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Giving Jindal the finger |
As you may recall from a past post, during Iraq’s first election earlier this year, Congressman Bobby Jindal sent an email out to his fellow Republican lawmakers: paint your fingers purple in solidarity with the Iraqis. It was a great political stunt. Now it seems that some bratty little ten year old girl from Montana has stolen Jindal’s idea and gone national with the Purple Finger for Freedom campaign:
If Shelby Dangerfield were an adult in Iraq today, she would risk her life for the chance to vote.
Because she is a 10-year-old Billings girl, Shelby won’t be going to the polls. But she will be will be showing her support by wearing ink on her finger – just like those Iraqis who have voted.
“It will symbolize our support if we wear ink on our fingers,” Shelby said. “We’re not forcing them to vote, but they have a chance to do it and they should take that chance.”Shelby said Saturday afternoon she hoped to set up a stand at Rimrock Mall today where people could sign their names and roll their fingers on a stamp pad, but her plans were not yet inked.
She’d love to wake up Monday morning and see people around the United States with blue index fingers.
“Do you have your blue ink?” she asked. “It’s food for thought.” [Link]
Well isn’t that precious? It makes me sick! How can ideas just be stolen in a law-fearing and God-fearing country like the U.S.? Does this little girl have no shame? Has anyone seen people with purple fingers over the last three days? The only fingers I see in L.A. are while I am driving, and none of them have been purple. There are some folks participating I’m sure. I wonder what it would take to get a “Sepia finger” campaign going. I’d need a good cause of course.
Meanwhile, the Renegade of Junk offers a possible scenario that could have played out in Washington yesterday, if only reality was different:
Bobby Jindal, the Republican congressman from Louisiana was today advised by party members that his purple finger routine was getting old and that he needed to come up with some new material…<
p>Mr Jindal was understandably upset with the change of fortune of his finger, which then went into hiding for a while but then appeared to have obtained a new lease of life with yesterday’s elections in Iraq. Mr Jindal immediately circulated an email to party colleagues, requesting a re-purplification of their fingers, but was disappointed by refusals from members of Congress who believed that the idea had outlived it’s shelf life.
“It’s getting old”, said Tom DeLay (R-Texas) , former house whip and future criminal. “People want something new to be unreasonably jingoistic about. Purple fingers don’t do it anymore”. “He should get that finger looked at”, said Bill Frist (R-Tennessee), current Senate majority leader and future Tom Delay cellmate. “It might be purple due to a lack of blood circulation. In fact, based on the video footage I’ve seen of his finger, I believe it needs to be chopped off…” [Link]
Symbolism over substance.
A “pull my finger” gimmick is more appropriate, given all the gasbags on Capitol Hill.
Abhi – Purple fingers during elections has the association of illiteracy to my sepia mind – i.e. rural folk in India who sign with their fingers not with pens. Is this the same for Iraq? If so, Mr Jindals’ idea in itself seems a bit distasteful to me: not every voter in Iraq is illiterate!
I have and will be wearing a Nativity scene diorama ’round my neck in the month of December to protest the war on Christmas and the Baby Jesus.
No. As far as I know they do this in Iraq to prevent people from voting twice. The purple stuff doesn’t come off very easily.
A lot of countries including India (I am not sure about recent elections, somebody currently living in India could correct me) purple mark on the finger is the proof that one has voted already once, as Abhi pointed out is difficult to remove.
On second thought, I think the same practise is still used in Indian elections. People use that badge of honor of exercising their duties.
Correction: In Indian elections, it is a black mark instead of purple.
Pre-electronic databases, internet, picture ids, etc. – this is only way to thwart imposters.
Actually they use a special type of resin to mark a black dot just below the nail on your index finger.
More information on the ink is here: Intrestingly,
What’s with ridiculing the Iraqi voters in that picture, abhi? What have they done to deserve it?
Was listening to Kanan Makiya on the radio today on the iraqi election, constitution, state of affairs[check out the audio here]. A person of such erudition, such composure … i was humbled… Listen to him from minute 10 onwards.
oops – here’s the audio link
in re-reading what i wrote on the excerpts – it might sound like makiya’s being pessimistic. far from it – listen to him – his are the words and the tone of a person who’s there in the trenches – and is working through it… it’s heady stuff.
It was a humor post written in the tradition of Andy Borowitz. How come you aren’t defending the ten year old girl with equal vigor? You don’t care for her either do you?
The 10-year old looks all set to be the next Susan Sontag or something. Look at the region around her eyes.
Ok now that the elections are over, the Iraqis can get back to blowing each other up.
The sepia finger idea sounds a bit too close to the stink-palm bit in Mallrats…
can we stick to armbands or something pleasant? 😉
That was humor?
P.S. No one likes that girl, abhi. And doesn’t Borowitz look like an MTV vj circa 1989?