Showing posts with label Origin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Origin. Show all posts

You can put an American Flag on a pig, but it's still a boar

Michael Kinsley is going to piss off a lot of innocent Alaskans with his latest essay for TIME, "Sarah Palin's Alaskonomics," but you have to hand it to him for really crunching the numbers to prove his point that she is anything but the "tough fiscal conservative" that the Republican establishment is making her out to be.

Saith Kinsley:
".... Palin has continued to repeat the already exposed lie that she said 'No, thanks' to the famous 'bridge to nowhere' (McCain's favorite example of wasteful federal spending). In fact, she said 'Yes, please' until the project became a symbol and political albatross.
"Back to reality. Of the 50 states, Alaska ranks No. 1 in taxes per resident and No. 1 in spending per resident. Its tax burden per resident is 2 1/2 times the national average; its spending, more than double. The trick is that Alaska's government spends money on its own citizens and taxes the rest of us to pay for it. Although Palin, like McCain, talks about liberating ourselves from dependence on foreign oil, there is no evidence that being dependent on Alaskan oil would be any more pleasant to the pocketbook.
"Alaska is, in essence, an adjunct member of OPEC. It has four different taxes on oil, which produce more than 89% of the state's unrestricted revenue. On average, three-quarters of the value of a barrel of oil is taken by the state government before that oil is permitted to leave the state...."
Kinsley goes on to look at this issue more closely, and also to examine Palin's past budget cuts (or lack thereof). Be sure to read the full article. But one thing that caught my eye -- which I'd heard before but is worth pointing out again -- is that Palin has actually made some smart oil-tax moves that benefited the people of Alaska and could be applied to the entire U.S. via some intelligent changes to our current oil-company tax plans. The odd thing is that Palin isn't proposing to roll out her Alaska oil-tax scheme to the entire U.S., and instead is jumping on board the let-corporations-rape-pillage-and-never-pay-tax neo-conservative bandwagon:
".... One thing Barack Obama and McCain disagree on is an oil windfall–profits tax. McCain is against it, on the theory that it is a tax and therefore bad, and also that it would discourage domestic production. Obama is for it, on the theory that if oil companies can make a nice profit when oil sells for $50 per bbl., they can still make a nice profit when it sells for more than $100, even if the government takes a bit and spreads the money around to those who are hurting from higher oil prices.
"Although Palin's words side with McCain in this dispute, her actions side with Obama. Her major legislative accomplishment has been to revamp Alaska's windfall-profits tax in order to increase the state's take. Alaska calls it a "clear and equitable share" tax. The state assumes that extracting oil from the tundra costs about $25 per bbl. and takes as much as 75% of the difference between that and the sale price...."
The upshot?
".... Alaska residents each get a yearly check for about $2,000 from oil revenues, plus an additional $1,200 pushed through by Palin last year to take advantage of rising oil prices. Any sympathy the governor of Alaska expresses for folks in the lower 48 who are suffering from high gas prices or can't afford to heat their homes is strictly crocodile tears...."
Of course, guys like Vasko Kohlmayer feel the opposite (see: well-written but wildly right-wing American Thinker's article "Pigs, Obama and Sarah Palin").

But if Palin was promising me a check for $3,200 a year at the expense of the oil companies that are making record-breaking profits, I might actually vote for her! You know, if she wasn't just a big ol' hog pile of wedge issues.

And now, Barack Obama explains to David Letterman that Palin is the lipstick and McCain is the pig:



And Michael Hart puts "Lipstick on a Pig Religion" in his article about preacher John Hagee (pictured below).


"A Venn Diagram of Sarah Palin's Foreign Policy" map by Daniel at the Daily Page blog:


Also, don't forget to answer CitizenSugar's "The 'Lipstick on a Pig' Riff: Pretty Funny or Ugly Politics?" question.

And remember, there's only one thing more fun than an American Election. What's that, you ask? Why, it's an American Pig Race. Duh! Everybody loves American pigs.


Photo credit: The pic featured at the very top of this post, which features a female hunter standing next to a huge American-flag decorated pig, was taken and slightly warped by yours truly -- the illustration itself is by Brian Stauffer for TIME magazine. Stauffer has a terrific graphical sense: check out his work.

Putting Lipstick on SNL, Tina Fey, Bulldogs, Naomi Wolf, and "The Real McCain"

Watch as Governor Sarah Palin (Tina Fey) and Senator Hilary Clinton (Amy Poehler) address the nation on Saturday Night Live:



Naomi Wolf talks to Riz Khan about Election 2008 politics, gender issues, and putting lipstick on a pig:


"The Real McCain" straight-talk express:



And here's a pic of an Barack Obama action-figure holding a lipsticked pig, courtesy of Greg the Bunny's Flickr photostream:

Also, thanks to Raúl Ibáñez for linking YouCanPutLipStickOnAPig.com via the "If it's Tuesday, This must be Malate" blog, in a post titled "Can you put lipstick on a pig? Apparently you can, although the pig may tend to get bored, or if you will, boared, says farmer Joel Salatin on NPR."

Of note:

Someone calling themself "Piglipstick" comments on the current "putting lipstick on a pig" kerfuffle in the post "On Pigs with Lipstick and Other Inanities" on the blog "Puttin’ Lipstick on a Pig" (http://piglipstick.wordpress.com/), which also features a post about the origin of the phrase, headlined "Source, Origin, and Cause."

And Holy Mackerel also has a "Lipstick on a Pig" blog, at http://lipstickonapig.wordpress.com/. It looks like the blog hasn't been updated in a while, but there is a post about the controversial comic-book genius Dave Sim, so I've gotta link it.

