August 19, 2014

Anti-Paul Ryan bookstore mischief.

This arrived in my email inbox:
Erica Payne erica@agendaproject.org via mail.salsalabs.net
3:01 AM (5 hours ago)

to me
Hi Ann,

Just a heads up, Paul Ryan's new book comes out today and his publisher is furious! It turns out that they accidentally shipped it with the wrong cover, and they need your help to make things right.

We have the correct cover and it's up to us to get it on as many of his books as possible, as soon as possible. The real cover is right here. Just print it out, take it to your nearest bookstore, and place it over the book jacket. Rep. Ryan is counting on us, let's not let him down!

Remember to email us at Erica@agendaproject.org with any pictures you take of the corrected covers, and share them on social media with the tag #SaveGranny. We'll let the publisher know you helped them out!

-ep

Erica Payne
Agenda Project Action Fund
At the link:



Here's the actual book (which you can buy at Amazon):



ADDED: The Agenda Project Action Fund was responsible for the ad — in the 2012 election — that showed Paul Ryan pushing a elderly woman off a cliff in a wheelchair:



AND:
What do you think of this in-store bookcover activism? (Check as many as you want.)
  
pollcode.com free polls 

FINALLY: If this discussion sounds a little familiar, you may be thinking of our recent discussion of Instagramming in-store activism in protest of the Hobby Lobby decision.

BEYOND FINALLY: I checked that hashtag at Twitter and found that it's already being used for all manner of non-Paul-Ryan-related things like this:

81 comments:

Insufficiently Sensitive said...

First class jerkitude, to say the least.

David said...

More clever than the usual jerkitude though. But might even result in more sales rather than less, which would be a classic backfire.

Birkel said...

This sort of political theater seems counter-productive. The people who participate will appear as children and very few onlookers will find the actions compelling.

It's a preaching to the choir activity.

Also, the perpetrators could be arrested for trespass or criminal mischief or some other misdemeanor. Why make life harder for the employees of the stores?

MadisonMan said...

I'd do this, but I'm too busy re-arranging blocks to spell out Birth Control For Everyone at Hobby Lobby.

Anonymous said...

This is a childish act. They should do like the Republicans in WI did and simply spit on those they disagree with. That gets the point across, quickly and efficiently, with no need to print out an email.

campy said...

Indict them! Indict them all!

Matt Sablan said...

I think the idea is OK, but anyone dumb enough to actually do it is walking a thin line. Rearranging books on insulting shelves is lame, but actually stealing book jackets and defacing other people's property [in this case, the book store's] is both lame and morally wrong.

Matt Sablan said...

As in: I think the parody insult is a classic one that can make a good point. But, sadly, people will think that doing this is actually a good idea.

Matt Sablan said...

"They should do like the Republicans in WI did and simply spit on those they disagree with."

-- Given the last accusation of Republicans spitting on people was never corroborated, even when money was offered for proof, you're going to have to substantiate your claims. Prove that this happened.

Alexander said...

I think it's fantastic to politicize other people's places of business. Nothing makes life more enjoyable like making every single part of the day an act of political calculation.

This is the sort of tyranny C.S. Lewis warned us about - the unwavering oppression of those who did it 'for our own good'. Give me a choice and I'd rather have Atilla the Hun - at least you only get fucked once, and you're not expected be grateful for it.

Scott M said...

Ryan could respond to that ad now with one featuring an Obama actor pushing an old man in military uniform off the same cliff, shoving a cyanide capsule in the veteran's mouth before shoving, and firing a full mag at the body as it drops. Then the actor would holster the weapon, pick up a golf bag and saunter off humming an Al Green tune.

garage mahal said...

Criminalization of politics is not a joke! Surely Democrats are behind this. Today wrong book covers shipped. Tomorrow we're all in camps.

Bob Ellison said...

I'm hopeful that most Americans recognize evil when they see it. This is evil. People who support it are lost. They can't be brought back.

