Ron Paul in Sasha Baron Cohen's "Bruno" Poll

[thasre]

I don't see this as a negative thing. It's funny, for one thing, and Sacha Baron Cohen has pranked even more "respectable" people on his tv show before. I don't imagine people can hold it against Paul for being unsuspecting. If anything it shows he's kind of guileless, which is nice in a politician.

For another, it's the sort of thing that liberty-minded people shouldn't really disapprove of, I think. People don't have a right not to get bad press. I guess you could argue that they probably got Paul's consent to be in the picture through underhanded tactics which is fundamentally anti-libertarian, but at the same time, it's kind of a "victimless crime" when you make a movie that is designed to embarass random people for comedic effect. It's kind of rude, but not really unjust, IMO.

Finally, it doesn't sound like anything Ron Paul said or did is could be considered that homophobic by anyone except the most die-hard left-wing gay activists. I mean, he was coerced into an uncomfortable situation where he was kind of sexually harassed and he's pretty entitled to having a strong emotional reaction. He didn't insult "Bruno" directly, or yell at him, or make a big scene, he just used the word "queer", which isn't even that much of a slur. I mean, gay people use the word queer for the academic study of homosexuality (queer theory). In all, he handled the situation a lot more tactfully than most people would, I should think.

 

[Xchange]

Has anyone issued a Fatwa....



just kidden

 

[yaz]

Theres no option on this if you are exactly 20!

Yeah, I'm 20 so I couldn't vote for that part.

 

[newbitech]

31-40
strongly disapprove

to all Ron Paul's close network. wake up and get a clue! you all should be ashamed of yourselves for letting something like this happen to Dr Paul! again I say WAKE UP Ron Paul inner circle! This is the kind of prank that you pull on a 20 something at a birthday party with one of those rent a cops.

Don't let this kind of crap happen to Dr. Paul ever again!@

 

[Madison]

I don't get why Sacha picked Ron out of all the potential congressmen...

Probably because RP supporters are extremely loyal to RP, pretty much unmatched to anyone else in DC, and also tend to be more "conspiratorial" than others and would complain about this being some sort of smear attempt and in many instances have a strongly negative reaction. Cohen likes to upset people so there really wasn't a better choice when you take that into consideration.

 

[blocks]

Probably because RP supporters are extremely loyal to RP, pretty much unmatched to anyone else in DC, and also tend to be more "conspiratorial" than others and would complain about this being some sort of smear attempt and in many instances have a strongly negative reaction. Cohen likes to upset people so there really wasn't a better choice when you take that into consideration.

Also...considering Paul's presence online. Look at all the talk about his movie that's occurring right now simply because of Dr. Paul's "scene." I post on multiple message boards of varying topics...basketball, hip-hop, etc...theres a topic about this whole thing on a lot of them. Lots of RP supporters as well!

 

[sajorojas]

This is bad news baby

 

[Knightskye]

Ron Paul shoved "Bruno" out of the way on his way out. I'm sure it'll be good publicity.

 

[tribute_13]

I honestly think it would be funny but it was obviously made to hurt his image.

What bugs me is that Benton set him up. And before you get your panties in a bunch Benton probably wasn't responsible for setting Barr up with Borat but he should have saw it coming since he saw it happen to Barr to begin with.

 

[dr. hfn]

We need to strike back at Cohen! Seriosly, lets get him good. We need a thread to start brainstorming

 

[Matt Collins]

but at the same time, it's kind of a "victimless crime" when you make a movie that is designed to embarass random people for comedic effect. It's kind of rude, but not really unjust, IMO.

I wouldn't call it a "crime" but it definitely isn't "victimless" either. One could make a reasonable argument that these sort of pranks put people into unreasonable situations and portray them in a negative light to a national (worldwide) audience. That's essentially defamation, even though maybe not meeting the legal threshold, but it absolutely harms the person involved by way of bad press. PR is expensive and actually can indeed be quantified in real dollars. The cost of "fixing" a gaffe like this by launching a reactionary positive PR campaign out of necessity is expensive.

Finally, it doesn't sound like anything Ron Paul said or did is could be considered that homophobic by anyone except the most die-hard left-wing gay activists. I mean, gay people use the word queer for the academic study of homosexuality (queer theory). In all, he handled the situation a lot more tactfully than most people would, I should think.

Yeah I know several gay guys who have called themselves "queer" without any problems with it. Somtimes it's like younger black people calling themselves "the n-word" without any problems either. It's all in context and being "offensive" is sometimes how it's said, when and where it's said, not specifically what is said.

 

[Matt Collins]

We need to strike back at Cohen! Seriosly, lets get him good. We need a thread to start brainstorming

I have an idea.. we'll wait until winter and then pelt him with snowballs

 

[Matt Collins]

What bugs me is that Benton set him up. And before you get your panties in a bunch Benton probably wasn't responsible for setting Barr up with Borat but he should have saw it coming since he saw it happen to Barr to begin with.

I don't think Benton has enough savvy to be able handle these sort of things properly. Look at his inability to deal with the media during the campaign. I've witnessed that first hand and know dozens of others (some of which are very well known and influential) who would agree with me on that point.