White People Mourning Romney

whitepeoplemourningromney.tumblr.com.

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

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peregrinus

yes kids, 2012 was the year the emotional and ideological paraphenalia of the 1950s finally started eroding from the average consciousness.

Then we all started to understand what had been happening all along.

Boy, were we pissed.
- Hofmann
  
  What does that even mean? And you spelled paraphernalia incorrectly. Maybe there should be a tumblr called “Boing Boing readers posting comments while high”
  - blueelm
    
    Why? There’s already disqus dashboard.
  - TheKaz1969
    
    do any of us post while NOT high?
    - strangefriend
      
      Obama beat Romney LIKE A DRUM, SIR!
    - joeposts
      
      No…
  - peregrinus
    
    kthxbai
  - BrotherPower
    
    Oh, stewardess — I speak jive. Let me have a crack at this…
    
    I think what peregrinus is saying is that the outdated attitudes and so-called traditional values (cough*whiteprivilege*cough) of the “good old days” are finally disappearing, or at least abating, from enough of our electorate that the old GOP playbook just isn’t operable anymore. And that what we saw on Tuesday was just a harbinger of the enlightenment to come in this country. (Maybe?)
    
    I’m not sure I’m quite as optimistic as all that, but I’m a damn sight more optimistic than I was on Monday. :)
  - eldritch
    
    It is phrased as if a comment from the future, made by an eldery citizen who was alive in 2012, speaking to the youth of that future date.
    
    Presumably by “emotional and idealogical paraphernalia of the 1950s”, they are referring to the sorts of values held in the 1950s which continued on in various forms to 2012. The sort of values being referenced are probably things like racism, sexism, imperialism, militarism, jingoism and blind patriotism, laisez-faire capitalism and corporatism, homophobia and xenophobia, etc.
    
    Please note in the 1950s, blacks were still being openly lynched, women couldn’t hold a great number of jobs (and received far more unequal pay than today for those they could), Latin America was just a big ol’ playground for the US government to bully around and exploit, the atomic bomb was all the rage, pollution was largely ignored, disposable consumer culture rose to prominence, and you could lose your career, your freedom, or even your life for being gay, being far left-leaning politically, or simply being publically accused of either.
  - kiptw
    
    I understood it just fine, even though there was one r missing from the message, and even though it started with an uncapitalized letter. It uses metaphor.
plyx

Poor little guys. I hope they weren’t so distraught going home that they tripped over a pile of money and precious gemstones trying to get in the door of their mansions.
- hymenopterid
  
  That’s OK. They probably feel bad for us confused liberals going back to our secret Muslim welfare mansions to smoke pot and take our birth control that was paid for by their good Christian job creators.
  - Supernumerary
    
    Speaking of which, you’re all invited to my gay marriage abortion party. Bring your own pot.
- http://www.youtube.com/user/Freethinkersanon Christopher
  
  I laughed at that, but I think we’re also all painfully aware that a lot of middle class and even poor (sometimes a very fine distinction) voters cast ballots for Romney.
  
  If it really only had been the voters who could really afford Romney’s policies the gap would have been much wider, and we wouldn’t now have to contend with conspiracy theories about how military absentee ballots have really won Romney the presidency.
  - Quiche de Resistance
    
    first you LOL’d…
- Quiche de Resistance
  
  It’s enough to make you go Gault. (Willie Gault, bottom left #83. That’s the pose I would’ve made at my repub friends, if I had any.)
  - ChicagoD
    
    Love the Shufflin’ Crew.
nvlady

http://whitepeoplemourningromney.tumblr.com/post/35225807503/http-images-politico-com-global-2012-11-12114-rom

Is that Kevin Kline?
- plyx
  
  I seriously doubt it. Unless maybe he was doing some IRL trolling.
http://celesteagnes.blogspot.com/ Sekino

Makes me think of an article I read yesterday about republicans who were tweeting that they’d move to Canada.

Head. Desk.

