Obama Effigy Burned by Right-Wing Students in UK

[Hissyspit]

Source: MSNBC

Obama effigy burned by right-wing students in UK

msnbc.com
updated 3 minutes ago

'Burning an effigy of anyone is offensive, let alone the first black President of the United States. The overtones are deeply unpleasant,' lawmaker says

An effigy of Barack Obama was burned by members of a Conservative party college student association in Scotland, after its committee chose the U.S. president over the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, a student official told msnbc.com.

- snip -

A source told msnbc.com that a number of the committee members were Americans who support the Republican party.

St. Andrews University, which was founded in 1413 and was attended by third-in-line to the throne Prince William, said it planned to speak to the Conservative group about the "very understandable concerns" over the incident.

In a telephone interview, Patrick O'Hare, a student official, said the Students' Representative Council had voted by 13 to 2 Tuesday night in favor of a motion that burning effigies of public figures was not constructive.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45413573/ns/world_news-europe/#.Ts0C82D4bqE

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. "Parliament shall make no law...."

.

[GoCubsGo]

2. "The last thing a truly modern party should be doing..."

Looks to me like the wing nuts in the UK live in the past, just like here.

They had a vote on who they'll burn in effigy? Wow, that's really fucked up. Can't wait to see which school's Young rethuglican group sees that and starts doing it, too.

[Historic NY]

3. Foreign American Republican students burn effigy.

[wial]

4. Scotland gave us the KKK lest we forget

although she also gave us Robbie Burns so they're not all like that!

[provis99]

18. the KKK was created in Tennessee, not Scotland.

geez, what weird idea is going through your mind?

[boppers]

21. I can explain this one.

Lots of imagery from "Birth of a Nation" came from the writings of Walter Scott.

Info here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Scott

[provis99]

23. Birth of a Nation was done by D.W. Griffith, not the KKK.

You have managed to confuse me even more.

[boppers]

26. The invented cultural back-story came from there,

The KKK is a fabrication based on invented mythos.

[Tom Ripley]

30. The cracker aristocracy used Scott's turgid romances as justification

for their "Noble Cause"

[RainDog]

31. Griffith was a klan supporter - he was also from the Tenn/KY area

that was taken over by a lot of Scotch and English settlers who brought their cultural baggage with them.

[muriel_volestrangler]

25. Only 30% of St. Andrews students are from Scotland

Unusually for a Scottish university, more of its 6,000 undergraduates are from the rest of the UK (36 per cent) than north of the Border (30 per cent).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8753788/St-Andrews-University-sets-36000-degree-fee-for-English-students.html

And given the unpopularity of the Tories in Scotland 16.7% of the vote in 2010, probably even less than 30% of the Conservative Association are Scottish.

[PatSeg]

5. Sigh

Somehow I thought their conservatives would be more civilized than our conservatives.

[Tx4obama]

22. Article says ''... number of the committee members were Americans who support the Republican party"

n/t

[jmowreader]

28. They're conservatives...

Being civilized is not something conservatives know much about, no matter where they're from.

[No Elephants]

34. Things to that effect are posted at DU often.

But, it sounds as though our conservatives may have been involved.

[dballance]

6. Who Cares? They don't vote here and...

the GOP is doing it's best to limit absentee voting so the GOP assholes over there may not have their votes counted anyway. Screw them.

[apnu]

7. It matters because the GOP moaned about Bush being burned in effigy.

As you may recall Bush was burned in effigy all over the world during his 8 years of squatting in the White House. And the conservatives pissed and moaned about it constantly. They said its insulting to all Americans and all that rot. To them, burning a effigy of Bush is akin to burning the American flag. And, to a point, they are correct. The President is a symbol of the United States, much like our flag and to burn it makes a unmistakable and bold statement.

So if they aren't lying hypocrites the conservatives in the U.S. will say something. If they're silent, well they prove their hypocrisy. That's why it matters.

[razorman]

8. I could be wrong, but I don't remember many here complaining about the Bush effigies being burned.

It is wrong either way. People are shitheads everywhere.

[apnu]

14. yeah, you are right. Every side has assholes.

My point is: If the GOP is going to stand on the higher moral ground, they either have to denounce the effigy burning or else wallow in the pits with the rest of us sinners.

[T_i_B]

32. This is why I can't get worked up about this.

I didn't get worked up when effigies of the last US President were burned so I can't get worked up when a bunch of jumped up toffs burn an effigy of the current US president.

[No Elephants]

35. .I feel no compulsion to be sorry about Bush getting insulted. I don't

imagine FREEPers who were upset about Bush are too upset about this.

[hugo_from_TN]

10. Hypocrisy exists on all sides

I don't recall many on DU decrying the Bush burnings.

[russspeakeasy]

11. I complained. I was disappointed that they burned the "effigy".

I hate him and I hate his mother for having him.

[provis99]

19. Bush was an evil man; Obama is not.

Geez, that's like equating burning an effigy of MLK and burning an effigy of Hitler and then complaining both sides do it.

[Ter]

20. No it's not

Bush is not Hitler and Obama certainly isn't MLK.

[No Elephants]

37. Provis did not say Bush was Hitler. S/he gave an example. that's all.

It's still false to say we are hypocrites unless we are treat both burnings the same.

I'm not sorry shoes got thrown at Bush in Iraq, either.

[No Elephants]

36. Provis is correct. False equivalency. Please see also Reply 35.

[Tempest]

13. Apparently you didn't bother to read the excerpt posted here

A source told msnbc.com that a number of the committee members were Americans who support the Republican party.

So yes, they do vote here.

[CountAllVotes]

9. Message to students in Scotland burning an Obama effigy

GO FUCK YOURSELVES! :argh: :mad:

Is that crystal clear yet?

:kick:

[onehandle]

12. Time to bomb and invade the UK?

Wait, few brown people, less oil.

Never mind.

[freshwest]

15. Just continuing their meme, been posting pictures of lynching Obama since 2009.

And echoing their heroes like Glenn Beck. Obama's like JFK in that respect, the Koch brothers - John Birch Society - etc. cabal sure has the nastiest mental imagery running through their heads. Hopeless.

:thumbsdown:

[mainer]

16. And they hanged Nelson Mandela's effigy, too?

Nice little college club. Maybe they should be booted from prestigious St. Andrew' for conduct unbecoming.

[IcyPeas]

17. The article also says:

______
A source told msnbc.com that a number of the committee members were Americans who support the Republican party.
_______

And not that it makes it okay, but they have burned effigies of many others before.

[toddwv]

24. I couldn't find any other source for that.

The effigy burning apparently has a fairly long history. One story said that American students said that the act was offensive. Apparently the entire organization votes on who to burn.

[24601]

27. Race shouldn't be a factor here at all. The bigger insult would be

to imply that Obama is entitled to special treatment over what a white politician would receive.

AKA the not-so-subtle racism of low expectations.

[entanglement]

29. Meanwhile our own reich wing-nuts are unhappy they didn't think of it first

[No Elephants]

38. These seem to be our own reich wingnuts, having "fun" abroad.

[dogfacedboy]

33. Who cares what these UK scumbags think about anything?