Let them play their games, and don't join in.

rehajm said...

Just print it out, take it to your nearest bookstore, and place it over the book jacket.

What's a bookstore?

madAsHell said...

The Agenda Project Action Fund

Could they find a creepier name??

Matt Sablan said...

"Now this is where you argue that the "liberal media" made all that completely up, or that I need to prove there even is a "River Falls" in Wisconsin or some other silly wild goose hunt that you'll throw out there in order to divert attention from the facts of what actually happened in WI during the recall elections."

-- You've proven the accusations occurred. Prove it *happened* or was *proven to have happened.*

A conviction would do as proof, by the way.

Matt Sablan said...

I don't have that skewed a view. I have a logical view:

In the past, I have been lied to about spitting incidents and seen people vaguely accused of all sorts of terrible things -- with nothing ever proven or no convictions occurring. Therefore, I now request actual proof something HAPPENED, not just the ACCUSATION that something happened.

MayBee said...

I think it's fantastic to politicize other people's places of business. Nothing makes life more enjoyable like making every single part of the day an act of political calculation.

Exactly! Life is greatly enhanced when you stop allowing yourself and others to just go about life, and add the joy of political stress to every aspect of your day.
The real way to ruin your own pleasure is to imagine a penny falling into the hands of your political opponent.

David said...

And by the way, this is mainly a tactic for people with a lot of time on their hands. So it is a perfect lefty trick. Because we conservatives are nearly always busy with more productive stuff. Like commenting on blog sites.

Matt Sablan said...

What will be funny: When someone swaps the cover and someone else buys the book thinking it is a book insulting Paul Ryan.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

From their web site:

The Agenda Project Action Fund has received official IRS recognition of its tax exempt status under sections 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Henry said...

I would add one more answer to your question:

[ ] I remember junior high school.

Bob Ellison said...

madisonfella, outside of Wisconsin, the tall tale of conservatives spitting on liberals refers to this myth, not the one you seem to want to write about and that nobody outside of Wisconsin gives a damn about.

MayBee said...

The Agenda Project Action Fund has received official IRS recognition of its tax exempt status under sections 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Lois Lerner believes they are just practicing good clean nonpartisan fun!

madAsHell said...

I may be alone, but the link to the parody cover is broken.

Wince said...

Was this ad concept so successful in 2012 and relevant now that it deserved to be resurrected?

Does re-litigating the 2012 election really help Democrats?

Instead, does this stunt only serve to remind voters that except for all the bullshit, like this Granny Ad, they could have had Romney as president?

Anonymous said...

Statiscally, I've heard that engaging in such noble, mature behavior increases your chances tenfold of rape, sexual assault, racial profiling, capitalist oppression, violated personhood and patriarchal hegemony.

Now we see the violence inherent in the system.

Matt Sablan said...

"Does re-litigating the 2012 election really help Democrats?"

-- Reliving your victories is almost always good for morale.

Ambrose said...

People still read paper books - that they buy at bookstores? Isn't that nice.

Anonymous said...

"A conviction would do as proof, by the way"

So the lack of a murder conviction proves that OJ never killed anyone?

And Matt, can you prove you've been accused of spitting on people before? It sounds like a very convenient excuse for you to suddenly bring up.

Curious George said...

Paul Ryan should counter by loading up a bunch of grandchild aged kids, put them in strollers, and have Obama, Pelosi, and Reid push them off a cliff.

Danno said...

Most of the remaining small bookstores are in liberal enclaves, like the one owned by Garrison Keillor here in St. Paul, while the larger chains are in full retreat, so this sounds like a shoot yourself in the foot action. Besides, I am sure most of these will be ordered on Amazon.com and Althouse has a convenient link!

Tank said...

Went with number one since Mrs. Tank is one of those booksellers who have to clean up the mess. The usual mode is to turn books around or place them behind other books. Whenever a new Ann Coulter book comes out they get a few calls insisting that they not sell it (her boss, a liberal, says, "hey, I'm a bookseller").