I know they pride themselves in being ignorant, but you’d think that surely, by mere accident, they’d have heard about our established gay marriages, legal abortions and evil French-soshulist province.
- TooGoodToCheck
  
  Yeah, but Canada has that GWB-era atmosphere of a kind of decent place being run into the ground as quickly and painfully as possible by the conservative not-quite-majority
- mccrum
  
  If you enjoyed the “move to Canada” crowd, you’re really going to enjoy this story from an Australian paper:
  http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/technology/fail-anti-obama-teen-wants-to-move-to-australia-because-we-have-christian-male-president/story-fn5kfsdd-1226512853271
  - LinkMan
    
    I think most of the “I’ll move to Australia” crowd on twitter is making reference to Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, wherein the protagonist resolves several times to move to Australia. I don’t think it has anything to do with Australia’s politics.
    The girl in that particular article, however, simply appears to be an idiot.
    - TheKaz1969
      
      they just need their mothers to tell them that some days are like that… even in Australia.
- http://newnumber6.livejournal.com Peter
  
  I assume they remember people saying they wanted to move to Canada when Bush Jr. got reelected, and Canadians being very sympathetic, and we somehow got this reputation of “Cool place that accepts people who are pissed off by their electoral results.”
  
  The problem is, we were all welcoming of those people wanting to flee Bush because we UNDERSTOOD them.
  
  Romney supporters? I can’t speak for all of Canadians, but I can speak for myself:
  
  Please find another country to escape to.
  - Andy Simmons
    
    Too bad that the only other country they can just pack up the Escalade and drive to is Mexico. And we all know how Republicans feel about THOSE guys.
    - TheKaz1969
      
      it should be easy for them to find someone to do their landscaping…
      - Donald Petersen
        
        Heh. I hope and pray they discover that Carlos Slim needs new landscapers for his estate… y’know, in case they need to find work to keep their visa current.
  - http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
    
    I second that rejection!
  - Rachael Hoffman-Dachelet
    
    Short of converting to Islam and moving to the middle east there isn’t really any place for them to go though. Seriously, everywhere is more liberal than here.
    - Antinous / Moderator
      
      I understand that Russia is rapidly returning to medieval values.
- Shinkuhadoken
  
  Presently, Canada is led by a Tea Party compatible prime minister who is dismantling environmental protections to sell Alberta’s oil, weakening the federal government so Alberta doesn’t have to share its boon with anyone else, ending universal health care (it’s coming just wait), slashing social programs, deregulating banks, lowering taxes for the wealthy, decreasing rights and protections for immigrants and refugees, expanding the prison system, and implementing increased power and protections for Christians. It’s Paul Ryan’s wet dream Canada-style.
  - http://ae4rv.com/ royaltrux
    
    God, I hate that mindset. Good luck up there.
  - http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
    
    Lookit past elections following conservative majorities.
    
    Canada can turn on a dime in these conditions. Given that his majority is slim and his damage potential great, I think that is what will happen.
  - http://celesteagnes.blogspot.com/ Sekino
    
    I’ll give you that: They’d probably get a little taste of home were they to move to Alberta…
  - SomeRandomCitizen
    
    You guys elected Ronald Reagan prime minister?
- cellocgw
  
  not to mention poutine.
  - http://celesteagnes.blogspot.com/ Sekino
    
    That they’d probably fully endorse. I mean we’re talking about people from places that have chunks of biscuits in a bowl of gravy as a breakfast option in Burger King (at least last time I traveled through there)
GawainLavers

How racist! I would enjoy pictures of sad black, latino, asian Romney supporters just as much, although I appreciate the greater challenge in finding them…
- nevimvul
  
  I’m glad I’m not the only one offended. I didn’t support Romney, but if Obama had lost, would anyone dare posting pictures of black people mourning?
  - GawainLavers
    
    I’m not seriously offended. And oh yes, people would dare…
    - Donald Petersen
      
      I’m not even unseriously offended. What was it, 88% of Romney voters were white?
      
      88% of nearly half the electorate is a whole lotta sad white folks. I’m glad to be a relatively chipper white dude this week. After all, when all is said and done, how many things haven’t gone my way in my lifetime?
      
      I’m one lucky futhermucker, I tell you what.
  - wysinwyg
    
    Prepare to be further offended: Stuff White People Like.
    
