Academic

Obama Lawn Jockey?!

By propertyprof

File under: this is a joke, right?  As close readers of the blogosphere will recall, I've blogged about lawn jockeys a bunch in the past--about them as offensive, about their persistence in culture.  Carl Christensen's blogged some about them, too, over at propertyprof.  And now from a loyal reader comes this notice that there's an Obama lawn jockey up on ebay.

From the advertisement:

YOUR MCCAIN/PALIN VICTORY PARTY IS NOT COMPLETE... WITHOUT THIS UNIQUE PARODY OF THE 2008 ELECTION THE ULTIMATE POLITICAL YARD SIGN!

This year's candidates are coming around the final turn- looks like it's going to be a photo finish- and the mud is really starting to fly. Your street could decide the winner! But as an enlightened neighborhood opinion leader you don't need to rely on race cards or rhetorical catch phrases to win the argument because you've got Obama Lawn Jockey Standup, the ultimate satirical monument to career politicians standing in your yard to swing those undecideds- and the election- in your favor... and just in time for your McCain/Palin victory party!

Or yes you can spread happiness AND the wealth- Obama Lawn Jockey Standup also makes a great gag gift for all the Joe the Plumbers on your list!

Not only is this outrageous, but they're asking $100 for a foam cutout? 

There's a lot more that could be--and probably will be said--about this.

Then again, I learn from Ben Smith over at Politico (see picture above) that sometimes people with lawn jockeys in their yard support Obama.   Ralph Ellison would have loved it--you may recall his 1990 speech at Columbia University when he recalled seeing a young African American man walking in Harlem wearing a confederate cap.  Another example of the unexpected outdoing itself in its power to surprise, as Ellison said in his 1979 speech on race at Brown University.

I am informed that there was also a metal Obama lawn jockey, selling for nearly $800.  I can no longer find it on ebay.  The description was as follows.  It's so over-the-top that I think it's got to be a joke:

PROUDLY SOW THE SEEDS OF HATRED AND DIVISION IN YOUR GROTESQUELY CONFLICTED SWING STATE NEIGHBORHOOD WITH THE ULTIMATE RIGHT WING PARODY OF THE 2008 ELECTION

CHANGE IS COMING TO YOUR YARD!

Here's a unique and timely item not sold anywhere else in the world - Buy it now before someone else grabs it! You are bidding on (1) new cast aluminum 46" tall Obama Lawn Jockey with Solar Lantern for $795 ....

Do you publish a right wing or middle class magazine or blog? Here's how to stir up controversy and hit a circulation homerun: Put a picture like in the slideshow above featuring a Obama Lawn Jockey on your cover just like Emerge Magazine did with the Clarence Thomas Lawn Jockey cover in 1996! 

And New Yorker Magazine made millions with it's Obama cover parody earlier this year!

Are you a republican party benefactor and would like to enhance your standing with the middle class? A Obama Lawn Jockey on your stoop will embellish your right wing credentials and your unimpeachable record on conservative issues.

Tired of marxists, ACORNs and other hyper-PC liberals canvassing your middle class neighborhood for votes and opinions? Buy a Obama Lawn Jockey to scare them away and stand up for your pro-American values... after all, in an ironic twist, President George Washington invented the first Lawn Jockey in 1776- and you can't get any more American than that! [This, by the way, is pure hockum, so far as anyone can tell--but it's a common myth.]

This year's candidates are coming around the final turn- looks like it's going to be a photo finish- and the mud is really starting to fly. Your street could decide the winner! But as an enlightened neighborhood opinion leader you don't need to rely on race cards or rhetorical catch phrases to win the argument because you've got Obama Lawn Jockey, the ultimate satirical monument to career politicians standing in your yard to swing those undecideds- and the election- in your favor. And after the election, your statue stands ready to greet visitors to your stoop 24/7... and answer the 3am call! ...

POLITICAL SPIN: Middle class mentioned 3 times in this ad.

Update: There are more details on the statue here, which leads me to think it isn't a joke.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on October 25, 2008 (boomark / email).