Sandy Hook

Monday, December 17, 2012

I'll try to make this, my last blog for a while, short and sweet.

What happened in Newtown, CT, on Friday, has brought how events cause us to think about events and politics to the forefront. And I feel at a loss for words. Or at least, I don't feel that I have anything to add to the conversation. Not yet. Or perhaps I'm merely reluctant. It seems that everywhere across the country, we just want to get through this weekend. This holiday season. This year. We want to pick up the pieces. And then we want to figure out what fatal flaw is antagonizing our nation. And we'll disagree. But that's politics.

I won't include any photos or links in today's blog. I'm not seeking to put together a "Top Ten Most Depressing Pictures" album or anything like that. We've seen them. On the news. On Facebook. And if there's any topic that I mention in this blog, feel free to google it. Anyway, these pictures follow the trends we've seen. Aurora. Columbine. Even September 11th. However, there's something different about this one. Something is making the country want to talk. I don't know if it's because these kids were so young. Or because the act seems so nonsensical. Or because so many such tragedies of this scale have happened during the Obama presidency. Conversations are developing. I'll list them here.

• Our obsession with the image and identity of the murderer. Ever since Columbine, and perhaps even before that, there has been the concept of the celebrity mass shooter. The moment a shooting happens, we want to see the face of who did it. It's getting to the point that if we had our way, we'd want to know the persons name, and get a picture of their face on CNN, even before the shooting was confirmed over. After Sandy Hook, people have awakened to there being something wrong about this. This has come from two sources. First, from people confusing the murderer from his older brother after major news networks started distributing screenshots from the brother's Facebook page. And second, how we celebritize the shooter, in spite of the victims. This happened after a viral Facebook thread started circulating, which was (wrongly) attributed to Morgan Freeman. It spoke to how we need to stop looking up the murderer's name. Stop searching for a picture of his face. Don't give these murderers the attention that they expect, even crave. Still. I fully suspect that there will be that one famous image of the murderer that all the major news networks use. It's been that way for every shooting I can recall. It won't change now. We need an image of someone to blame. Otherwise we feel that we won't know who to stop next time. Even if we can't stop them.
• Guns. Guns, and images of guns, and types of guns, and gun laws, and legal guns, and illegal guns, and the meaning of guns, are once again part of the national conversation. And with that has come the even more testy topic of when is it ok to talk about gun control. After Aurora and the murder/suicide that happened in Kansas City on December 1st, there was much outcry about politicians and journalists using these tragic circumstances to try to talk about gun control laws while communities and families were still grieving. This was especially true after Bob Costas read a statement about gun control during the halftime of the Kansas City Chiefs game that followed the murder there. But what has occurred at Sandy Hook has caused an outcry, and it looks like if there's ever going to be presumably necessary gun control talks, they're going to happen now.
• This is related to the above topic, but politicizing the dead. Using the existence of dead bodies to force political conversations. Is it ethical? Is it unethical to do nothing? 
• And finally, mental health. What drives someone to do something like this; to target those who have obviously done you no harm? We've tried to try to rationalize shootings as the work of the angered, the outsider, the terrorist, or the criminal. Now it seems that the real talk is about how do mentally unstable people fit in to our nicely constructed categories. Or are all murders unstable. Or are there no categories. 

Images, from photos, to memorials, to memes, will surface around these categories, and perhaps even new categories. I will report on them, if it feels acceptable. As if any of this can ever feel acceptable.

This is my last post for the semester. Check back every once and again, especially if there seems to be a big story in the news, or an interesting political image going around. Or, you know, if you see one of my Post-it notes somewhere (cause that's still a thing). Also, later this spring, I will be presenting my Post It Politics work at the Honors Humanities symposium, and perhaps even making the scholarly side of my work public in some fashion (Does that make me a scholar? A meme scholar? How quaint). So I'll let you know about that when the time comes.

For now, please, give someone you love a hug. And have a joyous transition into the new year. May it be full of friends and family and other people that you like.

So long

(wow, this blog stopped being short and sweet a while ago...)

@Post_It_2012

Kim Jong-Un: The Creation of Image Personalities

Monday, December 10, 2012

Today I'd like to delve a little deeper into the realms of personality politics. (I know. It's surprising. Somehow in a blog primarily concerned about campaigns we haven't said everything that could possibly be said about personality politics already.) I would like to do this by focusing in on Kim Jong-un and the news that he has been making lately. Wait, except, it's not exactly him that's making the news. Alright, stay tuned. You'll see.