    As a white person who has never been subject to worse discrimination than being called a “f*****” I find both SWPL and the linked tumblr to be hilarious rather than racist.
    - nevimvul
      
      SWPL is different. It is in jest and self mockery. The motivation for this feels more like playground-esque ‘neener neener’.
      - wysinwyg
        
        I’m not seeing the difference you’re seeing. Maybe your psychic powers are more developed than mine.
      - travtastic
        
        Ha!
  - Navin_Johnson
    
    Romney fans have been posting pictures all over facebook of black people celebrating while they post endless racist comments about them….so yeah…..tough s..
    - wysinwyg
      
      I was having a conversation with my father where he said some racist-sounding shit and was trying to defend himself. Here’s the defense:
      “I don’t see much difference between white supremacists and people voting for Obama just because he’s black.” Neglecting the really bizarre equivalence between people arming themselves for the inevitable war against anyone who isn’t white and people voting for bad reasons I can’t understand how he just ignores the thousands, maybe millions, of white people voting for Romney just because Obama is black.
      - Cowicide
        
        Yeah, your dad is ignoring all of us that wanted to reelect Obama despite him being black. /s
      - Navin_Johnson
        
        Yeah it’s a typical narrative. The right wing probably wonders why women are turned off by them too…..
        
        Must be reverse-sexist…..
        
        There was a brief period on Wed morning where I felt like it wasn’t nice to rub it in, but that was before the avalanche of racist memes and narratives started pouring in from the losers. F them.
  - http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
    
    I think they would definitely do that.
  - Lurking_Grue
    
    Can you find a black Romney supporter? That might be a MUCH shorter tumblr.
    - eviladrian
      
      The Black People Who Heard Lincoln Was A Republican And Assume Things Just Stayed On Track For The Last 150 Years tumblr?
  - SomeRandomCitizen
    
    Obama didn’t run (or lead) on an agenda of marginalizing everyone who isn’t like him, so it would lose a lot of the humour…..
    - kiptw
      
      But the GOP fervently believes he did. They probably believe they heard him say it on TV.
      
      Projection is their ‘tell.’
jandrese

The ones I saw were more along the lines of “I hope you stocked up on food and ammo, end times are upon us!”

I couldn’t help but to respond that they were right, and society was going to collapse into total anarchy just like it did 4 years ago, except without the ongoing financial disaster this time.

I also like when people tweeted that the government was going to kill us with debt if we don’t put Republicans in power. I couldn’t help but to point out that if you want Republicans to care about debt, you need to put a Democrat in charge.
- http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul
  
  I’m sure that Serious People are aware of, and monitoring, the fact that ~~it was immediately after Clinton’s reelection that the Oklahoma City plot was put in motion.~~
  
  Browsing around right wing web forums right now is basically bathing in violent “internet tough guy” talk about civil war. Most are meek dipshits in real life, but there are bound to be real sociopaths among them, and the psychotic ranting of the whole crowd must make it harder to distinguish those who are truly planning something terrible.
  - http://www.gyrofrog.com/ Gyrofrog
    
    Huh? OKC was a year-and-a-half before Clinton was re-elected.
    - TheKaz1969
      
      And timelines have mattered to conspiracy theorists how, exactly…?
      - http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul
        
        There was no conspiracy to bomb Oklahoma City? Well that’s a relief.
      - TheKaz1969
        
        No. I mean yes. I mean, but.. I guess.. well… *sigh*
    - http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul
      
      You’re right – I thought it was 1997.
- mccrum
  
  Good to know, I’ll start selling them precious metals stamped with Jesus Dollars and retire before the 21st of December.
- Lurking_Grue
  
  They were ok with a tax cut while going to war that wasn’t on the books.
  
  They talk about Obama supporters wanting free things but I think they are projecting too much.
webstu

Three years ago, anyone could have told you — unless something strange happened – that Romney would be the likely GOP nominee, and that he would probably lose against the incumbent.

After years of campaign/media propaganda about how things were neck-and–neck… that’s exactly how it turned out. For the exact same reasons that anyone could have said three years ago. Mitt’s a rich jerk, and he’ll be tied to Congress GOP obstructionism, whereas Obama is a semi-inspiring figure and Democrats appear to be (at least) trying to help everyday folks.

You can say how close things were all you like, but when the obvious outcome is the actual outcome, it’s nothing to be surprised about.

So, I’m calling 2016 right now, and yes, I am as serious as a heart attack:

Jeb Bush loses a “neck-and-neck” race against Hillary Clinton. Due to the Democrats’ increasingly powerful coalition of people who aren’t white/old/male voters, and Republican’s unwillingness to stop hyper-focusing on that same group.

Bracing myself for another 4 years of foregone conclusions.
- ChicagoD
  
  Job Bush won’t lose to Hillary Clinton. She’s not running. I’m not sure who is, but it won’t be her.
  - mappo
    
    Elizabeth Warren 2016 – first woman president!
    - ChicagoD
      
      And Native as well!
      