Ann Althouse said...

"but actually stealing book jackets…"

The email says to put their cover over the regular cover, not to remove the regular cover and certainly not to steal it. But they may be creating a risk that someone might do it the wrong way.

the wolf said...

They should just burn the books like good fascists would

Matt Sablan said...

"So the lack of a murder conviction proves that OJ never killed anyone?"

-- Objection; the analogy is not at all analogous. In one, we have actual evidence to review and use to weigh the claims offered. In what you've provided, we merely have allegations with no evidence. The situations are not the same.

"And Matt, can you prove you've been accused of spitting on people before? It sounds like a very convenient excuse for you to suddenly bring up."

-- I'm sorry; I thought you were well read enough to be familiar with either of the famous cases of accusations of spitting that never materialized any proof. In the future, I'll do a better job providing notes so that my communication is clearer.

richard mcenroe said...

Yeah, that ad was funnier before Gramma lost her health plan and the exchange stuck her on Medicaid....

Curious George said...

"madisonfella said...

And Matt, can you prove you've been accused of spitting on people before? It sounds like a very convenient excuse for you to suddenly bring up."

Purple Penguin with the usual bullshit...take an accusation regarding the actions of a couple and declare it represents a whole group...follow that up with a delusional accusation against an individual.

Liberalism is a form of insanity.

Bob Ellison said...

Matthew Sablan said, "Reliving your victories is almost always good for morale."

This is correct, but nowadays the audience is large and unpredictable. Witness Mitt Romney's 47% remark. Someone is watching, and probably recording. You can't preach just to the choir, because someone in the choir is a mole.

More information and transparency are good for the republic. These things are probably not good for partisans who can't keep up with technology.

campy said...

"In the future, I'll do a better job providing notes so that my communication is clearer."

Or you could just ignore trolls.

richard mcenroe said...

Although to be fair, a more accurate book cover would show Paul Ryan helping Irish illegal immigrants wade ashore...

Gahrie said...

Isn't this of a piece with the indictment of Perry?

Henry said...

The email says to put their cover over the regular cover, not to remove the regular cover and certainly not to steal it. But they may be creating a risk that someone might do it the wrong way.

My project will be a book jacket entitled "Steal This Book Jacket" for activists to put over Abbie Hoffman reprints.

Larry J said...

There are people whose entire lives are consumed by politics. Everything they say and do revolves around their political beliefs. They don't care how boring they are to everyone else. They attempt to browbeat into submission anyone who disagrees with them. I call them political whores. May they all rot in an especially unpleasant corner of Hell alongside whomever it was that screwed up the user interface on Microsoft Office 2007 and beyond.

Ron said...

I wonder if there's a Democrat running for the WH who didn't pick up the phone at 3AM when her ambassador was getting killed and lied about his (and others!) deaths right over their coffins...

and has a book out....

who would that be?

Michael said...

These people are such children! This belongs in the same class as the Perry indictment. Much of the Left no longer even tries to think about things and make arguments; they simply play juvenile tricks and have tantrums.

William said...

Ryan should own the charge. Perhaps a picture of him wheeling Nancy Pelosi away from the Obamacare Botox Center would be appropriate. But perhaps such a picture could be construed as a microaggression or even cultural appropriation. Botox injections are one of the sacred rites of passage of wealthy Californians and should not be mocked by outsiders.

Brennan said...

Sounds like cause for a RICO investigation. Let's ask the National Organization for Women if they concur.

Curious George said...

madisonfella said...

Now this is where you argue that the "liberal media" made all that completely up, or that I need to prove there even is a "River Falls" in Wisconsin or some other silly wild goose hunt that you'll throw out there in order to divert attention from the facts of what actually happened in WI during the recall elections.

I don't blame you for having an extremely skewed viewpoint. Like most commentators you got all your information from this very blog and the reporting was extremely slanted and one-sided."