As most of you probably know, Kim Jong-un is the supreme leader of North Korea, succeeding his father Kim Jong-il after his death in December 2011. The internet almost immediately took a "liking" to Jong-un. Memes, cartoons, satire of every kind sprung up about the young ruler, a sampling of which (along with some background info) can be viewed here. Maybe it has to do with his chubby, boy-like demeanor, which juxtaposes so nicely with one of the most brutal, totalitarian regimes of the modern era. The carryover from Kim Jong-il and his cult of personality, and the comedy that resulted from that didn't help. I would especially like to direct your attention to kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com, which is exactly what it sounds like. Pictures of Kim Jong-il observing the products of his industrious (?) nation. In the words of that blogs author, "Why is it so funny? I have no idea either."

So, it should be no surprise that 4chan took an automatic, worshipful reverence to Jong-un. For those who don't know, 4chan is an online image sharing forum that has become one of the most infamous sites on the internet, not only for its ability to create memes, but also for its (rather psychotic) trolling and hacking capabilities. On regular a basis, 4chan will rise as one, accomplishing tasks such as hacking Sarah Palin's email account or tracking down animal abusers whose videos end up online. The benevolence and malevolence of 4chans actions are reputably random. For 4chan users, it's a lot less about whether or not what they do is good or bad, and more about that they can.

One activity that 4chan often engages in is mass voting on internet polls to manipulate the results. Recently, it decided that a worthwhile activity would be voting up Kim Jong-un in the online poll for Time's Person of the Year, which Time magazine (probably) takes into account for their selection. As reported by the Huffington Post here, success is imminent.

*Also included in this article are links to a story about China's Communist Party newspaper reporting on the Onion selecting Kim Jong-un as the Sexiest Man Alive without knowing that it was satirical. Just another mystifying display of the image culture surrounding young Jung-un.

However, the never complacent 4chan, then looked to the next feat in this game of voting, aiming to not only get Kim Jong-un atop the poll, but to also make the rest of the poll spell out KJUGASCHAMBERS with the first letter of each candidates name. And apparently as of December 8th, they've succeeded. 

I think this whole event says a lot about the circulation of personalities as opposed to politics online. Increasingly, information communities have moved online and into spaces where people are concerned more with novelty than with actual political implications. Now, that's not to say that these spaces are devoid of actual political gauge or influence. There's a reason that 4chan and the internet community are drawn to the political situation in North Korea in the first place, and that 4chan decided to make the Time poll spell K(im)J(ong)U(n)GASCHAMBERS as opposed to KFCBUTTSEX (which was apparently the second choice). But lately, the staying power of these political figures has to do with how much modern audiences are willing to spread this figure (most often online). This can explain the phenomenon behind Kony 2012, and the fact that Time named it the #1 viral video of 2012. Meanwhile, other similarly terrible world leaders such as Hugo Chavez, or even Bashar al-Assad do not get the same attention. No ridiculousness? No viral videos produced by comedians or activist groups? No 4chan love.

Alright, so moving on to a little bit about this blog itself. Seeing that this is the second to last Monday of the semester here at the University of Maryland, I believe that this will be my second to last blog post, or at least for a while. I'll do a final post next week, perhaps wrapping up some loose ends and talking about whatever else might be on my mind. And then, from there on out, my maintenance of Post It Politics will be more sporadic, with me blogging about things as they come up, instead of scrounging for imagery on a weekly basis. (Is scrounging the right word? Does it seem like I'm scrounging? Maybe not. Either way). So tune in next week! Until, then, don't be too ronery.

@Post_It_2012

The Fiscal Cliff

Monday, December 3, 2012

Happy December to one and all! Let's take a look at how the country is faring, shall we?

So it seems that the phrase at the tip of every politician, reporter, analyst, and political junkie's tongue right now is "fiscal cliff." It's the newest of the doomsday scenarios that congress/our country has seemingly faced, following debt ceiling and credit-rating downgrade crisis of 2011. But what exactly...is it? All the news coverage that at least I've had access to seems to just dodge around what the "cliff" actually is, choosing instead to focus on politicians pointing fingers at the other side blaming each-other for not doing enough to avoid it...whatever it is.

Luckily, we have The Daily Show to not only walk us through difficult concepts like the "fiscal cliff."

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Ahh The Daily Show. Seemingly every week you provide me with Post It Politics fodder. Not only explaining seemingly obscure political topics while ridiculing those who are behind said political topics, but also giving me a quality transition to discuss political imagery by satirizing the way we use arbitrary metaphors to circumvent actually making sense of political scenarios.

Today, I won't be braking down a single image or meme, but rather the whole metaphor of a "fiscal cliff." Why the need for such an ominous concept?

The term was popularized by Chairman Ben Bernanke in February of this year as he appeared before the House Financial Services Committee to describe the situation that could come into affect on January 1st if congress doesn't act. Whether or not the scenario he described is really as dire as falling off a cliff would be is hard to quantify, and is at least out of the scope of this particular blog. All that really matters is that is stuck, (probably) making it the last big legislative event of the year, not to mention this congressional session.