Finally, Sarah Palin puts lipstick on a bulldog hockey mom, in the Daily Show video clip below:



See Kevin Hoffman's "Was 'pitbull with lipstick' line scripted?" post on CityPages.com for more info on the traditional usage of the "lipstick on a bulldog" analogy.

NPR puts lipstick on a pig. Literally.

From the Sept. 10, 2008 episode of All Things Considered: "The phrase 'lipstick on a pig' is commonly employed by politicians including Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain, Vice President Dick Cheney and Rep. Charles Rangel. Joel Salatin, a farmer from Swoope, Va., talks about what actually happens when one attempts to put lipstick on a pig." Listen Now [3 min 29 sec]


Recent recommendations from our readers:
 
   
  
   
  
   
 


Keep sending your Lipstick on a Pig photos in to Brachish [at] gmail.com.

McCain-Palin Election 2008 Muppets; Miss Piggy Diplomacy; and Palin's Miss Alaska Swimsuit Vid

Miss Piggy and Grump Old Man Muppet as Palin and McCain 2008

I was gonna say, "Someone put some lipstick on that damn pig!" - but then I got worried that I'd sound sexist. And besides, I've got too much respec' for the comedy talent of Miss Piggy - if she doesn't want to wear lipstick while doing her best Sarah Plain and Tall Sarah Palin impression, that's fine by me.

The image above was poached from hector.acuna's Flickr photostream. And below, Miss Piggy shows off her international diplomacy skills.


And now for Sarah Louise Heath Palin's swimsuit strut at the 1984 Miss Alaska Pageant. (Yes, folks - this one is real!):


Also, artist Dan Lacey painted these new Obama and McCain Muppets up for his Faithmouse blog:


Finally, let's have a side-by-side comparison of real-life Election 2008 players versus their Muppet counterparts:



Related Election 2008 McCain-Palin Muppets post & pics:

Lipstick on pigs - and pig noses on politicians - it's photo funtime, folks

You can put Bush's face on a pig, but the pig will still start an expensive preemptive war



That's George Double-YA Bush to all you Lipstickgate war-pig haters out there in TV land.



Now for some sweet Gina Gershon = Sarah "Tina Fey" Palin comedy courtesy of Funny or Die via Blog Stage:


See more Gina Gershon videos at Funny or Die

And a couple of other choice cuts o' video pork:



(The clip above is of right-wing commentators Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy ragging on Sarah Palin while they thought their mics were off, while the clip below shows Porky Pig doing his best Bush impression)



And a Palin pic from the Doodlewhore:

Lipstick on pigs - and pig noses on politicians - it's photo funtime, folks




Ok, I admit it, I suck at Photoshop.

So help me out: Email your best Political Pig pics to brachish [at] gmail.com and I'll post 'em to this site for all to love. Be clever, not pornographic - 'k chief?

And while you're at it, leave some relevant Political Pig links in the Comments area below.

Remember: You Reap What Your Sow, Moe.

chow,

Lucas Brachish

Welcome to YouCanPutLipstickOnAPig.com.






Related Election 2008 McCain-Palin Muppets post & pics:

McCain-Palin Election 2008 Muppets; Miss Piggy Diplomacy; and Palin's Miss Alaska Swimsuit Vid

The Secret Origin Story of the Lipstick Pig - etymology & popular usage

It took me a while to find an article with all the answers I wanted, but at last I came across Ben Zimmer's entry on Slate, "Who First Put 'Lipstick on a Pig'? - The origins of the porcine proverb."

According to Zimmer,

"The concept is an old one, but... [m]any porcine proverbs describe vain attempts at converting something from ugly to pretty, or from useless to useful. The famous maxim that 'You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear' dates back at least to the mid-16th century. "
And then there's my favorite:
" 'A hog in armour is still but a hog' was recorded in 1732 by British physician Thomas Fuller. As Francis Grose later explained in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1796), a 'hog in armour' alludes to 'an awkward or mean looking man or woman, finely dressed.' Charles H. Spurgeon noted another variation in his 1887 compendium of proverbs, The Salt-Cellars: 'A hog in a silk waistcoat is still a hog'... "
Zimmer goes on to note,
"The 'lipstick' variation is relatively novel—not surprising, since the word lipstick itself dates only to 1880. The incongruity of pigs and cosmetics was expressed as early as 1926 by the colorful editor Charles F. Lummis, writing in the Los Angeles Times: 'Most of us know as much of history as a pig does of lipsticks.' But the exact wording of 'putting lipstick on a pig (or hog)" doesn't show up until much later. In 1985, the Washington Post quoted a San Francisco radio host on plans for renovating Candlestick Park (instead of building a new downtown stadium for the Giants): 'That would be like putting lipstick on a pig.'"
Finally, Zimmer points out that it was actually Texan Governor Ann Richards (archenemy of Bush the Elder and Bush the Younger) that really helped make plays on this phrase popular, with winners such as "This is not another one of those deals where you put lipstick on a hog and call it a princess" and "You can put lipstick on a hog and call it Monique, but it is still a pig."

Definitely check out Zimmer's delightfully informative "Porcine Proverb" phrase-origin article for the full scoop. And stop by the "Put lipstick on a pig" WordWizard.com Topic, an insightful message-board discussion of the origin, definition, and usage of the "lipstick on a pig" phrase and its relatives.

Also see TIME magazine's informative article, "A Brief History Of: 'Putting Lipstick on a Pig'" (by By Marti Covington and Maya Curry) and Urban Dictionary's short and offensive "lipstick on a pig" urban-slang definition.

And if you've got a lot of spare time on your hands, here are some more newsy links on the Pig Lipstick topic:


And a few more:

Hey, YOU:
If any of these links are total wasters, tell me and I'll have 'em removed. Cool. Thanx ;)



Barack Obama discusses putting lipstick on a pig with David Letterman.

Dilbert's boss uses the pig-lipstick phrase.