Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

Everybody saw this coming.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

People are weird.

Stamping your little feets and demanding that they see how important you are? Not working anymore.

There are a lot more evil idiots than evil geniuses.

Fucking consultants! (of the political variety)

Prediction: the gop will rethink its strategy of boycotting future committees.

Donald Trump found guilty as fuck – May 30, 2024!

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Dumb motherfuckers cannot understand a consequence that most 4 year olds have fully sorted out.

Speaker Mike Johnson is a vile traitor to the House and the Constitution.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

Humiliatingly small and eclipsed by the derision of millions.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

You cannot shame the shameless.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

Giving up is unforgivable.

They are not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

You are here: Home / Politics / Political Action / If Wishes Were Fishes (Open Thread)

If Wishes Were Fishes (Open Thread)

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If wishes were fishes, we would have had pithy signs like this everywhere in the run-up to Nov 2024 elections.

If Wishes Were Fishes

Not just on social media.  But everywhere in real life.

Bathrooms.  Bulletin boards, taped to lamp posts.  Did I say everywhere?

So let’s come up with some ideas for printed signs now.  Can we do that?

We talk about campaigning year-round, all the time, let’s do some of it old school.

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  • Baud
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    98Comments

    2. 2.

      Old School

      We talk about campaigning year-round, all the time, let’s do some of it old school.

      All right, let’s do it!

      Oh, you didn’t mean me specifically,

      Reply
    7. 7.

      WaterGirl

      Seriously, though, I think we should come up with some ideas, design them, and share the files so everyone can print the ones they want.

      Reply
    8. 8.

      Baud

      @WaterGirl:

      There are posts on Blue sky that circulate memes. Some are better than others.

      I feel like things that would appeal to me wouldn’t be very good messaging for the people who need to be reached.  But if I think of anything, I’ll share.

      Reply
    10. 10.

      WaterGirl

      We are smart people. We should be able to break things down to their simplest point – to plant a seed in someone’s mind.

      Reply
    11. 11.

      strange visitor (from another planet)

      @WaterGirl: just sent you another one that would be easier on the ink.

      i just figure the similarities to the classic hope poster would really irritate just the right people on that pedo one.

      Reply
    18. 18.

      Lapassionara

      @Baud: I like that idea. Or what about some grocery price comparisons.

      Like price of eggs on Jan. 20, 2025 and now. Or gasoline, or whatever else has gone up in price.

      Reply
    29. 29.

      WTFGhost

      @Baud: I got to use a mimeograph machine, and a dot matrix printer, to make up for my atrocious handwriting. (In fact, some people called it “multi-trocious” and not simply *a* trocious.)

      I was pretty impressed with the output, except for the obvious mimeograph blue look and feel/smell.

       

      @strange visitor (from another planet): I do think that’s perfect, especially because it plants the barb – whether it’s fury they would dare call him that, or the understated fear that he sure is acting guilty about Epstein

      Reply
    36. 36.

      strange visitor (from another planet)

      @WTFGhost: oh, he’s SO acting guilty. like, “holy telltale heart, batman!” edgar allan poe levels of acting guilty.

      Reply
    39. 39.

      Trollhattan

      Deep breaths.

      A new CNBC poll finds there was a modest rise in the public’s preference for the Democrats to control Congress, rising to a 49% to 44% advantage from 48% to 46% in April.

      It was the largest lead for Democrats since 2021.

      Reply
    43. 43.

      bbleh

      I could see some just to tarnish the brand.

      TRUMP CHEATED ON ALL 3 WIVES.
      REPUBLICANS THINK THAT’S FINE.
      WHAT’S WRONG WITH REPUBLICANS?

      EPSTEIN ABUSED TEENAGERS AND CHILDREN.
      TRUMP CALLED HIM A “GREAT GUY.”
      HE WON’T RELEASE THE FILES.
      WHAT’S WRONG WITH REPUBLICANS?

      EPSTEIN ABUSED TEENAGERS AND CHILDREN.
      SPEAKER MIKE WON’T ALLOW HEARINGS.
      WHAT’S WRONG WITH REPUBLICANS?

      Could probably put some AI app to work on this …

      Reply
    45. 45.

      Sure Lurkalot

      I’m totally on board with the sticker idea. I would be happy to pitch in with printing and distribution.

      Reply
    49. 49.

      HinTN

      We always want to jump into details and long form shit. NA GA WORK. Keeping it simple and direct is the key. That PEDO graphic meets that need.

      Reply
    52. 52.

      Nancy

      @WaterGirl:

      Someone has painted “Trump is a pedo” on a railroad bridge over the expressway that I drive to work.

      Seeing that message warms my heart. Watergirl is right, but the ink might be worth the cost.

      Reply
    55. 55.

      zhena gogolia

      @Nancy: Someone on my street has “NO ONE IS SAFE WITHOUT DUE PROCESS.” Maybe it’s too sophisticated, but it cheers me up to drive by.

      Reply
    57. 57.

      Sure Lurkalot

      What could possibly go wrong with AI imbedded in everything we do?

      “GPT-5 is the first time that it feels like talking to an expert in any topic — a Ph.D.-level expert,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said.

      ChatGPT5 is asked “how many bs in blueberry?”

