If he’d drawn pictures on the couch, that would’ve been serious
A reader pointed me to this fascinating post over at Firedoglake about the sicko behavior of one Tripp Emmer, creeptastic son of Minnesota Republican Tom Emmer, Jr. The younger Emmer is in the news on account of underage drinking: he’s 20 years old, and his Facebook photo album is apparently full of pictures of him shit-faced and guzzling beer.
However, that’s not all his Facebook photos show. They also show him and a buddy crowing over a passed-out girl who’s lying facedown on a couch, crude cartoons of ejaculating penises drawn on her face and arms. What’s fascinating is that most people in Minnesota—including Tom Emmer, Jr. and the newspaper reporters on the case—think the only thing noteworthy here is the underage drinking, not the girl being molested. What’s even more fascinating is the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s explanation for why the story “does not meet the bar of when a candidate’s children is news”:
Where is that bar? Parry says the circumstances are complex. If the arrest had been for a DUI, it would’ve been more serious and upped the chances of seeing print; had there been damage to property, same thing.
In other words, the girl ranks lower than the couch she’s passed out on. Now, if young Master Emmer had taken his magic marker to that nice leather upholstery, then there would be hell to pay. His parents must be so relieved.
Another fascinating thing is the outrage on display in the Firedoglake thread—not from people outraged about the assault on the girl, but from people outraged that anybody could be outraged about the assault on the girl. A dipshit signing himself “Nathan Aschbacher” is particularly incensed:
Never before this have I seen such ginned up outrage, authoritarian tendencies, and a very serious age-gap of social disconnect on FDL before.
Is this some kind of reaction to our general political impotence? That this seems like something we can go ape shit over, and possibly make some kind of dubious symbolic impact?
Though if you want the youth vote, you better get used to the dumb shut they do for fun, and culturally identify with.
Oh, right. Well, if it’s for fun and people culturally identify with it, then okay.
19 Responses to “If he’d drawn pictures on the couch, that would’ve been serious”
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Cyn says:
Shades of jon favreau. It was ok to grope a poster of Hillary and apparently it’s ok to post porn on a female that you have just plied with booze. What’s next? I am so sick of the “boys will be boys” line.
September 6th, 2010 at 5:45 pm EST -
lambert strether says:
Friggin backward baseball caps. That kid’ll never keep the sun out of his eyes that way.
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votermom says:
I hope she presses charges.
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kiuku says:
The frat houses of privileged white males are the factory for future white male employees, managers, and bosses. They network against women. This is what we run up against and is it any wonder why women are paid less than men? Sexism is funny to them. They drew a penis into her mouth and all the males can say is that they identify with it “culturally.”
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Irlandese says:
“Though if you want the youth vote, you better get used to the dumb shut they do for fun, and culturally identify with.”
I’ve had great time getting used to what these infants do for fun, haven’t you? Jesus, I need to just lighten up. Beer and Sharpies, that’s where it’s at.
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madamab says:
Look, the bitch deserved it for passing out near an able-bodied, marker-wielding male. What’s the big deal here, ladies? I’ll bet you’re fat, old and have obstreperous arm hair. Neener neener!
Signed,
Librul Dude Nation
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lazy-ignorant-old-and-unhealthy says:
It looks bad, of course, but the woman is responsible for the company she keeps.
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propertius says:
Though if you want the youth vote, you better get used to the dumb shut they do for fun, and culturally identify with.
I guess we’re all supposed to be grateful the misogynistic little bastards only used a marker.
I actually don’t want the youth vote. I think they should stay away from polling places and automobiles until they’re at least 35.
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anna says:
I am thinking about donating to Camfed (Campaign for Female Education in Africa). What do you all think? Have you heard anything good/bad about them?
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Adrienne in CA says:
@8, at least they only posted pictures where they used a marker. What further violation proceeded from that point, one can only imagine. I hope that young woman’s parents sue the hell out of someone.
*****A
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Patti says:
“It looks bad, of course, but the woman is responsible for the company she keeps.”
Huh?! If a woman is date raped, is she responsible for the company she keeps? Was she to predict the guy was a rapist?
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Violet Socks says:
Patti, I’m hoping #7 was facetious.
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lazy-ignorant-old-and-unhealthy says:
No, I meant it. And I stand ready to be educated.
However, as bad as it looks, what evidence is there that the young woman did not go willingly into that place and participate in the photo shenanigans voluntarily? The facts are not clear at the moment, at least to me. If a case is brought and the woman shown to have been a victim of an assault, then, of course, I would deplore the act depicted.
There are reasons, all too clear to the commenters here, I am sure, to deplore the depicted event regardless of the issue of the woman’s complicity. But that has not been the point of the comments so far.
A few years ago a student son of a prominent academic couple in my university town organized a wrestling tub filled with ‘lube’ of some kind. It was to be a feature of a party and the prospective wrestlers were female volunteers, intoxicated without a doubt.
The older generation was horrified. -
Violet Socks says:
No, I meant it. And I stand ready to be educated.
Actually, you stand ready to be banned. Bye.
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Ciccina says:
Nauseating. I’m about to enjoy my breakfast in reverse.
Re: the Minn Star-Trib’s total fail — I think a lot of people don’t know what is “wrong,” or at least offensive, unless they’re cued. I think that’s partly why racist and not-racist-but-race-is-mentioned incidents get so much play in the mainstream media. Dunderheaded reporters and the ‘Family Guy’-watching demographic know they are supposed to react with horror and revulsion at racism (and well they should), so they freak at the first mention of race. But show them something morally repugnant that comes without a big honking cue card, and it flies right past them. Occasional posturing on inclusiveness and sensitivity hardly makes up for the lack of an underlying ethic of respect for individual dignity, and the general flouting of the Silver Rule: Keep-Your-Hands-To-Yourself-Unless-Someone-Specifically-Invites-You-To-Place-Them-Elsewhere. The bastards.
Must go barf now.
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anna says:
Hey Violet, did you see Amanda Marcotte’s latest? She’s against closing Craigslist’s adult services section, even though they were caught trafficking women and children. It’ll just go underground, she says. Might as well legalize and regulate it. Yeah, and sweatshops too, while you’re at it.
http://pandagon.net/index.php/....._bad_idea/
http://blogcritics.org/politic.....raigslist/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/tech.....llegations
All nice, clean, and regulated by the caring folks at Craigslist.
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anna says:
And of course the Discovery channel is now filming a charming reality show about polygamists, rather than, oh I don’t know, reporting that shit to the authorities:
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Topper Harley says:
@2 Do you know where I can buy backwards hats like that? I’ve checked all the stores around here and they only sell ones that are forwards.
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monchichipox says:
I can never get high off my Sharpies at work again with a clear conscience. Boring days at the office will never be the same. I hope she has an older brother who sees the picture. Or a friend packing some heat who will knock his pearly whites out with the butt of her pistol.
