१२ जुलै, २०२२

"Politics right now in the world is all kinds of crazy, and I feel like the creature that I drew kind of resembles the craziness of politics and the world right now."

Said Hudson Rowan, 14, who entered the Ulster County competition to design the new "I VOTED" sticker, quoted in "What Has 6 Legs, 2 Eyes and 158,500 Votes? This 'I Voted’' Sticker. 'This is how we all feel about politics right now,' a Twitter user wrote of one submission for a New York county’s 'I voted' sticker design contest" (NYT). 

   
It's a voting sticker and they put it up for a vote — along with 5 other submissions from teenagers. You can see them all here. The rest are respectfully sedate, reflecting the concept of voting as a civic duty. In the predictable style of internet voting — need I say "Boaty McBoatface"? — the wild-eyed voter-insect has 93% of the vote.

An "I VOTED" sticker is supposed to reinforce the values of democracy. You walk around on Election Day in your city or town, and you see your neighbors wearing their stickers, and you think — they want you to think — these are all good people, doing their best, hoping, working, coming together to select our representatives. Surely, they read the newspapers, they talked earnestly and openly with one another and thought deeply about what we need as a group, and they made the effort to arrive at their polling place and to do their little part, contributing to the welfare of the community.

But that's not the message with Hudson Rowan's "I VOTED" guy. You see that sticker and you think something more like: Oh, my God, everyone's nuts and we're trusting them to pick the lunatics who will govern us!

But I salute Hudson Rowan. He didn't just follow the assignment. He transformed it. And he got out his own message — a message worth thinking about, scaring us about democracy.

५७ टिप्पण्या:

Narayanan म्हणाले...

only if the insect shown as leaving random droppings [a la flyspecks] on the 'ballot' that count as chosen by /voter/

Kevin म्हणाले...

That’s pretty much how people see those proudly wearing their “I Voted” stickers.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

And I just voted for that drawing.

tim maguire म्हणाले...

Yes, I immediately thought of Boaty McBoatface and, haven't they learned? But you make a good point that this sticker, unlike Boaty, actually makes a solid and valuable point--"Oh, my God, everyone's nuts and we're trusting them to pick the lunatics who will govern us!"

Which is how many people, especially the ironically named "Democrats"--see democracy.

Enigma म्हणाले...

I want them to have the psycho spider crawling over the capitol dome in the 'respectful' Wendy Stewart sticker. Then we'll have a science fiction plot to explain the crazed voters. You see, they were affected by nuclear/chemical/political contamination and mutated into spider creatures that attacked D.C.

If not random contamination: "The U.S. Surgeon General recommends that you contact your transgender conversion doctor for a furry spider body mod. Following this, the Department of Justice officially directs you to protest the end of national abortion law by climbing the buildings in D.C. It's the logical way to make things happen in 2022. Huzzah!"

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

Why wouldn't you throw a firecracker into a corny contest for an "I voted" sticker? Kudos to the county for their selection of contestants.

Boaty McBoatface forever. And Isambard Kingdom Brunel was the second greatest Englishman of all time.

Howard म्हणाले...

Absurd sarcastic iconoclastic funny. Anything else, but not scary. In fact, it makes fun of the social media scare inflation mongers.

John henry म्हणाले...

So if the final vote is that high for the spider, will it be chosen?

Or will this become another mockery of democracy? With experts who know better.

I've got a dollar that says it wins but is not chosen.

See Boaty McBoatface, HMCS Uganda

John LGBTQBNY Henry

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"scaring us about democracy"

Correction: "our democracy."

DINKY DAU 45 म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Temujin म्हणाले...

This is the funniest thing I'll see all day. I love it. I think the 14 year old nailed it.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

Not a spider. An insect. 6 legs.

John henry म्हणाले...

I went to see the other entries and found that I could vote even if not in ulster County.

So I voted for the cool sticker.

John LGBTQBNY Henry

rehajm म्हणाले...

I've got a dollar that says it wins but is not chosen.

I was motivated enough to come and say that...

The people have spoken. It is now time for their betters and the 'experts' to save the people from themselves...

Breezy म्हणाले...

