, now video game players. Who’s left in the GOP coalirion

  97. 97.

    Another Halocene Human

    So, I saw on FB just now that someone had posted an image of the debate with the adage “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”

    Hmmmm.

  99. 99.

    Bnut

    HAAHAHHAHAH. I remember that both an old company commander and first sergeant in 3/1 both played WOW, (not to mention half the lower enlisted). Dyed in the wool Rethugs (great leaders though). I’d love to hear these a-holes in Maine call some Phantom Fury vets the things they called this lady.

  101. 101.

    Another Halocene Human

    @Yutsano: They’ve given up their dignity and self respect for a “traditional marriage” and that’s good enough for every other woman, too.

  102. 102.

    Bethanyanne

    @LT: I have played WoW for way too long. Mostly politics doesn’t come up. What little political chat I’ve heard is mostly people trolling the main chat channel, hoping to get some entertainment from the masses. There are plenty of young guys playing, and that demograph skews R, but there are 2 things keeping it from being a Repub zone. 1, WoW gets lots of other folk than stereotypical gamers to play. And 2, these really are, by and large, people that aren’t interested in politics. The average WoW player, if there is such a beast, is far more concerned with Justice points than anything in meatspace.

  106. 106.

    Aet

    As another member of Wreck List, I can tell you that this kind of stuff is not news. Been with em for years, best group I ever hung with, its a wonderful refuge full of friendly, happy, charming, funny people of all ages who just want to play a video game. Anyone who says anything bad about us is crazy.

    We’ve had our 15 minutes of fame already though.

  109. 109.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @Another Halocene Human:

    How about “If this doesn’t scare you, nothing will.”? “If you see this zombie coming, RUN! ! !” is a good one too.

    I thought your message was good, definitely not supportive.

  111. 111.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @trollhattan:

    I think it was smart of Obama to not mention the 47% subject, leaving it hanging out there to be mentioned again and again from all of the speculation as to why he didn’t mention it. Nothing like driving the news cycle a bit in a direction you want. The MittBot’s appearance on Faux Nooz tonight and the way Hannity asked the question made it clear that MittBot had his programmed response ready. Sadly he was denied his chance to use that part of his program script because Obama was smart enough to avoid triggering that program loop.

  114. 114.

    Calouste

    @danielx:

    And not just any SS, it was the Wiking Division, made up of turncoat traitors from Scandinavia and the Low Countries. But of course stabbing your own country in the back is natural behavior for some Republicans.

  115. 115.

    BruceK

    First they came for the Orcs. I wasn’t an Orc, so I didn’t speak up.

    Then they came for the Minmatar…

  116. 116.

    NotMax

    @mai naem

    Don’t know if you’re old enough to remember the Chad Mitchell Trio’s song “The John Birch Society.”

    As the lyrics in that snappy tune stated then (and readily applicable to the current GOP), “there’s no one left but thee and we and we’re not sure of thee.”

  117. 117.

    Nina

    I’ve raided with Santiaga. She hasn’t really played since Icecrown. But she taught me that the mage always dies first, unless it’s the rogue. She taught me that using the target dummies to practice rotations is a good thing. She helped talk me through downloading my first addon from Curse.

    She almost never PVP’d. She adores collecting pets. She and Tanah had a joke flirtation with Thrall going on. Her husband was our raid leader for a time – he was the one who took me by the hand and gently told me that if I wanted to raid I really ought to spec arcane or fire instead of frost, and maybe put a few enchants on my gear.

    I miss them. We saw them during Winter’s Veil last year, and we ha a brief visit last month when a few folks stomped on the Icecrown Beasts. And she’s been sharing the occasional door knocking report with us on the guild website.

    I really hope that this backfires on the Rthugs, that her vote share increases and that she sweeps into office amidst cries of ‘For the Horde!’. It would be sweet on any number of levels.

  118. 118.

    hep kitty

    Let’s see, if she were republican, they’d be fawning all over her just like Ryan for listening to Quiet Riot or whatever the fuck he claims to listen to while he is working out.

  119. 119.

    kindness

    Is she any good though? I mean in WoW. God knows it doesn’t take a Wizard to know almost any Democratic House member will be better than any Republican troll (and they are all trolls now, it’s enforced).

  120. 120.

    Nina

    Is Santi any good? We were nowhere near world’s first as a guild; we usually hover around server 4th – 6th. Santi was one of our better DPS. Her husband is an extremely good DK. We were a 2-3 nights per week raiding guild while Santi was active.

    My theory, stolen from a friend, is that the perfect raiding team must have at least one of every member of the Scooby gang. The raid leader is usually the Freddy, then there’s a Velma who looks up all the strategies, there’s a Shaggy who lets you know you’re all going to die, and a Scooby who’s there to do goofy things and keep the mood light. Santiaga was our Daphne; she noticed when people weren’t getting along or had other things on their mind and needed to talk.

    And teams don’t need Scrappy Doo they are an abomination unto the franchise.

  121. 121.

    SpotWeld

    It suddenly occurs to me, would the GOP opposition have thought this could work if the Dem canidate had been male?

  127. 127.

    Jado

    Not only this, but in Monopoly she plays…

    THE WHEELBARROW!!

    She is OBVIOUSLY going to cart us ALL over to SATAN!!!11!!

    We must stop her – somehow…

  128. 128.

    Aislan

    Santi was part of the original raiding team for Wreck List. I had a lovely time raiding with her….and Pinutos and Taymatt…and Nina….and Dkosmama.

    It was a sad day when Santi quit raiding with us. (Although I have also since quit raiding with WL)

    I hope she kicks that Republican ogre to the curb and leaves him crying into his useless attack pamphlets.

Comments are closed.

Trackbacks