We love to use absolutes in political conversation, especially when there are distinct deadlines involved. We do so to attempt to legitimize our own views, while making the other sides seem inconceivable. This is why both sides have been so quick to reference the fiscal cliff, even if Bernanke never intended it to accuse either the Democrats or the Republicans. However, as the above video makes apparent, this gives us with two unviable options, focusing us to instead change our dialogue to make the situation seem less (or more) apocalyptic, as opposed to changing stances. I may differ from Stewart a bit on this method of political dialogue though. While I do find the reasons that we have to change our political metaphors and labels to be rather ridiculous, I don't find the actual act of doing so to be completely meaningless. Though the images that we use to simplify politics can cheapen our discussion, they still play an integral part in how we bring issues to the table. If the metaphor is off, by all means, change it.

Yet, this is not where the apocalypse imagery ends when it comes to congressional budgeting. Last week, Obama released a video, urging middle class Americans to contact their Representatives and tell them what a $2000 tax hike from inaction would do to them, and suggested that they do so by using #my2k, a reference to the feared digital catastrophe that the year 2000 would bring. Many did follow the president's advice, and #my2k trended on Twitter for a good long while. However, this may be due to the fact that many conservatives hijacked the hashtag and used it to call out the president and his tax plan.

And so it goes. As of now, it looks like we've got Thelma and Louise in the congressional driver's seat. Wait, no. Scratch that. There's no way that congress could ever come to a conclusion to do anything quite so easily as Thelma and Louise.

@Post_It_2012

Secession and Pizza

Monday, Novemebr 26, 2012

Today I'd like to weigh in on memes that have actually been around for about 2 weeks now. I apologize, I've been remiss in reporting on it. There's just been so much to talk about!

The two memes both have to do with the drastic response by some Americans to President Obama's reelection. What I am referring to are proclamations by Americans, almost exclusively from southern states, to secede from America, and the actions by conservative CEOs to cut employees and benefits due to the financial burden they will suffer with Obama in office for four more years. The Daily Show weighed in on the situation soon after.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Well done John Stewart. Great job, as per usual.

Needless to say, this news brought about some well done memes. For the petitioning secessionists, most of them harkened back to classic memes, like Push It Somewhere Else Patrick.

This whole movement also led to an interesting development in geographical political imagery in the city of Austin, TX, which is liberally minded when compared to most of the rest of the state and who was slightly embarrassed that Texas seemed to be leading the secessionist movement with 117,000 signatures, almost three times as much as second place Louisiana. This is because citizens of Austin responded with a petition to secede from Texas if the Lone Star State is successful in its bid to leave the Union.

Other, less whimsical responses have included petitions to deport anyone who has signed a petition for secession, or to strip them of their citizenship. 
*Note: I also just want to recognize that these secessionists represent a minuscule part of the conservative electorate in these states, and that the top brass from all of them have voiced their disapproval. These petitions don't actually have any political clout as far as movements go.  Still, this does not mean that they haven't affected the imagery for these states, or conservative America as a whole. It just goes to show that it doesn't take many people to create political consequences, especially when imagery is involved.

As for the second meme from this week, well, you can't be too surprised. If there are three things that can get the internet riled up, they're criticizing pretentious rich people, advertisement stock photos, and sub-par pizza.

If we've learned anything from 2012, it seems to be that nothing gets people fired up quite like the political climate around fast food chains. First the controversy over banning giant sodas in New York City. Then the whole Chick-fil-a/same-sex marriage fiasco. Now Papa Johns. I wonder what lies in store. Honestly, if you want my opinion (Ooo! A straight-up opinion from Kyle! How exciting!), I stand with Captain Picard.

or really any other political issue for that matter. Do your business. Change with the times. That's what I'd like to see more of.

Sorry if I offended anyone by including obscenities in today's blog. Edgy, right?

@Post_It_2012

Suffering and Twinkies

November 19, 2012

First off, I would like to announce that one of my predictions from last week has come true, or at least started to come true. Imagery and memes relating to the Pertraeus Scandal have become widely circulated. Most of these have involved photoshopping or captioning photos of Pertaues and Broadwell to make sexual puns or commentary, and SNL took a crack at the affair as well, but I think the image that best illustrates this whole debacle is a flowchart from Gawker detailing all of the key characters of what continues to be a more confusing narrative the more we find out. It makes clear just how ridiculous this whole thing is, as it grows to something much more than just an affair between a general and his biographer.

Whether or not these images have peaked or if we've only witnessing the beginnings of a military-affair-image explosion will remains to be seen. A lot of it may depend on how much more information is released.

