Bert Is Evil

It's been coming in all day. Bert and Bin Laden. Lindqvist.com has the best explanation, I think. Even FOX is reporting on it now. Bert is unstoppable.

Comments

Legal recourse?

[Xerithane]

The scary thing about this is I'm sure the original Bert and Bin Laden was meant as a joke, as is Bert and Pamela Anderson or Kevin Costner.

Hopefully no one is going to attack whoever made the original because Ignacio has stated it wasn't his intent nor does he find it humorous.

I know someone who used to play Counter-Strike as 'USAma Bin Laden' and always was terrorist. After the attack he felt very bad about the joke and changed his name. I have to say that I feel bad for these people who do something pre-attack as a joke or whatnot and now have people criticizing them when a month ago today would have found it funny.

Re:Legal recourse?

[quinto2000]

it is funny. demonizing somebody will never help you defeat him. this makes bin Laden more understandable. all humor is fundamentally gallows humor, and it serves a useful societal purpose.

Does the Middle East get PBS?

[Desus]

I know it's funny. and I'm supposed to laugh but....
Does Sesame Street even broadcast in the largely Islamic countries where these posters are popping up?
I've heard every theory about why Bert is on the posters, but (stick with me here) Maybe they don't know who Bert is? Most of us have grown up watching Sesame Street but I wonder if the same holds true in the Middle East.

Just a thought.

Parody

[sdo1]

From the Fox news article...

"Sesame Street has always stood for mutual respect and understanding," a spokeswoman said. "We're outraged that our characters would be used in this unfortunate and distasteful manner. This is not at all humorous.The people responsible for this should be ashamed of themselves. We are exploring all legal options to stop this abuse and any similar abuses in the future."

Now tell me exactly what are they going to do? Sue some random guy at a protest on the other side of the world?

Or maybe they've forgotten that parody is a protected form of fair use and free speech.

-S

The Age of Irony is Back!!!

[MagikSlinger]

In a BIG Way! :-)

Re:This makes a twisted sort of sense

[quinto2000]

I don't think there was any conspiracy, but I do think that Ernie and Bert were meant to be positive role models of a "non-traditional" family. It might not have been explicitly homosexual. It helps for kids with two dads though.

Re:This makes a twisted sort of sense

[AndroidCat]

The Teletubbies are just dupes of the real ring-leader of the operation: Barney!

Re:THE CIA IS OBVIOUSLY BEHIND THIS

[Yorrike]

This brilliantly shows the contrasts of the cultures involved this conflict.

In the radical Muslem culture, if the community doesn't like someone, they'll amass on the streets and burn flags and effigies of those they target their hate towards.

Here in the geeky section of the western culture, if we don't like someone, we make T-shirts saying so and then go about doctoring photos with the GIMP or Photoshop to make it look like whoever we dislike is guilty of conspiring with muppets.

Some may even go as far as to devote entire editions of their respective websites slandering not only those who we dislike, but the whole damn situation.

A nice contrast if you ask me :)

Why did they make the Bin Laden poster at all?

[Peter Harris]

I ask this with respect, so please excuse my ignorance.

They're muslims right? So they are forbidden to make images of people. Or have the rules changed since the days when muslim art was all beautiful calligraphy and geometry?

Even if modern muslims tolerate neutral representations of people, making posters of people to glorify them is surely very close to idolatry, no?

Not that I have ANY doubts at all about the hypocrisy of any murderer claiming to be doing god's work - that goes without saying. But maybe
all those who sympathise with OBL should take a step back and look at what they are supporting: certainly not Islam.

Now we're Slashdotting Google

[mikosullivan]

When I did the search it appeared on the first page of pictures. I bet Google rankings for images are partly based on click-throughs. So, thousands of readers form Slashdot and elsewhere search Google for the now-famous picture of Bert and Bin and its rankings go up.

Folks, we live in a really weird world.

Educate yourselves without asking questions?

[Blackwulf]

I continue to be shocked by the short-sightedness of most Americans when it comes to international affairs. Was someone really so surprised by the revelation that kids in Afghanistan don't watch the same TV shows as kids in Iowa that they moderated that comment Insightful?
Citizens of a democracy have a responsibility to educate themselves. Citizens of a democracy that bombs other countries have a responsibility to educate themselves about those other countries. Americans, please get a clue about the rest of the world before it's too late.

Sarcasm On

Yes, everybody. Be sure to educate yourselves on the other countries.

However, asking questions trying to educate yourselves on the other country is NOT a valid way to educate yourself. You should know it all before asking any questions.

sarcasm off

I felt that the question asked (do they get PBS) was a VERY valid question that I was even asking myself. Just because you know all the answers doesn't mean that everybody else does.

What mindset is needed?

[gotan]

As it emerges, that bert apparently appeared on the real poster, i wonder what kind of mindset the person has, that put him there. I think the practical joker approach is out of the question, since making practical jokes including bin Laden are probably quite deadly with fundamentalists. Nevertheless, that muppet sitting next to bin Laden looks quite funny, so to include it in the poster it's maker either didn't think at all, doing just what he was told, or he didn't dare edit/censor anything that included bin Laden. It's those kind of mindless followers, doing only what their superiors tell them, that empower people like bin Laden.