When I think South Park I think Conservative

So the bloggersphere spouts out interesting information, and this was a story that made me question what I believe about late night cartoons. I am entertained by people who have mocked both the left and the right being fully embraced by the right. The cartoonist featured in Bowling for Columbine are now the same cartoonist being used as a model for the conservative movement.

It seems that the Conservative movement has embraced Comedy Central's popular TV show South Park. It seems that Brian Anderson has written a book titled South Park Conservatives: The Revolt against Liberal Media Bias. Here is a description from the think tank that he is associated with:

"It's a behind-the-scenes look at how conservatives- and even iconoclasts who don't consider themselves conservative- are overthrowing the liberal media and political correctness. From the bloggers who demolished Dan Rather, to the Swift Boat veterans who sank John Kerry, to the gleeful anti-political correctness of such comedic send-ups as South Park and Team America, the American media landscape has suffered an earthquake. Conservatives who have fretted about liberal media bias and losing the culture war should take heart, because a new generation of "South Park Conservatives" is changing everything. " Link

I found out about this book on one of my favorite Blogs Catch.com who reported this transcription from From MSNBC's Scarborough Country:

JOE SCARBOROUGH: Why don't we just show a clip of "South Park" to help define what "South Park" conservatives are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "SOUTH PARK")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Kids, this is the Costa Rican Capitol Building.
This is where all the leaders of the Costa Rican government make their...
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: Oh, my God, it smells out here.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: All right, that does it. Eric Cartman, you respect other cultures this instant.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: I wasn't saying anything about their culture.
I was just saying their city smells like ass.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: Wow. Staying in a place like this really makes you appreciate living in America, huh.
UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: You may think that making fun of Third World countries is funny, but let me...
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I don't think it's funny. This place is overcrowded, smelly and poor. That's not funny. That sucks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)

The Scarborough link is to the whole transcript from which the above bit of text comes from. The Catch website also mocks the book with altered covers, pointing out how silly this all is.

I am just really entertained by people embracing the sarcasm of South Park as their true genre of thought. The show that brought us Mr. Slave and The Passion of the Jew is not the show I would choose if I was Rev. Dobson. So next time you are talking with a young conservative, be prepared to reference their cultural model: Eric Cartman.

Congratulations to the new FDP Chairwoman

Yesterday's Chair election went very smooth. The Leon County Young Democrats wish to congratulate Congresswoman Karen Thurman on her election as Chair of the Florida Democratic Party.

After the election Chair Thurman gave a rousing speech on what we will all be doing as a party over the next few years. We look forward to working with the new Chair and continuing our close relationship with the Florida Democratic Party.

Have You Heard.....

Well the Democrats of Florida are succeeding at being noticed!! The news being reported on the chairs race is that Janee Murphy is thinking of running for Chair. All accounts indicate that she isn't, but still it made news today that she is considering jumping into the race. So I wanted you all to be aware.

News that is being reported in Tallahassee on the party and our officials:

Yesterday, the house and senate split down racial lines. The vote on whether Broward County Supervisor of Elections Miriam Oliphant removal of office was ethical or not. The headline in the Tallahassee Democrat is Black Democrats feel jilted. Ms. Oliphant is now suing the state. From the article: "During more than an hour of questioning of Kahn on the Senate floor, black members said Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties had widespread problems at the polls in 2000 and 2002 - but that only the black woman was suspended."

Lastly, the Tallahassee Democrat is calling the Chair's race for Karen Thurman. The article is not the best review of our party, but as it appears in our local paper, and we all affiliate ourselves as Democrats. I would encourage you all to check it out and see what our peers are hearing about us.

Chairs race narrows

Diane Glasser, Broward County's State Committeewoman, has dropped out of the race for chair. I have linked to the story in the title bar. Jeff Ryan dropped out after failing to qualify last week. This leaves Congresswoman Karen Thurman and Doug Courtney, former chair of the small county coalition. So things look fairly good for the former Congresswoman.

Google Karen Thurman

Karen is the person who the Florida Young Democrats endorsed for chair. Here is an excerpt from an email from our statewide president Matt Cole:

"Over the past week, I asked for your input on candidates for Florida Democratic Party (FDP) Chair in the form of a poll our Yahoo Groups website. As President of the FYDs, I have one vote for the upcoming election of FDP Chair. Because voting is "on the record," my vote will be seen as an endorsement. Jeff Ryan received more support from Exec Board members who voted, but Karen Thurman was overwhelming preferred by FYD members and Chapter Presidents who voted.

I have spoken with both Jeff and Karen. If elected Chair, each candidate understands of our goals and has promised to provide the continued support we need. The new Chair must build upon the work that Scott Maddox has done and continue to improve communication, increase fundraising, broaden the state party's appeal, and develop future leaders. Based on your input, on May 7, my vote will go to Karen Thurman.

The former Congresswoman represented much of North Central Florida in Washington for ten years. She successfully raised 2 million dollars in her last campaign and has provided leadership on many issues including: education, the environment, and health care. Karen has also been provided leadership for many groups including: labor, women, and veterans. "

Sessions come and go

The end of session is always a busy time of year.... We had a decent meeting last night, with a fun, if quick, trip to Andrew's that followed. So many of our members are involved in some aspect of the legislative session that as it wraps up the tension mounts and I think it was good to go and relax for a while....This Friday's Drinking Liberally should be a lot of fun as session wraps up on Friday too and the aides will be pouring into the street once it is over...Which was fairly late last year, hopefully this year things will end at a reasonable hour.

It was a good night to be a Democrat at Andrews last night.... Jeff Ryan was having drinks with Janee Murphy, who was in town for a successful Hillsborough Democrat day. Rep. Karen Thurman was having dinner with Sen. Margolis and between the two tables were 15 Leon Young Democrats, it was nice.

Of course this now sounds like some sort of gossip column which isn't my goal... The LCYDs will have a brief training coming up soon on collecting redistricting petitions and the locals are going to start seeing us at their local events and malls collecting signatures, check the links on the side for more information on the redistricting initiative .

Also check out the Florida Young Democrat link for more information regarding the leadership conference June 11, 2005 and the state's website for more information regarding the JJ Gala.

This weekend is the election for FDP Chair, I will try to keep you all informed as it happens, or as close to as it happens as I can.