Another event that has started to reach wide circulation is the conflict between the Israel and Hama in the Gaza Strip. As Hamas continues to fire rockets at Israel, and Israel has begun to conduct devastating air strikes on Gaza as part of its Pillar of Defense, powerful, tragic images have been released. Many of these being put out by Palestinian sympathizers show the disparity between the damage caused by Palestinian and Israeli attacks, but regardless, images from both sides are painful. Perhaps the most talked about image was featured on the front page of the Washington Post. one of Jihad Misharawi, a BBC Arabic journalist living in Gaza, holding his dead 11-month old son, who was killed by an Israeli air-strike.

As these images related to the conflict continue to come out, I will keep track of them here on the blog. And though doing this will probably mostly have to do with the implications of images of tragedy, I am sure that images of this magnitude will eventual have political significance.

On to my final (and more light hearted) group of images. They have to do with the announced bankruptcy of Hostess, makers of Ding Dongs, Wonder Bread, and most importantly, Twinkies. This was not a surprise to many in the media, as Hostess has had financial troubles in the past, as people start to turn to healthier snacking alternatives. But a labor dispute and strike with the Bakers Union has seemingly put the colossus of sugary treats under. 

As Hostess snacks, especially Twinkies, have been a mainstay of American culture for decades, famed for (speculative) deliciousness and seemingly unending, post-apocalypitc shelf life, it is unsurprising that there was an internet outcry about the bankruptcy. Most of these revolved around the theory that the world will end in 2012, drawing from either Mayan Calendar references...

or references to the zombie apocalypse, especailly due to the movie Zombieland, in which Woody Harrelson's character is obsessed with finding the last Twinkie on earth.

There have even been political implication from this meme (sort of), as Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), who many believe to be a front runner for the Republican candidate for President in 2016, was questioned about the bankruptcy at a question and answer session at a New Jersey school, which he perceived to be a loaded question due to his weight. 

I think he handled it well, as far as maintaining his image is concerned. He's definitely got that roll-with-the-punches, I-won't-take-your-shit, yet good humored New Jersey thing going for him.

Yet, it can't be ignored that the whole thing has seemed to turn our attention away from real political issues, an effect that we have found to be characteristic  of almost every "political" meme here on Post It Politics. This is touched upon by the following web comic.

Interesting to see two of our major themes from this week collide. 
Will touch base next week, reporting on any new developments in image culture. For now, Happy Thanksgiving everybody.

@Post_It_2012

Predictions

November 12, 2012

On campus, I continue to be on the look out for political things to post on. There is still quite a bit, most of it leftover from the November 6th election. However, I am not terribly optimistic about new stuff being put up soon, or perhaps even for a while. On campus (and I'm sure in schools, workplaces and homes across the country) people are on the whole just happy to be done with the election, happy to move on and stop concentrating on politics. So I doubt many people will have much motivation to put new stuff up around campus, or at least not stuff directly related with election politics. And even for stuff that is up, I question the political motivation for people to post themselves or do anything to things that I post (other than perhaps take them down in a "OMG i'm so done with politics" kind of way). However, I will continue to check in here for the blog on a week by week basis in case anything significant happens.

Meanwhile, on the national scene, political memes have slowed down quite a bit, mostly, if I had to guess, due to the same relief that the election is over that I mentioned above. Indeed, now that all of the elections have passed, it seems that the only political things I see on social media are people talking about how happy they are not to see politics online anymore.

That being said, I would like to bring your attention to three narratives that have emerged from the election or have followed the election. Though these have perhaps, in the least, only started to emerge in imagery, I wonder if we will start to see more of them, especially as they start to get distributed more by the news and late-night talks shows.

1. Nate Silver. The young statistician has become something of a Generation Y folk hero, à la Mark Zuckerburg, after he and his FiveThirtyEight blog accurately predicted the outcome of all 50 states in the 2012 election, and maintained that Obama would win fairly handily despite many polls calling for a closer race. He's seen as something of a legend amongst many, especially those of the internet age who believe that data from computer savvy whiz-kids never lie and are likely to question the numbers being fed to them by the older (usually more conservative) media sources that supply most polling data. So, like any good phenomenon, Silver started to get worked over online. There was the infamous #drunknatesilver, on Twitter, in which people went online and falsely reported incidents about Nate drunkly walking around and predicting things about everyday people like when they'll die. Then there was also the hilarious isnatesilverawitch.com, which finally came to conclusion that he must be endowed with supernatural powers to be so accurate.
All of this is coupled with the fact that Silver makes conservatives uncomfortable. Many were quick to criticize him and his model in the weeks leading up to the election, drawing from a seemingly never ending list of claims of things that the 538 didn't take into account. And since the election has passed, many have reflected on his predictions while wondering how Republicans will have to choose their approach to future elections due to changing demographics.
Twitter celeb that makes Democrats happy and conservatives nervous? Sounds like a formula for a future images to me! My guess is that liberals start to use him and his graph more to try claim that their party will dominate future elections, making the trend seem inevitable and logical.

