It's getting close to school picture time!  Who remembers their high school senior picture? Silly hair, outlandish clothes, ... embarrassing after we grow up, right? 

Unfortunately, our herd instinct is strong, so we keep falling for goofy fashions just because lots of other people are doing it.

Fashion trends come and go, even in politics.  TPC sat down with veteran political fashion commentator Giles McFruity to get his thoughts on political fashion disasters from the last decade or two.  Here are his notes on some embarrassing political fads.

Pink, um, Hats

These had a rather vulgar name at the time, let's call them 'female genitalia hats' instead, shall we?  I never really understood what this short-lived protest was about, I suspect most people who were in it didn't either.  Maybe they just had nothing better to do that day.  In any case, their time passed and the oddly shaped pink beanies are as popular as beanie babies now.

Defund the Police

Looking back - who thought this was a good idea?  You certainly can't find anyone now who thinks it's a good idea.  Even at the time, it seemed liked everyone who was for Defunding the Police wanted it defunded in someone else's neighborhood.  I don't recall the NFL players wanting to defund the police protection at their games - am I right?  Just like bell-bottoms and bowl cuts, we look back at ourselves a little while later and laugh - 'what was I thinking?'"  Maybe we'll get a resurgence of this one sometime soon - how does 'Defund the DOJ' sound?

Occupy Wall Street

Oh boy - the 'pet rock' of political fashions!  A few college kids camped out and got free food for a couple weeks.  I personally think it was an assignment for Protesting 101 at NYU.  Were they expecting Wall Street to just ... what?  It's not even clear what they wanted or expected to happen, but they said it was all the fault of the upper 1% of the population.  Turns out that 1% was the group paying for their free food.  That's ok - it's fashion, it isn't supposed to make sense.

Autonomous Zones

A couple years after the Occupy movements, a similar fad started up: in the middle of ongoing riots, a group would declare itself an 'Autonomous Zone' that wasn't subject to the laws of the land.  They didn't seem to think they were subject to any laws, so it just (predictably) became a crime hot spot. Eventually the police had to go in and start cleaning up the bodies.  In retrospect another silly idea, but folks get caught up in it all and forget themselves.  Remember big hair?  'nuff said.

Racist Dog Whistles & Hand Signals

AOC is like the Lady Gaga of political fashion - always very cutting edge.  But when you look back, you kinda go 'huh'?  She wasn't the first one to mention 'white supremacist dog whistles' but she made it popular.  Once she mentioned it, it was everywhere for a little while.  Some secret racist cabal was letting people know what dog whistles to listen for and what gang signs to use to identify fellow members is the thought, I guess.  Like all fashion trends, hot for a while but petered out and we're now allowed to flash the 'A-OK' sign again.  I was hoping this fad would last long enough for me to get a secret decoder ring.  Wait a minute!  'A-OK' ... 'AOC' ... who was leading that secret cabal....?

Ah, yes. The Autonomous Zones. Places where people didn't have to pay attention to local laws and could grow their own vegan food. A kind of impromptu commune in the middle of a city. Of course, those wanting to grow the food had no idea how to do it. In Seattle, the attempt was made using cardboard laid out flat, with an inch of top soil on top and the planting of seedlings. The seedlings were all dead within a week because the geniuses had no means to water them without leaving the Autonomous Zone. And the warlord gangster who took over the role of policing the zone, with his AR-15 armed gang of rapists, wasn't particularly keen about accommodating that idea. I do wonder if any of the young idealists involved learned anything about why, for millennia, people have preferred structured society.

For every young idealist that gets xer/xim's eyes opened, Universities generate 3 more to replace xer/xem.

Oh, and the dog whistles are back:
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022 ... de-racism/

The fashion for male wrestlers to declare themselves women may eventually vanish, but the priceless memory of you beating up girls while the crowd cheered will live with you forever.

The good old Occupy Wall Street.

Here's OWS meets whistles.

Comrade Panem Et Circenses -

Once again, your equal contribution has made it to the Motherpage. Please celebbrate responsibly and don't forget to share beet gruel and vodka with your comrades.
 

Congratulations Panem. Two Mother Page entries in a row.

Forelocktug,
‘pelipsky

I am honored and humbled to be of service to the collective.

Wait - I have to share my extra rations?

What is this "extra" you speak of, and where is our cut?

Ivan the Stakhanovets wrote: ↑

9/30/2022, 9:53 am

What is this "extra" you speak of, and where is our cut?

You mean there’s more? The joy of such a thought.

Panem Et Circenses wrote: ↑

9/30/2022, 7:57 am

I am honored and humbled to be of service to the collective.

Wait - I have to share my extra rations?

Perhaps we should all move to Siberia, comrade. Word is that Siberian families are being rewarded the luxuries of one sheep and a certain amount of potatoes for every one of their Heroic™ sons who never made it back from the Great Heroic Invasion™ of their peaceful neighbor to the west. I've seen a photo but haven't been able to find a confirming news report anywhere. Who knew the Motherland still had such luxuries? To obtain them, apparently, all one need do is sacrifice your sons to Vladimir The Great.

This calls for cranking up the generator at Tractor Barn #2. Do the party bags have whisles in them?

You know, I just looked up "whisle" and kept getting "whistle." It's pretty clear that Elon Musk is behind messing up all the progressive algorithms.

Komissar al-Blogunov wrote: ↑

10/31/2022, 7:07 pm

You know, I just looked up "whisle" and kept getting "whistle." It's pretty clear that Elon Musk is behind messing up all the progressive algorithms.

Stop complaining and just whisle while you work, comrade.

Kapitan Kangaroo Kourt wrote: ↑

10/31/2022, 7:21 pm

Komissar al-Blogunov wrote: ↑

10/31/2022, 7:07 pm

You know, I just looked up "whisle" and kept getting "whistle." It's pretty clear that Elon Musk is behind messing up all the progressive algorithms.

Stop complaining and just whisle while you work, comrade.

But for that I'll need a whisle™.  Which People's Dry Goods Store has whisles™?
 

All of them, comrade. It's extra protein and much appreciated.