LOL Penguin refers to "the Republicans in WI" and comes up with one person in River Falls, and two people in Barnevald. Yep, three people in bumblefuck WI represent "the Republicans in WI".

And he says Althouse was "extremely slanted and one-sided."

Psychotic.

Anonymous said...

Yes they're advocating the defacement/destruction of others property. So they're admitting they want to perform a criminal act.

Re: Madisonfella's 'logic'. Clearly madisonfella's a child molester. After all, he's now been accused of being one, and, by his standard, that accusation alone is enough to make it true.

By his standards.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I think Ms Payne should be indicted for conspiracy to commit trespass and theft.

It would be a very fitting charge.

I'm Full of Soup said...

Erica Payne is rarity for a librul woman because she is very good looking.

It is a shame she is so dumb.

Brando said...

This is how people think inside the coccoon. It's not about changing minds, or coming up with ideas, or actually achieving anything to advance your goals--it's about the primal scream, the feel good bit of nastyness, that comes from believing you've insulted your "enemies". It pleases only others in the cocoon and makes you look at best childish and at worst a thug, depending on how far you go.

Does any of these idiots ever think "gee, maybe instead of making Paul Ryan look bad, we're actually making ourselves look like jerks for screwing with merchandise at bookstores which are already suffering, and making more trouble for their employees?" I doubt it.

Good for Ryan, though--any free press for his book is welcome. And if I were the sort who bought those sort of books I'd try and get one with the fake cover on it as a collector's item.

Seeing Red said...

So they want you to spend your electricity, ink, paper gas and time so they can feel good about themselves and stick it to the man?

Childish.

Humperdink said...

I noticed choice #3 "It's a clever application of free speech and social media" received 12 votes.

Really? Defacing someone's private property is free speech? You've gotta love the commie-pinko liberal mindset.

Hagar said...

madAsHell,
You are not alone, but we may be the only ones with Google accounts.

MadisonMan said...

I did not see the Ryan/Grandma/Cliff ad in 2012. Not impressed, so Thanks (?) for letting me see it today.

Matt Sablan said...

MadAsHell: I just needed to refresh my browser to see the image.

n.n said...

Ryan should file a slander suit against APAF. The bookstore owner should request a criminal mischief investigation of APAF. Not even as children is such juvenile behavior considered remotely acceptable. APAF's actions should not be permitted to set a precedent for tolerated, let alone normalized, behavior. Where are the parents?

Oh, well. It's just politics conducted in the APAF clinic. It's a choice.

CatLover said...

Isn't it illegal to incite people to commit crimes?

Birches said...

Link worked for me. And it's pretty funny, but I don't see how that helps their cause. Would anyone take that seriously?

Rusty said...

I put this in the category of the college professor that advocated walking out of a resturant without paying when someone open carrying is served.
Stupid, childish and illegal.
If you disagree with Pual Ryan write your own goddamn book.
But that would be too much work.

Peter said...


Sometimes I suspect that part of the reason many began buying books from Amazon was to avoid the inevitable sneer (and occasional comment) from store employees when one bought the "wrong" book.

But, changing the cover to indicate what a book "really" means? How arrogant, to decide the book (and its author) can't speak for itself.

Besides, if you don't care for what a store is selling then why not just form a flash mob and trash the place, or perhaps rough up the owner or employees? Or at least hide books you don't like under a pile of remainders, or "cleverly" re-shelve non-fiction in the fiction section.

Yes, I know: fake covers aren't that extreme. But the message is the same: put obstacles between the books you don't like and those who might read them. Because, after all, you just know what people should and should not be reading.

Unknown said...

How tolerant of them. Whatever.

Fernandinande said...

showed Paul Ryan pushing a elderly woman off a cliff in a wheelchair

It couldn't be the same people because the real APAF tells the troof!

"The Agenda Project Action Fund is a progressive policy organization ....

To accomplish our mission we tell Americans the truth - about elected officials, multi-national corporations, ..."