One of Nate Silver's famous graphs. I believe they will start to become an even stronger symbol of reason in political projections in future election, regardless of these elections outcomes.

2. Karl Rove. The Republican strategist and SuperPAC power player has come under fire after the elction from the right and left. First, for spending so much money and guaranteeing a Republican victory to so many people in what ended up being a failed campaign. And second, for the awkward situation he created on Fox News during their election coverage, after he neglected to accept their prognosis that Obama had won Ohio and therefore the election, which went so far that Megyn Kelly, on air questioned him about his analysis, asking "Is this just math that you do as a Republican to make yourself feel better? Or is this real?" In this way, Rove seems to portray the opposite of Nate Silver, in that he is beginning to represent the faulty mindset of those who ignore reliable polling while forecasting and trying to sway elections. I believe that 2012 was a watershed year for PAC spending and those associated with them, and there failure could lead to a change in political dialogue. I believe that Rove's image and the way he organized during the 2012 campaign will be a large part of that dialogue.

3. The General Petraeus and Paula Broadwell Affair. I'ma put this up here. Call it a gut feeling. A story this bizarre and out of the blue, where all the perceptions of the CIA, military, and journalism ethics break down...the media storm has only just begun. For one thing, I think we're just beginning to experience questions about the timing of this announcement. All of this being announced right after the election? A coincidence? Not everyone is going to agree with that. People are going to politicize this, and the lure of a (steamy?) high-profile affair is just too good for this not to hit the internet full force. Images like this one are going start to get traction

I mean, c'mon, the book Broadwell wrote is called "All In." This stuff is just going to be too easy. 

Some other stuff that has hit the web, but probably doesn't have specific political implications:

One of the more comical things that emerged since November 6th was the belief that Diane Sawyer was drunk during ABC's election coverage. Check that out here.

And something that has a little more meaning behind it, disappearingromney.com. This is a real-time graph of Mitt Romney's "likes" on Facebook decreasing. Though not to scale by any means, it is a telling indication of the fleeting meaning of social media and politics, or at least the suspicion that we are over-exagertating its importance. (Or maybe it's just saying that people on Facebook didn't actually like Mitt Romney. Take it as you will).

@Post_It_2012

Conclusions, Electioneering, and Moving On

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Feel free to play this song as you read. I believe it sets the mood 

We're done! The election is now a thing of the past. As the internet image community (and myself) predicted, Obama has been reelected to another term, carrying 25 states plus DC for 303 electoral votes (give or take Florida. Oh, Florida, you so rascally), carrying 50.4% of the popular vote. Meanwhile, Romney has come away with 24 states, 206 electoral votes, and 48.0% of the popular vote.

Ok, let's get it out of our system. Bring on the memes.

First, this picture of Obama phone banking to turn out the vote has been circulating since late October, but has really taken off since Obama's win. It shows the implication that a facial expression, a snap shot, can have when someone is being photographed 24/7. A fleeting moment becomes a symbol of smug victory

Next you have the ever popular Obama/Rapper association memes. Not only do these this emphasize the hip-hop ideal of success, but it also shows how online imagery associated with Obama identifies him with the African-American population in America (probably for better or for worse, depending on which political analyst you are talking to).

And finally, you have this meme. Brilliantly done, mad props for whoever had the creativity to think of this and put it together. An awesome metaphor for the campaign. Romney's early achievements. His stumble and struggle in the polls. Obama's steady gains leading into the finish. All of the images and trends that we have tracked over the last two months on this blog, turned into a bike race.

I also suggest that you check out the Tumblr whitepeoplemourningromney.tumblr.com. It's a collection of pictures of, you guessed it, white Republicans devastated by Romney's lost/four more years of Obama. It's interesting to note the effect that gathering these images has on their meaning. When one image alone might elicit certain feelings or reactions, putting these images together gives them context, adding a new political significance to them. They become a critique on the implications of race in politics, and even social class. 

In the study of imagery, this effect is called montage. If you want to read a great text explaining it, I would suggest checking out The Rise of the Image, the Fall of the World by journalism and communications scholar Mitchell Stephens. 

"That's all great Kyle," you might by thinking, "but did anything happen here at the University of Maryland on election day regarding your project?" (Or you might not be thinking that at all, but that's all good. We don't judge too hard here at Post It Politics.) Why yes something did! Let me tell you about it!

On election day, a hoard of signs sprung up in front of Stamp Student Union, the polling location for students who live on campus here at Maryland. Take a gander.

