I usually steer clear of mixing politics with gaming, the same way I avoid beer with liquor and bitching about in-laws to my wife. They are all recipes for a headache. However, I figured the gaming community, especially American gamers who are eligible to vote (because you are going to vote, right?) should see what our candidates are saying about us.
I am of the mind that the current bi-partisan crap is broken and needs fixin’ and most politicians could use a good ass kickin’, and that no matter who you pick, he/she will end up being a corrupt asshole. But I would rather pick the less corrupt asshole…
So anyways, the candidates have tried to embrace technology by utilizing the web and McCain has a blog. Now, understand, the following comments were not made by McCain but by his blogger: Michael Goldfarb. But, McCain chose this asshat to blog for him… so you can come to your own opinion about either of them. Here is what Goldfarb the Asshat has to say about D&D players:
It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman’s memory of war from the comfort of mom’s basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others. John McCain has often said he witnessed a thousand acts of bravery while he was imprisoned, and though not every one has been submitted into the public record, they are remembered by the men who were there (one such only recently reported by Karl Rove though it escaped mention in any of Senator McCain’s books). But as Swindle said, this is a “desperate group of people trying to make something out of nothing.”
I play D&D and I am a bonified veteran of the Gulf War, even have been declared disabled by the VA BEFORE I received my Honorable Discharge, and I can guarandamntee this Goldfarb character that I would never presume to disparage a vet’s, let alone a former POW’s, memory of war. I think I can say the same of the majority of gamers I have met. Sure, there will be your occasional dickhead gamer, but these people are not exclusive to the D&D crowd. I had not made my decision on candidates either, but this will definitely garner McCain negative favor in my eyes, unless he fires this douchebag that made these comments. If you click through the links, you’ll eventually find an apology, but Goldfarb can stuff it.
Thanks to my friend Gerf for the heads up on this.
— END RANT —
thanks for posting this. I’ll no doubt post this to a bajjallion other gamers I know.
wWen I think of dungeons and Dragons, I think of those chickenhawk Neocons of PNAC, like McCain advisor Randall Scheunemann, cooking up the harebrained idea of the Iraq invasions.
@ Jonathan Yeah, I considered it my civic duty to let my fellow gamers know.
@ gasdocpol When I think if D&D, many things come to mind, but none of them involve politics. I do agree that the Iraqi invasion was cooked up and hairbrained, but I wouldn’t think about taking it out on military personnel. They have recieved the biggest shaft I can think of since, oh, Vietnam.
Though I may have been banned from military service, I tried to get in but they refused me due to medical reasons, I come from a long line of military and law enforcement people, I’m also a gamer. I have quite a few friends who did get in the military, all branches, and nearly everyone is part of the “Dungeons & Dragons crowd”. Heck one of my Marine friends introduced me to Magic: the Gathering when it first came out, way back when.
This post really p****s me off. If not for the “Dungeons & Dragons crowd”, many of whom are also computer geeks, this jerk probably wouldn’t have an internet where he could bash us.
I disliked McCain before and after seeing this I will support Bobo the Retarded Monkeyboy before I would ever vote for McCain. He may not have written it, but this guy was hired to speak(blog) for him. So it is basically the same thing.
As the son of a disabled Viet Nam vet who has been playing DND since there were lin the spines of the booklets I take great offense. I take even greater offense at the anti intellectual stance that his generalization presents to us.
In addition, I live in New Orleans. You want to see pictures of what its like 3 years after McCain’s party dropped the ball? I’ve got hundreds.
I just forwarded this link to my entire old gaming group, of which I am one of two people out of nine who has been able to come home.
-Loki, Dungeon Master
http://planejammer.com
Have you seen the ‘apology’ yet?
It’s funny. Kinda.
http://ace.new.mu.nu/apology_from_mccains_campaign_blogger
@ Geek Gazette I was a Marine myself, and MtG was played more than Spades or Hearts while we were on ship (26th MEU). If you didn’t play video games you played table top games, it helps pass the time. So yeah, there is definitely a large contingent of gamers in the military.
@ Loki I feel for you Loki, while it was not even close to the devastation of NOLA, we had some significant flooding here in the Midwest recently. It was a tragedy how the Bush administration failed to act and I am truly sorry that the area is still not even close to the grandeur I remember from spending time down there (I have a few friends from La Place).
@ Matthew Yeah, I saw the apology, but it looks baked in sarcasm to me.
I’ve been a gamer and GM, D&D and other games, for 20 years now. I am a son of a Vietnam Vet. Yes, the guy made a comment about D&D gamers in a bad light, but he’s most definitely not the first. I have heard disparaging comments from talk-show host, on TV shows and read them in magazines. I don’t let it bother me, and frankly could not tell you where I last heard or saw one. I don’t like the comment either, as I do not put down the military, and in fact support it. I also know people in the military, passed and present, that play D&D. However, because this comment was made in a political forum, it’s taken extremely badly and blown out of proportion. Critical hit! Take double damage and you are dazed until the end of the election! Most comments that I have heard are about how D&D players are juvenile and still live at home in mom and dad’s basement because they will not grow up and get a life. I know that this is not true for most gamers, but the perception remains. The amount of outrage that this comment in bad taste has generated just proves their point. Grow Up! The guy posted an apology, let it go. Vote your conscious, not your outrage. Everyone thinks this blogger is running for President! How stupid is that? If you think McCain reviews everything that people post on his websites, you are mistaken. Most gamers are leaning toward Obama anyway so don’t act like this comment made you decide on Obama, because if it did, you are a sad human being.
@madbrewlabs. All valid points, I also think a better review should be done, but logistically, it’s probably impossible for the candidates to review every last comment to be posted. They have people that are supposed to do that, and apparently, they dropped the ball. Yes, the apology should be posted next to the original post.
While I think you have the right to vote however you like, and you have a valid point that neither candidate is the best choice (when is any candidate the best?), but you still have to vote responsibly and vote the issues that are important to you. While I am not happy with every policy and action of the Bush Administration (who is ever happy with everything?), I cannot in good conscious vote for Obama, where his policies, in my opinion will increase the torture as you put it. So in my case, I will take the steady torture that I know, than the sure increase of torture that I don’t know. 😛
Yes, you are right, the sad human beings are either not voting at all, or worse, are complaining about the election after not even registering to vote. They don’t even realize that not voting is still a vote for the winner.
Good luck to you on your vote madbrewlabs, and here’s to more people registering and earning the right to complain. 🙂
@ Scott The amount of outrage this comment has generated is actually pretty negligible in the wide spectrum, as opposed to the amount of outrage generated by any dumbass comment made by any politician and/or their ass puppets. So I don’t think getting pissed off about it proves any point.
Yeah the guy posted an apology, but I didn’t see it on the site in plain view like the original comment. But what exactly is he apologizing for? That he was wrong, or that his comments pissed potential supporters off?
Perhaps McCain, as well as any other politician, should fucking review everything that is posted on his website. After all, they are supposed to be his views, his platforms.
I should probably make it perfectly clear that this single comment by McCain’s jack-ass blogger didn’t suddenly make me jump into Obama’s camp. In fact I do not truly like either candidate. I think it is going to come down to the choice of the “Devil You Know” or the “Devil You Don’t.” A Bush-clone or a different kind of asshole? And since I have had 8 years of Bush, I think I would like to change my form of torture please.
Notice: All the sad human beings are currently voting for the next american idol instead of registering to vote for the presidential elections.
UPDATE: Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro has officially responded to Goldfarb’s comments. Check it out at Wizards’ site: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/4news/20080828