As Violence Escalates in Iraq, Hillary Holds Press Conference on Violent Video Games
Hot on the heels of the release of the Iraq Study Group Report — and a day in which 10 U.S. servicemen were killed and at least 84 Iraqis were blown up or shot — prospective presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will join with Joe Lieberman to hold a press conference today at 3 pm ET to announce the launch of a television PSA campaign about… video game ratings.
Oh. My. God.
The violence in Iraq is becoming more savage by the minute — among the dead yesterday were 45 bullet-riddled corpses found in Baghdad, many of whom had been tortured before being executed — and Hillary is worried about video game violence? Are you kidding me?
Could she be any more politically tone deaf?
Unfortunately, given the realities of the space/time continuum, I won’t be able to make it to Washington in time for the press conference — so could someone there please ask Hillary about her priorities?
Is she really going to make a big deal about Resident Evil or Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas when we have real tortured and mutilated bodies piling up all across Iraq?
This press conference should be rated UC — Utterly Clueless.
I like Hillary only because republicans hate her more than anyone ever. Other than that I don’t like anything much about her.
What is wrong with trying to curb the mindless violence that is condoned in the home, just because it is on a screen?
Sometimes it is better to start at the bottom and work up in order to solve the big issues. Maybe if there were less fired up people in front of playstations, there may eventually be less fired up politicos at the top, eventually.
Not that any one politician will ever get enough time to make a real difference. As you were, then, fire away mindlessly…
I played Mario Brothers, and then got violent with mushrooms and turtles.
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Let’s see: you have Dubya, Algore, Gomer Pyle Kerry, Hillarius, The Manuchurian Candidate, Brownback…. I have to wonder if there isn’t some sort of secret society that runs both parties because everyone on both sides seems to be nuts. It’s all become voting for the lesser evil.
#27 – You do realize that Star Wars is just as real as An Inconvenient Truth. They’re both pretty well developed pieces of fiction.
I think Mucous is on to something. The presidential candidates lately have been ….lacking to say the least.
as a registered democrat i pray that my party has the sense not to nominate this woman.
this anti-violence in video game nonsense reminds me of anti-porn activists, gun control activists and patriot act supporters — they all want to destroy the constitution to satisfy their own narrow view of the public good.
stupid people one and all.
Pullllleeeeeeaaaaassssseeeeee!!!!!
Give me a break already.
Why can’t someone have a focus on more than one issue. To say that Hillary is more concerned with gaming violence than people getting killed in Iraq is just plain stupid. Why is it that some people out there want to spin this stuff out of control. Yes, Hillary is concerned about Iraq. Whether I agree with her or not, why can’t she ALSO be concerned with gaming violence?
And Mucous, An Inconvenient Truth is NOT fiction. If you read what EVERY scientist is saying about global warming, who is not on the payroll of some oil, chemical, or other company who stands to profit from pollution, you will see that global warming is a problem that should have been attended to thirty or more years ago.
Labeling is a feel good policy for politicians. Labeling something as violent doesn’t stop violence. The labels are not for the kids but for the parents. Do the labels help the parents in providing the right environment for their children? They can but only if parents use them.
As #18 said, parenting takes involvement from the parents, not the politicians.
16 I always have to laugh at the illogic of the paradigm that goes:
How can they ____ when ____ is so much more important.
I strongly agree with RGB, and similar comments from others.
Otherwise, where would it end?: We can’t discuss ways to prevent what happened to James Kim from happening to someone else, because it would distract our attention from the war?
And why the concern about the war? Dubya says we are winning…. 😉
I wish more politicians spent more time on domestic issues which is why this from Hillary is annoying because there are far more important domestic issues than video games. She picked a safe, easy target rather than get her hands dirty. On the other hand, I guess after Bill, she’s got something against the BFG he wielded.
#38 – do some reading yourself. Just recently a petition signed by over 100 leading climatologists in Canada was submitted to the gov’t complaining about media spin re: manmade Global Warming (TM). A number of leading US experts (many of whom work for nice liberal universities – not oil co.s) just testified before Congress in the last few days on the very same problem.
There’s not even real consensus on whether ice cores are a reliable way to estimate historical temps. If you do believe the ice cores, then how does Global Warming (TM) explain the fact that Earth was warmer in 200BC and 1300 AD than it is now?
If you also believe that America is the Big Bad Wolf, why is it that our CO2 emissions have increased 16% since 1990 and we didn’t sign the Kyoto while European emissions are up 30-40% in the same period and they signed? When faced with the real world those countries realize that actually implementing Kyoto would destroy what’s left of their economies.
Global Warming is happening. Global Warming (TM) is not. The most fictitious item of all is the so-called “consensus”.
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I don’t think video games are the problem, they’re the solution. Why doesn’t someone write a good, bloody shoot-em-up where the characters all the members of the Gov’t. Everyone could take out their frustrations on whoever they want.
It isn’t that Clinton shouldn’t be concerned about this issue when there are more important issues…
It’s that no one should waste time on non-issues…
It is as if she was asking to pass a law supporting gel style toothpaste or saying that bran muffins weren’t allowed to pass a certain size… It’s just… well… stupid.
On top of that, these politicians don’t know anything about video games and they don’t seem able to learn about them. Its as if they were weighing in about cricket or Elizabethian poetry or why teenage girls like Lindsey Lohan…
Yes, even though Americans (and Brits and Iraqis and others) are dying in Iraq, we should still be multitasking and working on health care, education, energy, tax issues, etc…
But this is a panderer’s issue. There is no compelling interest in video games on the part of the federal (or state or local) governments, apart from issues related to regulating trade practices and enforcing copyrights.
That, and no one cares about this issue, and she’s bringing it up anyway… Actually, what worries me is that no one cares about this issue…
I recall when the GTA:SA flap occured that I tried to get leaders in the local organized gaming community (which is surprisingly large) together to brainstorm about making some sort of unified statement in support of Rockstar…. and I was blown away by the apathy I was confronted with…
“politicians just do what they want.”
“nothing we do matters”
“no one listens”
All self fulfilling prophecies if you ask me…
And fuck it… GTA:SA is one of the best single player video games ever made. Except for Sid Meier’s Civilization games, I’ve logged more hours with GTA:SA than any other single player I have ever played. And as an adult, goddamnit, I have a right to.
And I care why?
#44 – I don’t know, Walter… But I’m sure your concern isn’t required for other people to be interested… But thanks for your useless input.
41. R. Reagan: “There you go again.”
“…Hillary is annoying because there are far more important domestic issues than video games.”
I’m not inclined to check into the video game issues at this time so I’ll simply rely on the obvious which is that video games are practically addictive to children; they can influence their view of how the world works; that video games are capable of condoning the worst possible human behavior imaginable; that empirical evidence shows that kids can get access to video games no matter what parents or anybody has to say about it; that video game programmers can be relied on to be more interested in their fiscal bottom line than the welfare of children; that children need protection from the worst of these sorts of games; and that parents need every little bit of support they can get to ensure their children are not being harmed.
Unless these parents have a relative inside Iraq, guess what issue is more important to them?
RBG
I agree … Kudos to the poster of this story ! DEAD ON!!! Not that Fiengold is out there’s no one left for the Dems IMHO … Impeach and Indict!
#34……I hope your being sarcastic in your comments.
If your not, your a bigoted son of a bitch.
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#50: It’s been deleted for violation. For some reason I missed it first time through.