So, of course, I went on a posting spree. Random posts, about to be seen by real voters.

Check it out! The first Obama stuff I've seen on campus all year. I've been shocked by that.

This is just a fraction of the things I posted and of the causes I posted on. It felt like there were almost too many to count.

Something interesting did happen as I tried to post on a "Vote for 6" sign, Vote for 6 being the movement by Marylanders for Marriage Equality, to get voters to support Question 6 on the ballot to legalize gay marriage here in Maryland (which did end up passing). As I went to post on the sign (an up post, by the way), I was stopped by a Vote for 6 electioneer.

What is an electioneer? An electioneer is someone who stands outside a polling place, talking to voters as they go in to vote, thereby getting one last chance to influence their decision or change their mind. Certain laws from state to state apply to what there people can and cannot do. On November 6th, they were out in droves here at Maryland.

This older gentleman, talking to students of the behalf of friend of Post It Politics Dan Bongino, is an example of an electioneer. I think he's freaking adorable.

I asked this Vote for 6 guy why I couldn't post on his sign, and he explained that it's private property, and (apparently even if I like the sign) tampering with it is against the law. As he was not really that keen on carrying on a lengthy sign tampering discussion, he told me that if I didn't believe him, I should go talk with the election judge inside. Now, I did have some questions. I want to know how these people, many on whom may not even be students here at Maryland, be able to make the claim to private property when they are putting their sign up on a space that they do not own. Shouldn't I, as a tuition-paying student, be able to put my say in? Are there special laws for signs outside polling locations?
*Side Note: In retrospect, I feel that I also should have made it more clear to the guy that he was more than welcome to take down my Post-it. But again, I don't think he had much patience for me regardless.

So, I did try to ask. However, by this time the line to vote had gotten ridiculous.  I like that though. As reported by the student newspaper here on campus, the Diamondback, more than 2,200 students voted in this years election, way more than the 1,566 that voted in 2008. (I assume they are only counting students that voted on campus. We got a lot of students here at Maryland).

The election judge was therefore quite busy. And when I asked an aide if she could find out for me whether or not the election signs outside were private property or not, she did her best, but in the end was unable to find out one way or the other. This intrigues me. Hopefully in the future I can talk to someone who has been an election judge and they can let me know.

So, did the posts I put up get much reaction? Maybe. Most of the posts that I put up, especially those opposed to liberal signs, were gone when I checked back. Was this from the wind that day, due to the electioneers, or a result of liberal college students? I don't know. There was no resulting activity on twitter (though I did get a retweet by the Stamp's Twitter page when I tweeted at them about the signs outside. Minor victory there.)

However, I do know for a fact that these signs grabbed the attention of some of the student body. How do I know this? From this sign, paid for by MDPetitions.com, that urged people to vote against the three most Democrat issues on the ballot, the Dream Act, new redistricting, and gay marriage. As you can see, someone, armed with a pen, made their opinion to the contrary.

Though we may roll our eyes at lawn signs, and call them a waste of time and money or what have you, people see them. And they do motivate people to political action. Just sometimes not in the way the person who put it up might have wanted.

Thanks for reading everybody. I will have another blog up on Monday. I'm interested in seeing the way things go imagery wise on and off-line as we move past Election Day, and start looking ahead to the Inauguration.

@Post_It_2012

On the Eve of the Election

November 5, 2012

The day before Election Day. Time to take stock of Post It Politics in 2012 thus far.

So I made one last push to get my image out on campus before election day. To do this, I went into Tydings Hall (which is home to most of the behavioral science activity here on campus, including the Government and Politics department) and took the liberty of drawing my image on chalkboards, while also leaving some Post-its with them.

I haven't garnered much/any attention from this. As I expected, most of these were erased (I assume by either professors or cleaning staff). So it was largely to no avail. I find this partially my fault though. If I really had wanted some publicity like this to get any attention, I should have acted earlier in the election season and more widely, kind of like the "Students for Ron Paul" group did last semester. However, two things stopped me. 1) Though able to garner attention and maybe get some people to look into what I am doing, I thought drawing like this would make people misinterpret my project as something I'm simply drawing around campus, as opposed to something they can reach out, touch, and take part in. 2) As I've stated often, much of what gives my project meaning is the very propaganda that it shows approval or disapproval for. Approving of a chalkboard? Not a whole lot of meaning there. I wanted to wait to start posting until things started circulating on campus, and thought that I might use this if nothing was being put out there. Then, over the last month, fliers started to be put out pretty frequently on certain areas of campus. This gave me hope, and I anticipated a whole host of stuff to be put out going up to the election. Then Sandy came and...activity stopped.

All this being said, I was happy to see in one of my classes today that one of my posts did survive in its own, placed-to-the-side way.