      Answer:

      The word blueberry has three “b” letters:

      B at the start
      b in the middle (blueberry)
      b right after that (bluebberry)

      Looks like blueberries don’t just double down on flavor, they double down on bs too.

      Do you want me to count uppercase and lower case separately or treat them the same?

      bsky.app/profile/jaspar.bsky.social/post/3lvtlof7fz22d

      Reply
    60. 60.

      WaterGirl

      @raven:  We’ll do a post if you’re up for it.

      Send me a writeup about the trip and photos and if you put video on youtube, i can embed that.

      Reply
    73. 73.

      Sister Golden Bear

      @WaterGirl: Not gonna work.

      Back in graphic design school, the rule of thumb for designing a  billboard is you needed get the main message across for a driver 30 yards away, driving 30 mph.

      Key message on a poster (e.g. name of the venue for a band poster) should be understood by someone walking by three yards away at 3 mph.

      Any additional details (e.g. ticket prices, door/show times) readable at 3 feet away.

      In other words, for the short of things you’re suggesting, think bumper sticker length not treatises.

      Reply
    74. 74.

      WaterGirl

      @Sister Golden Bear: I’m thinking exactly that.  Like the sign in the image up top.

      Not thinking bumper stickers, but 8 x 11 or stickers that could be placed all sorts of places.

      EVERYTHING IS MORE EXPENSIVE NOW.

      TRUMP DID THAT.

      .

      CITIZENS BEING GRABBED OFF THE STREET.

      THAT COULD BE ME.  OR YOU.

      .

      TRUMP SIDED WITH THE CHILD TRAFFICKERS.

      IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT YOUR KIDS TO LEARN?

      Reply
    75. 75.

      Sister Golden Bear

      @Sister Golden Bear: Example, there’s a billboard near me that has a big image of a cat, with the following text:

      Cats have nine 9 lives
      You only have one
      Something, something about not driving recklessly

      Not effective because there’s too much to read, especially when you’re on the freeway. Should be more like:

      Cats: 9 lives
      You: 1
      Drive safely

      Or if you wanted to be fancy add: “Drive like your one life depends on it” as secondary text.

      Reply
    78. 78.

      Sister Golden Bear

      @WaterGirl: A simple strong image definitely helps. It’s what makes the “pedo poster” effectively.

      The trick is that the image can’t overpower the text, and a striking image often requires minimal text, so that the text and image don’t compete with each other.

      So for your examples, one approach would be to use an image that communicates the first sentence. E.g.

       

      • “Everything is too damn expensive”
        Image: Grocery basket filled with items, or a hamburger, other whatever items have hot button price increases etc.
        “Trump did that”
      • Image: ICE goons grabbing someone off the street
        “That could be me. Or you.”
      • Image: Photo of Trump, Epstein and Maxwell with young girls
        “Protecting sex traffickers, not victims”
      Reply
    79. 79.

      Geminid

      @WaterGirl: I’m not sure if this would make a suitable poster but Curtis Sliwa, the Republican candidate for New York Mayor, got off a good zinger in a recent interview.

      Beside the harrassment issue, another line of attack on Cuomo are his Covid policies regarding moving hospital patients to nursing homes. Some say they resulted in unnecessary deaths.

      So Sliwa says::

           And then there’s Andrew Cuomo, slapping fannies and killing grannies.

      This made me think that Sliwa won’t drop like the stop-Mamdani forces want him to. He’s having too much fun.

      Reply
    81. 81.

      strange visitor (from another planet)

      @zhena gogolia: it was me, but i borrowed it from colbert. the fat orange fascist doesn’t respect anyone, i don’t respect him enough to use his real name.

      Reply
    83. 83.

      hueyplong

      @Baud: He would if he could find it nowadays.

      bbleh’s thought about AI might work.  Maybe AI can dumb down “our” message to the point that we can get a majority.

      Reply
    87. 87.

      RC

      Dear Watergirl and by extension- commentator, Stinger.

      I wanted to let you know that I shared Stinger’s comment on Dem messaging from Aug 4 post on Simon Rosenberg’s Hopium substack chat today.  I gave Stinger credit and linked back to the Aug 4 Balloon Juice post.

      [edited because I wasn’t sure how much of this you wanted to be public.]

      Reply
    98. 98.

      Nick

      We Told You So!
       
      Some (calling out Dearborn, MI and other locales) believed that Kamala Harris was not “pure enough” on Gaza.  Other so-called “Independents” thoughtlessly believed Fat Donnie would be better for the economy.  To those and many others, not only do I say “We Told You So!” but I made t-shirts and sell them on Etsy.  (Please note I am not trying to sell my shirts.  There are others on Etsy who offer “Resistance” shirts and hats should you be interested).
       
      I believe pushing memes is a way to have messages sink in over time.  Simple messages that will change the narrative.

      “If You Can Be Convinced of Absurdities, You Can Be Convinced To Commit Atrocities”  Voltaire

      Gulf of Mexico!  (with map)

      The Road To Authoritarianism Is Littered With People Telling You You’re Overreacting

      Republicans–Pro-Life Until Birth

      It takes time for messages to resonate so I agree with the sentiment that the time to push is NOW!

      Reply

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