I hear you, and you offer a good counterpoint. To me, it's close to a Godwin's law violation, and IMO part of a pattern of political criticism that's encouraged extreme candidates since even (relative) moderates will be labeled as extremist. So I'm critiquing the joke less than legacy downstream effects.
But it's very possible I'm over-reading here, and it's certainly not the only valid viewpoint.
I'd counter that Godwin applies to earnest or apparently-earnest debate; as much as I hate "Bruh, it was a just a joke" defenses most of the time, this was a finely-honed laugher carrying no serious slippery-slope-to-death-camps warning, though a bad governor is capable of damage and there are clear Reagan echoes in this event.
I like this joke because it ignores Arnold’s other franchises, Terminator and the Conan films:
"At last, a political family that combines the remnants of the Camelot dynasty with the origins of the Predator franchise."
Molly Prather • Executive Secretary
Maybe it's a stretch, but I thought they were referencing Predator co-star Jesse Ventura here. Predator was also the career apex for Sonny Landham, who ran for both senate and governor in the early 2000s. Unfortunately for the Predator political dynasty, his frequent use of "raghead", "Camel-jockey" and "dung-shovelers" made him too Islamophobic to get much political success.
Hmmm, this is interesting. I haven't seen the Predator films or really remember Landham, so it's hard for me to say. For sure, 20 years ago, those were more relevant names.
How can you fault the "bad Austrian artist" joke? They did the work, found the parallels; that punchline was fully earned.
I hear you, and you offer a good counterpoint. To me, it's close to a Godwin's law violation, and IMO part of a pattern of political criticism that's encouraged extreme candidates since even (relative) moderates will be labeled as extremist. So I'm critiquing the joke less than legacy downstream effects.
But it's very possible I'm over-reading here, and it's certainly not the only valid viewpoint.
I'd counter that Godwin applies to earnest or apparently-earnest debate; as much as I hate "Bruh, it was a just a joke" defenses most of the time, this was a finely-honed laugher carrying no serious slippery-slope-to-death-camps warning, though a bad governor is capable of damage and there are clear Reagan echoes in this event.
That's fair! Thanks for weighing in. Good to have a different thought process on this
I like this joke because it ignores Arnold’s other franchises, Terminator and the Conan films:
"At last, a political family that combines the remnants of the Camelot dynasty with the origins of the Predator franchise."
Molly Prather • Executive Secretary
Maybe it's a stretch, but I thought they were referencing Predator co-star Jesse Ventura here. Predator was also the career apex for Sonny Landham, who ran for both senate and governor in the early 2000s. Unfortunately for the Predator political dynasty, his frequent use of "raghead", "Camel-jockey" and "dung-shovelers" made him too Islamophobic to get much political success.
Hmmm, this is interesting. I haven't seen the Predator films or really remember Landham, so it's hard for me to say. For sure, 20 years ago, those were more relevant names.