Tuesday, January 08, 2008

The Simpsons Goes To Town On 2008 Primaries

Unfortunately I missed the Simpsons this past weekend (partly on account of the fact that I do not have a television) but I would have loved to see them rag on the current primary season. According to the article from the Boston Globe, the half-hour show made fun of the system and the candidates without pulling any punches. Basically due to Homer being Homer, the town decides to hold their primary before New Hampshire, and then all hell breaks loose.

From The Boston Globe:

Highlight: An animated Bill Clinton character is pounding a "Hillary" sign into a yard and complains to a screaming voice on his cellphone about how many more he has to do. "What did I ever do to you?" he implores. More screeching from the cellphone, apparently including the words Monica Lewinsky. He says something along the lines of, "You're never going to let me forget that are you?"

The people of Springfield quickly grow weary of all the attention, and in rebellion decide to support the most ridiculous candidate they can envision. At Moe's tavern, someone suggests Dennis Kucinich. Ouch, since he's actually a real candidate in the Democratic race. A pint-size Kucinich character happens to be in the bar and complains that he's being dissed.

Finally, they settle on 8-year-old Ralph Wiggum, the not-too-bright son of the police chief. Lisa, of course, is mortified. "Oh, dear God," she exclaims. But eventually she comes around, after Ralph talks about helping people and making sure the US plays nice and doesn't fight anymore with foreign countries.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties also decide to support Ralph, who at show's end is sitting on the knee of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington like he's Santa Claus, telling Honest Abe, "I've been a good boy."


Twenty years after starting this cartoon and it still rocks!