Love the drawing. I can see swapping out “I voted” for various messages from both sides: “Roe Overturned!”, “I was misgendered!”, “Insurrection at the Capital!”, “Invasion at the Border!”, etc. We love our drama.

Quayle म्हणाले...

Reelect no one! Everyone must go. Both parties. Not one incumbent should be enabled to win.
And just to make sure we get the point across, the next batch - the batch of newbies we vote in this time - should be summarily thrown out the next election, just because. Just to make the point. Then maybe we'll have their attention.

gilbar म्हणाले...

Ann Althouse said...
Not a spider. An insect. 6 legs.

Maybe the spider is handicapped? What ARE You? An ablist? Injured spiders are spiders TOO!!
Definition of a Spider: One that Identifies as a Spider.

MarkW म्हणाले...

In the late 60's when Ann Arbor opened a new high-school, they let the students nominate and vote for the new mascot. The school was built near the Huron River, and the students came up with 'River Rats'. Supposedly the administration cancelled the results of the first election, struck 'River Rats' from the ballot and re-ran it -- only to have 'River Rats' win via a write-in campaign, and the name has been around ever since. Though the young lady Rats, at some point, found this too distasteful and go by the 'Stars' ('Rats' backwards -- sort of). When Ann Arbor opened it's 3rd high school about 15 years ago, they did not allow such tomfoolery and ended up, lamely, with 'Eagles' for the 3rd school.

gilbar म्हणाले...

here's a modest proposal.
instead of I voted stickers..
When a person comes to the polls to vote, their right index finger is inked purple.
IF a person's finger is ALREADY purple, obviously they've already voted and Can NOT vote again.
Mail In Votes? Absentee Ballots? Not sure how those would work within purple plan
We were PROUD to impose THIS plan on iraq.. Are you implying we're BETTER than iraqis?

TVOAT म्हणाले...

This calls for a nice refreshing bottle of Hitler Did Nothing Wrong Dew

narciso म्हणाले...

alien ants, or delos androids, *brain dead or westworld,

Bob_R म्हणाले...

Government is just a word for the things we do together ... under threat of confiscation, imprisonment, violence, or death.

Finally an "I Voted" sticker I would wear.

Lurker21 म्हणाले...

The Atlantic is telling us to "Make Politics Boring Again." That's quite a shift from "Rendezvous With Destiny," "The New Frontier," "The Great Society," "Keep Hope Alive," "The Man From Hope" "Hope and Change" and "The Fundamental Transformation of America" to what? The Status Quo? Managed, Slow Decline? If the alternative to "crazy politics" is "Shut Up and Do What Your Leaders Tell You To Do" do we really want boring politics?

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

that's a picture of the bug that lives in the minds of people who are happy with Biden.

Joe Smith म्हणाले...

'Not a spider. An insect. 6 legs.'

A spider down on his luck might have only 6 legs.

Or maybe he's a spider pirate; a spirate.

Gusty Winds म्हणाले...

They should design and "I Voted" sticker you can place on your loved ones grave here in Wisconsin after they cast and absentee ballot and and angel of the Lord puts it in a drop box right next to a mailbox downtown Madison, WI.

John Holland म्हणाले...

During a vacation to the Ancestral Homeland (aka Liverpool) we did a tour of the Birkenhead shipyard where "Boaty McBoatface" was getting its final outfitting. They told us there was no way that thing was leaving the yard with such a stupid name; it was either RRS Attenborough or something else. And Attenborough it was.

John Henry re: HMCS Uganda -- yes, that's a story we Canucks have largely forgotten: the tale of the sailors who voted themselves out of the invasion of Japan, as a "fuck you" to the cowardly politicians in Ottawa who were cynically trying to save their worthless asses after a series of conscription scandals.

I have a problem with the "winning" button, but I have to think about it more before I can express it clearly. It feels like another symptom of the utter, complete failure of our leadership "class" to keep and pass on anything worthwhile to the next generation. But maybe that's just old, misanthropic me.

Diamondhead म्हणाले...

Insect politics?

Nancy म्हणाले...

Nope, not an insect. No thorax, no abdomen. Closer to a spider.