It's the little bit of yellow below my professor's hand, in case you were wondering. I'm intrigued as to how long it will stay up there.

And thus, it appears that my posting up until Election Day has come to an end. And Post It Politics has failed to become viral. While I hardly take this to mean that my project was a failure, it is a bit bitter sweet.

And what does this mean for my project here on out? Do I plan on keeping on with fevered sticky-noting around campus? I believe I will. There have been some political materials circulating around campus that have to do with issues not directly related to the 2012 election (especially in regards to drug policy) that I will continue to post on. Keep people thinking/talking/watching. Plus, posting on stuff is fun! I think I'll need to stay in practice for the 2014 elections. Though next time around I may be a bit less academic and unbiased about the whole thing ;)

And do I plan to keep blogging? For now, certainly! I will definitely have a something to say next Thursday in regards to how tomorrow turns out. Plus, I'm really interested in seeing how political meme culture changes without an election to feed on. For now, I think I will continue blogging every Monday. We'll see how that goes for a while, and if I need to reevaluate that decision later, I'll late you know.

Now, I'd also like to take the opportunity to make a prediction based on my study of political imagery so far in this election. Mitt Romney is going to lose tomorrow. I don't say this based on any political biases on my part, nor am I making this claim from any current polls. Simply, from the point of view of internet culture and all it circulates, from memes to YouTube videos, the man doesn't have a chance. If I wasn't a government student and didn't pay attention to the news, and only ever gathered my political opinions from Facebook, reddit, 4chan, tumblr, wherever, I wouldn't find the appeal for voting for Romney at all. Binders full of women? Firing Big Bird? No way! It wouldn't even be about wanting to vote for Obama at that point (especially considering that during this election we haven't seen the outpour of positive Obama imagery that we saw in 2008 like the Hope poster or O symbol). 

Now I know that this is simplified. From an overall standpoint, based on silly things like facts and polls as opposed to creative photoshopping, the election should be pretty close. I'm just interested in seeing whether or not actual politics will reflect online/social-media politics, or at least on a national scene. I'm also interested in seeing how this will compare with future elections. Will we be able to predict elections from here on out based on funny memes and fake Twitter accounts? Do we only see these now because they're mainly being used by a younger (generally more liberal) generation? Will the implications of this change as this generation ages? Are all these questions misguided and meaningless to begin with anyway? I dunno.

Regardless, the results tomorrow will begin to provide answers. As well as new questions.

Thank you for sticking by me and reading this blog. It's been a great experience for me; something that I feel I've gained a lot from. For anyone who is just running by this now, feel free to look around. Go up to the archive and see from the headlines if there is anything that tickles your fancy.

Also, I'd hate to say goodbye without bringing to you any new memes or interesting pictures. So, sticking with tradition, here you go!

First off, I'd like to bring attention to the Million Puppet March, a political rally that took place in DC on Saturday speaking out against Mitt Romney, and showing a general show of support for public media. Definitely cool/interesting to see a political image literally come to life to the cry of 

“Power to the puppets! We can save the Muppets!”

“Whose street? Sesame Street!”

“What do we want? Cookies! When do we want them? Now!”

“EL-MO! We won’t go!”

I'm sorry I missed it. For now, take a chance to read this Washington Post article covering the event, and enjoy some of the photos people have put up online.

And lastly, I'd like to pay my respects to an image from the Twitter of David Roberts, a writer for Grist, that speaks to why I started this project in the first place.

Lawn signs were the initial reason I started this project. They only can say so much, but what they state is strong. "This Is My Household and This Is What We Believe and This Is How We Vote and If You Don't Like It You Can Leave" and blah blah blah. And rarely do they let the viewer get a word in edgewise, or at least not in a way that won't get you cited for vandalism.

Yet, this family has worked out a way to show that one sided imagery will not dominate their bipartisan household. And that's heartwarming to me.

Thanks for joining me for the ride everybody. Please vote tomorrow :)

@Post_It_2012

Hurricane Sandy Hits the Internet

Thursday, Nov 1, 2012

So here we are, November. Five days until election day. And here we are already for Post It Politics. My second to last blog before we decide between Mitt Romney and Barack Obama.

And yet, and correct me here if you believe differently, it seems that much of the dialogue about the candidates has slowed. I feel this can be attributed to a number of reasons. The debates are done. Perhaps people are for the most part tired of the campaign and have made up their mind as to who they're voting for. Or at least that's the way it feels here on campus.