Anonymous said...

Matthew said...
Yes they're advocating the defacement/destruction of others property. So they're admitting they want to perform a criminal act.

Re: Madisonfella's 'logic'. Clearly madisonfella's a child molester. After all, he's now been accused of being one, and, by his standard, that accusation alone is enough to make it true.
------------------------------------

I've been hearing those rumors about that Madisonfella molester for a long time.
Thanks for confirming them. Now where ever he goes the 'truth' will follow him.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

Pretty funny actually. And it has a bit of self-parody that the Left is usually too stupid or smug to manage.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

It is characteristic of liberals to think that satire is somehow a substitute for analysis.

Quaestor said...

The Movement knows all about this black propaganda. The Movement knows how to deal with bad actors. Ryan just needs to nod their way and the Agenda Project Action Fund will never be seen on the web again.

BTW, you may notice that Althouse's link to the "book cover" is broken. That's because of a DoS operation that's already under way.

Saint Croix said...

This part is funny...

Just a heads up, Paul Ryan's new book comes out today and his publisher is furious! It turns out that they accidentally shipped it with the wrong cover, and they need your help to make things right.

This part is creepy...

We have the correct cover and it's up to us to get it on as many of his books as possible, as soon as possible. The real cover is right here. Just print it out, take it to your nearest bookstore, and place it over the book jacket.

I don't see this as an attack on "private property." It's more like an attack on free speech itself. Instead of organizing a book-burning they are organizing a book-defacing.

hstad said...

I don't understand Prof. Althouse, isn't this - encouraging the criminal abuse of property? Would other attorney's comment of this!

hstad said...

Are these 'liberal activist' organizations run by adolescents?

rehajm said...

Someone's getting kicked off the email list.

amie lalune said...

madisonfella spit on me the other day. He spits on me every chance he gets. Why would you believe anything that spitter says? Ann, you should ban all accused spitters.

Anonymous said...

And without a hint of irony, several years from now they will be smoking their dope and drinking their beer and asking each other, "What ever happened to bookstores?"

Dan Hossley said...

More adolescent behavior from progressives. Doesn't this sound like something the White House or State Department would do?

Anonymous said...

@Curious Birkel: just how many people do you think I am? Last week you accused me of being Inga, months ago you were calling me Fred, before that you had "proof" I was Garage Mahal, and now you're starting to call me Purple Penguin too? What is really funny is that I don't even know who half those people are. But that isn't nearly as funny as how you had a total meltdown over others making generalizations, and then end your little tantrum with a generalization about others. As others have pointed out many times before, no matter what sockpuppet you're using you're still a no-class hypocrite.

@Matthew: This whole there is proof only when there is a conviction theory is really cute, but not based in reality at all. But you keep living in your fantasy world where no Republican anywhere at anytime ever says a cross word, let alone spit, on someone they disagree with. I'm sure it gives you great comfort to remain deluded as such.

Anonymous said...

This kind of disrespectful childishness, I have come to believe, exposes how the left REALLY feels about working class and working poor people. Disdain and disregard.

Jack Klompus said...

"Criminalization of politics is not a joke! Surely Democrats are behind this. Today wrong book covers shipped. Tomorrow we're all in camps."

I can't imagine going through life being as stupid and pointless as you.

Anonymous said...

Note how madisonfella doesn't like it when his own standard is applied to him.

So much so that the child molestor (again, by his own standard he has admitted to being one) has to actually not cite his own logic in his attempt to reply.

Must come from him not used to dealing with adults.

Hyphenated American said...

"
@Matthew: This whole there is proof only when there is a conviction theory is really cute, but not based in reality at all. But you keep living in your fantasy world where no Republican anywhere at anytime ever says a cross word, let alone spit, on someone they disagree with. I'm sure it gives you great comfort to remain deluded as such"

By the same token, do you live in fantasy world where no democrat anywhere at anytime ever said a cross word, let alone spit on someone they disagree with?