My family used to play 20 questions to identify "people", quite loosely interpreted. Could be characters in books we had all read, but "is he real?" was sometimes impossible to answer, e.g. King Arthur. One stumper was EB White's Charlotte. The questioners went off track when they determined it was a non human fictional creature but not an insect.

wendybar म्हणाले...

I have voted in EVERY election since I turned 18 many moons ago, and have YET to EVER get an I voted sticker at any of the polling places I have ever voted in. I have lived in two different states.

Unknown म्हणाले...

It looks like a bacteriophage. And it’s going viral.

DINKY DAU 45 म्हणाले...

"Since we don't control the air our good air decided to float over to China's bad air so when China gets our good air, their bad air got to move. So it moves over to our good air space. Then now we got we to clean that back up."

That's one way to put it... This was the guy from Georgias statement not Russia ,China, Hes got me very confused also. Too many hits to the head. LOGO still valid for todays groupings.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

When all the mail-in-voting is counted, the bug will lose.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

vote harvest drop boxes everywhere! or - show no mercy!

TA म्हणाले...

This is just fucking brilliant. I have high hopes for this kid.

TA म्हणाले...

Re my comment above: about the high hopes -- I mean it seriously. Fourteen years old, and he's willing to get way out there on his own. Also, the image is fantastic, but that's not the best of it.

Kate म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Kate म्हणाले...

I should've read the earlier posts.

"We are not tacos" and this drawing. Paper the town!

Clyde म्हणाले...

I’ll bet it gets 81 million votes.

Fred Drinkwater म्हणाले...

Lurker21,
Now you've done it. You made me cry.
RIP: National Geographic, Scientific American, The Atlantic, Newsweek

MadisonMan म्हणाले...

I have never worn an "I Voted" sticker. I think they're ridiculous. I agree with Kevin I guess.

Narr म्हणाले...

I read Hudson as a guy's name; not sure about Shafil or Kaden.

Good to see that the Great American Smartass still lives and thrives.

Narr म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
wildswan म्हणाले...

I voted for Hudson Rowan
and sent in five magical mail-ins for the run-off. Each mail-in generates five more and then those, more, sort of like a Ponzi scheme. Only it's the last one in the chain, the politician who wins, who gets rich. Go Hudson.

Scott Patton म्हणाले...

"Politics right now in the world is all kinds of crazy"
As usual.

Narr म्हणाले...

I had forgotten about my own little civics lesson in the 9th grade. We held a straw poll for mayor (I think) and I wrote in Omar the Tentmaker.

Mrs. Bronaugh didn't like that one little bit. I don't recall getting mashed between the classroom door and wall, which was her usual punishment. I think she just kept me after for a few days.

RNB म्हणाले...

Take your "I Voted!" sticker and slap it on gravestone.

Michael K म्हणाले...

Blogger Ann Althouse said...

Not a spider. An insect. 6 legs.


We had a tarantula in the bedroom on the wall last spring. I didn't stop to count the legs. We scooted him/her out with the broom and he walked away on however many legs he had left.

Michael K म्हणाले...

The tarantula was the size of my hand, hence the hurry.

JaimeRoberto म्हणाले...

I used to give my sticker to my kids to wear. It was my comment on election security.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

"Take your "I Voted!" sticker and slap it on gravestone."

Just scrape off all the old stickers from previous elections first.

Marc in Eugene म्हणाले...

Am trying to decide if the multi-colored teeth are significant of anything.

Kirk Parker म्हणाले...

What's the problem with tarantulas? The one semester we were in Dallas, the kids carried them around in their hands.

Lucien म्हणाले...

What a hateful arachnophobe. Has he no understanding of the HARM he has done? Spiders will DIE because of this!!

Narr म्हणाले...

"trying to decide if the multi-colored teeth are significant of anything."

Poor dental hygiene?

Narayanan म्हणाले...

Mail In Votes? Absentee Ballots? Not sure how those would work within purple plan
=========
why not send in your finger to be inked and returned [is less than arm and leg]

Bunkypotatohead म्हणाले...

Is that Votey McVoteface?