Except, I believe this also might have something to do with Hurricane Sandy. As I put in my blog on Monday, the hurricane kept most of us here on the Eastern Seaboard indoors. And for those in other parts of the country, is easy to assume that people were more likely to tune in to national weather reports as opposed to campaign coverage. In a way, this chart (featuring two of our favorite Post It Politics topics, battleships and Etch A Sketch) shows how Sandy overshadowed the campaign. It was more imminent. More powerful

Side Note: I love this chart. It is a perfect junction of comedy, faux political analysis, actual political analysis, and recognition of how bizarre this whole situation is.

However, this is not to say that Sandy did not have real political consequences. As outlined in this ABC News story, it did grind both campaigns to halt, while also slightly changing the direction of the campaign, with Romney having to explain his credentials for dealing with natural disasters and "project leadership," while Obama can boost his image by being seen as an effective leader of disaster efforts. Many would say that Obama has accomplished this aim, especially through his surveying of the damage with republican power player Chris Christie in New Jersey, outlined here in the Washington Post, which many saw as strong and bipartisan as the positive, cooperative relationship between the two has played out for the media. This has certainly helped Obama in the polls, where Obama and the Federal Government have received massive 78% and 73% approval ratings for their response to the hurricane, while Romney only polled at 44%. (But honestly, come on, what was Romney supposed to do to come across better than the president here? Kind of a loaded analysis by the pollsters here.) Meanwhile, another fake Twitter account emerged, lambasting Romney, @MittStormTips. This one basically mocks Romney for putting relief effort motifs into his campaign, not being able to connect with those affected by Sandy due to his vast wealth, and (possibly) supporting policies that would cut government funding that supply aid to victims. So far it has over 11,000 followers. Still, I get the feeling that this is less do to Romney actually getting a bad rap in public because of Sandy, and more just because anything that gets swept up into the the meme/twitterverse seems to get Romney's face somehow plastered to it nowadays.

Which leads me to my second topic for today's blog: the social media craze surrounding Hurricane Sandy. From the moment people started to here about the coming "Frankenstorm," the memes started flying. But why is this relevant in a blog about politically imagery? Well, let me tell you.

I believe the social media craze surrounding Sandy is an indicator just how much meme and imagery culture has taken off in the past year. I believe this by comparing the public's response to Hurricane Irene in August of 2011 to what we experienced last weekend.

Hurricane Irene did receive quite a bit of meme attention. It has its own Know Your Meme page and everything. And it did lead to the Laundry Room Viking meme, which was quite good, though ridiculous.

However, let's compare the two storms now. While Hurricane Irene's Know Your Meme Page has been linked to a grand total of 13 images, Hurricane Sandy's has 163.

It even led to the inevitable, "Brace Yourself" meme, foretelling the coming of more Sandy memes.

Now, granted, there could be a variety of reasons why there was such a deluge of memes for Sandy, especially when compared to Irene. First off, it probably didn't hurt that Sandy shares a name with a both a character from one of the most famous musicals of all time and one of my generation's most beloved cartoons.

Other factors I can think of.

• Sandy was simply bigger than Irene, causing more damage and affecting more people
• It occurred right before Halloween, hence the whole "Frankenstorm" moniker
• It hit New York City hard, a city that all of America is in tune to for some reason or another basically every day
• And (and this one I think really makes sense) Sandy gave students a (much deserved) day off from school all over the East Coast. What do students with unexpected free-time often end up doing? Random stuff on the internet of course! 

Still, could these lead to simply so many memes? I don't think so. I think 2012 has been a breakthrough year for memes in general. People are just in tune to them right now. This has affected the campaign trail just as it's affected the public's perception of Hurricane Sandy.

But could this be a bad thing? We've speculated as much here on the Post It Politics blog before, in terms of people no longer focusing on the issues in the campaign. I think this worry definitely started to worry some people out there. As stories of Manhattan being underwater, power outages, and tipping cranes started to come out, the mood on Facebook, Twitter, and else where became much more serious. I started to wonder. Do we make light to not deal with the reality that was coming, or here? Why did we find Sandy funny, when we knew all along that homes and lives were at risk? It seems I was not alone, as shown by this editorial from the Seattle Times.

Maybe that's the takeaway theme from 2012. The year we became even more desensitized from people, preferring instead photoshop and a quick laugh.

Thanks for reading folks. Here we go into the last weekend of the campaign. We'll see whether or not any of my antics will create Post It Politics followers here before the big day, now that the storm has passed and people are venturing out of their homes. Here's hoping the weather clears up a little bit more. Not much time left now.

@Post_It_2012

PS--Ok, that was kind of a depressing note to end a blog on, especially so late in the project. Therefore, in the spirit of Post It Politics, enjoy this video by Joss Whedon, (One of my favorite directors. He did create Firefly after all) that manages to make fun of Mitt Romney (as the internet and celebrities have been known to do) while also introducing Zombie culture into the campaign. Which we all know this campaign could use more of. Enjoy!