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Ummm…I don’t get it…..what do fallopian tubes and Senator Ted Stevens, R-AK have to do with the Senator’s comment about the internet? I’m not being critical – please don’t take it that way – I just don’t get the reference.
Never mind the Bollocks.
I don’t get the reference about being an “internet sysop”. Uncle Dave is at least an internet co-op.
#1: Click on the internet sysop link. Stevens described the Internet as tubes. The T-shirt shows fallopian tubes. Get it? Tubes?
#2: Stevens’ utter inability to understand the most basic things about the internet make hm the worst possible person to be a sysop. Hence, irony.
I hate it when I have to explain jokes.
Thanks Uncle Dave. You said what I wanted to but without the blantant cursing and humiliating comparisons to farm animals!
Uncle Dave:
Sorry about that; I just had to show off how hip I am because I know what a sysop is.
Senator Ted:
You are not the sysop of me.
Falloopian tuuuuubes…
(voice of Homer Simpson)
Flippancy aside, “tubes” are one man’s metaphor to perceive a technology far beyond his perception. It has been opined any sufficiently advanced mechanism will be seen as magic so kudos to the Senator for not confusing the Internet with cargo planes. I believe the analogy most accurate for him (as has been suggested) is to the department store communication system of yesteryear. While totally inappropriate, it is all that is within the Senator’s comprehension.
Why should we be shocked at ignorance in high office?
Does anyone with intelligence actually believe “the jury is still out of Global Warming”?
Is there a credible scientist in the world who seriously questions the theory of evolution?
How can a sane person actually believe there was any intelligent design in the invasion of Iraq?
“Yo Blair”, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job” and then there is “Harriet Meyers for the highest court in the land.”
Of the Middle East, Korea and the oil economy… is it wise of US citizens to sit silently watching while a child plays with matches and awaits the rapture?
Ignorance is too kind a word. Aptly Ted Stevens is from Alaska yet he merely displays the tip of the iceberg.
Bob, if you’re saying people from Alaska are unintelligent, would you prefer to be raped in this thread or on the Cage Match message board? I’ll gladly kick your ass in either place.
While I’m not a fan of the old man, the ignorance of the people posting on this Blog is getting pathetic.
i agree with comment 8. stevens is a “stooge” “a-hole” etc… ect..”? hes also a war hero and a person who dedicated his life to public service. yes hes an 80 year man who like most ppl born before 1950 struggles to totally and completely understand the technologies that have transformed out lives. but the fact he was speaking in a terms of his own and not some staffers or lobbists shows he has at least thought about this. and without the support for programs like darpa which stevens has been a major supporter of going back 35 years there wouldnt even be an internet for you snobby whinnie pricks to bash him on endessly without ever looking him in the face as you cowards do it.
#9. Oh, get real. The man is a Senator. One of the most powerful positions in our government with control over our lives. He has people on his staff who are young enough to understand. And if he doesn’t, he can hire people who do to teach him. Being old is no excuse. If he wants to be involved in issues he needs to understand them well enough to understand the consequences of his public utterances and his votes. One of the reason this country is such a mess and the rest of the world thinks we are idiots is because our elected ‘leaders’ don’t understand these consequences (or do, but are getting too much in payoffs from lobbiests, etc to care) on a wide range of subjects.
Dave, you’re missing the point: No one is going to defend Stevens’ lack of knowledge or inability to present an argument without sounding like an old man on a rocking chair outside of a gas station.
However, to say the people of Alaska are unintelligent as a whole because of this one man is pathetic. First, he brings home more fat than any other Senator (by far), which the vast majority of Alaskans believe they’re entitled to (and as a former Alaskan, I agree with). Second, if you look at the state of the telecommunications infrastructure in Alaska, the point Stevens poorly made was right for the people he represents.
Looks like its time for my “In defense of…” post in the Cage Match.
The shirt is funny except that it’s message is the one that wants to tie up the internet. Sen. Stevens’ approach is closer to a hands-off approach, while the net neutrality people are the regulators.
James,
People from Alaska are very bright indeed to reelect Stevens as he’s a pig farmer extraordinaire!
Read carefully as the post defends the Teddy boy by espousing the position (and supporting it with examples) ignorance in high office is not unique to Senator S.. By the way, ignorance is not the same as stupidity. I’ll refrain from offering a caricature of a stupid politicians at this time while I ask you to carefully connect the dots as to who said:
1. “Yo Blair!”
2. “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”
3. “…Harriet Meyers for the highest court in the land.”
And to make this easy, which national figure:
4 believes “the jury is still out of Global Warming”?
5. questions the theory of evolution?
6, claims intelligent design in the invasion of Iraq?
Still too subtle? When referring to N Korea, the Middle East and an oil based economy, who fits this description: “a child playing with matches awaiting the rapture?
If you guessed “Shrub”, you double score because he’s “Stupid” too.
Now for the bonus round…
Ted Stevens made an “ignorant” statement (as in unfamiliar with the facts) about the Internet — BUT his mis-speaking merely represents the tip of the iceberg of politicians making critical decisions with virtually no knowledge. (Ted is allowed to be an iceberg tip metaphor as his is the only state – Alaska – that can claim frequency of and familiarity with icebergs.)
Now then, if Senator Stevens is but the glistening tip… where’s the actial location of the massive berg that can sink the ship of state? Looking for something white up the street at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
its not about getting real.. stevens is famous for not “reading” prepared statements and shooting from the hip… i think the whole tubes thing is the shit… yes he comes from the “tubes” era and got mixed up and like most of the old dudes in the senate needs to go out and on to whatever senators go on to… but to diss an honorable man who has always tried to do his best for his country… a man who has serviced his country the best he could… is like kicking a man when he is down.. and on line or on comedy central that seems to be the cool thing to do…and as a computerist that bugs the shit out me…. you ppl hide behind the internet like cowards hiding behind a bully.. you think that jack ass on cc would make fun of a returning vet from iraq like that? he wouldnt do it to his face without getting his ass kicked off… and ill bet stevens who was a “flying tiger” could kick that jack asses ass any day.. anyway
faustus
Thank you for conveying the Cro Magnon perspective.
And, while we are at it, Faustus, a bridge to nowhere is indeed “servicing” his country.
If you’d like that reference explained drop an internet down the tube and I’ll get back to you.
Clearly being a vet doesn’t make anyone immune from stupidity or criticism. And age doesn’t protect legislators or make them immune from responsibility. If that, and inflating the deficit with pork are your best defenses for Stevens then it’s clearly time for him to retire. And yes, it does reflect on the people who elect him.