Favorite Videos of the Week: Swift Kids for Truth Attacks!
BY Joshua Levy | Friday, November 16 2007
In this week's videos, Mike Huckabee stays consistent on taxes, the (Not the) Daily Show stays funny despite the writer's strike, Tom Tancredo strikes with an over-the-top ad, Rudy Giuliani makes controversial use of old imagery of New York, and more.
8. Exclusive: Mike Huckabee Begs for Tax Increase and
7. Huckabee on Taxes
Mike Huckabee, seen in earlier, huskier days, tells the Arkansas House of Representatives that he would accept a variety of tax increases. “Arkjournal,” the user that uploaded the clip, writes that it’s proof that “Mike Huckabee isn’t the fiscal conservative he pretends to be.”
But check out this more recent clip, from Huckabee’s chat with George Stephanopoulos during his presidential campaign:
“When you dial 911 and your house is on fire, cause what pays for it? Taxes,” he says. Sounds pretty consistent to me. About 6,500 and 630 views on YouTube, respectively.
6. Not The Daily Show, With Some Writer
The Hollywood writers’ strike has had the ironic effect of encouraging striking writers to produce some great work. Here, Jason Ross, a writer on the Daily Show who introduces himself as “obviously not Jon Stewart,” presents “What is Obviously Not the Daily Show,” a scathing indictment of media company CEOs. Viacom and its billion-dollar lawsuit against Google and YouTube are the main targets here, presenting all too many avenues for attack. Almost 150,000 views on YouTube.
5. New Tancredo Television Ad
Immigration crusader Tom Tancredo posts this blunt new ad that, he hopes, will finally thrust him into the spotlight. It’s easily the most over-the-top ad of the campaign, with Tancredo suggesting that lax immigration laws directly lead to terrorism. Accompanying this none-too-subtle message are images of a hooded “terrorist” placing a backpack in a mall and the Boom! of a homemade bomb. Sorry, Tom, I don’t understand, could you repeat that again? About 25,000 views on YouTube.
4. REVOLTING: Ron Paul “Cleans Up Well” in Philly, Nov 10 2007
Ron Paul supporters have done a great job using online video to their advantage, but a new video, shot at a Ron Paul rally in Philadelphia, paints an ugly portrait of some of his more radical supporters (he’s been getting attention from white nationalists). At the very least, it adds another voter-generated perspective to Paul’s candidacy. About 3,000 views on YouTube.
3. TPMtv: I’m Rudy Giuliani and I Approve This Message
Taking off from Joe Biden’s “a noun, a verb, and 9/11” comment, this video from Josh Marshall’s TPMtv strings together dozens (hundreds?) of quotes from Giuliani, in which he mentions “September 11” over and over again. It hits a high point about two-thirds of the way through, when he gradually changes tense from “before September 11” to “during September 11” to “after September 11.” It’s like a mashup media symphony. Sixty-thousand views on YouTube.
2. Rudy Giuliani Television Ad “Tested”
A new TV ad to continue Rudy Giuliani’s theme of having turned around the “ungovernable” city of New York. But he resorts to some seriously problematic imagery to prove his point. As Giuliani describes the way New York used to be, he says “they used to call it unmanageable, ungovernable.” The next shot is a washed-out street scene showing non-whites walking in slow motion (Harlem? Brooklyn?). The next shot is of the old Harem theater on 42nd street, a remnant of Times Square’s seedier days (which is NOT in Harlem or Brooklyn, by the way, though a casual viewer might confuse “Harem” with “Harlem”). Does Giuliani mean to suggest the non-white population of the city is “ungovernable” in the same way that porn theaters were? More than 25,000 views on YouTube.
1. 23/6: SwiftKids: John Edwards
“John Edwards, no, no, no, no, no, bad, bad, bad, baaaaaaad,” says one terrifying critic of the Democratic candidate. “John Edwards is a total loser,” says another. Yes, that’s right, Edwards has been hit by Swift Kids for Truth, a vocal group of 6-12 year olds making public their reservations about the Democratic contenders. Produced by 23/6, the videos are simply hilarious. Check out ads against Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama here. About 20,000 views on YouTube.