      Sorry. Too easy.
  - webstu
    
    Or so she says right now. Just wait…
- Ito Kagehisa
  
  Jeb Bush versus Hillary Clinton in 2016? That’s so plausible it makes me feel physically ill. God forbid we should let anyone with any new ideas run.
  - Donald Petersen
    
    The parties must have merged with the movie studios.
- http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
  
  If it all holds together long enough for a significant number of boomers gone bad to die or stop voting, I predict Renaissance.
Rider

I find the over the top exuberance of the Obama supporters equally as funny/dismaying.

Not sure if I’m just getting, if it’s social media adding to the hype, or if it has gotten worse, but the whole my side verses your side aspect of politics seemed out of control this time around.

Maybe it’s because both candidates were kind of “meh.”
- TheKaz1969
  
  I think it is more encouraging that referendums on gay married passed, recreational pot use was approved, religious school funding was rejected, forbidding state funds for insurance which covers abortion was rejected, tuition funding for undocumented immigrants was approved, tax increased for education was approved, an openly gay woman was elected to the senate, several of those with extreme (to put it kindly) views on rape and women’s rights were defeated…
  
  I have my doubts as to whether President Obama will pursue the agenda the Liberals and Progressives would like, but at least the electorate is showing which direction they want the country to move in.
  
  Baby steps.
- wonderseal
  
  It’s amazing how excited people can be when the person who was almost certainly going restrict their rights is defeated.
  
  I’m glad the candidates could be “meh” for you, but as a lady-person, yeah, I’m gonna be exuberant that someone who thinks I don’t have rights to my own body got roundly defeated. And everyone’s gonna hear about it, ’cause we’re sick of this oppressive shit.
  - franko
    
    speaking as a gay man: hear hear.
knoxblox

So many truly butt-hurt faces amongst the ones who are just merely disappointed.
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1515015318 Missy Pants
  
  Its so wrong, but I giggle at their crying.
  - http://about.me/alfiedude Alfie
    
    I’m ashamed to admit it, but so do I. :D
http://twitter.com/nagmay Gabriel Nagmay

Make sure to also check out:
blackpeoplemourningromney.tumblr.com
http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair

I’ve compiled a list of conservatives on another twitter acct…about 200 so far. They’re tearing themselves apart

http://i.imgur.com/DvjXG.gif
mysterymoil

I heard FEMA was handing out honkey hankies.
Cowicide

Romney just lost and I think I might be gay!
- hymenopterid
  
  Either that or the acid just shifted gears on him.
Richard Pusateri

I am not exactly sure who or what “white people” are, however a whole bunch of people described that way voted for Mr. Obama.
- Navin_Johnson
  
  Ah, but they weren’t the only people to vote for Obama… Illustrated very starkly by the crowd shots of the DNC vs. RNC, and Obama party vs. Romney party….
  - ChicagoD
    
    Well, to be fair, Romney’s party was in Boston and there are no minorities in . . . wait, what? There are? Huh.
    
    I haven’t see a crowd that white since Apartheid fell.
    - blueelm
      
      I thought this was more what the tumblr was about. Not so much making fun of people for being white, but just kind of like… wow… that’s a lot of white people. Because when you see that many crowd shots it kind of becomes uncanny.
      - ChicagoD
        
        Striking that I can say that there is a black guy in a cowboy hat in one picture. I mean, the cowboy hat is kind of unusual, but the blackness should not be.
    - http://mjfgates.myopenid.com/ mjfgates
      
      You didn’t look at any pictures of a Republican rally during the past four years, then. Dunno about Bush, but *every* Republican crowd I’ve seen since 2008 has been.. not just white, but PASTY white. You get maybe two black people in the crowd, and one of those is filming the candidate in case he says “macaca” or “47%” or “legitimate rape.”
- Ito Kagehisa
  
  As I always tell my pink and brown children, white people are albinos, and you shouldn’t mock people’s medical problems.
  - ChicagoD
    
    “Pink?” You know about sunscreen, right?
    - Ito Kagehisa
      
      As a melanoma survivor, boy do I ever! I am very careful to avoid becoming red.
DreamboatSkanky

I read “White People Mounting Romney”.
- http://profiles.google.com/greeneggsandsamuel Sam Archer
  
  Oddly, you’re not the only one… I think this is better though.
- TheKaz1969
  
  that would have been if he had won…
- Monkey_pants
  
  No, that’s the inevitable porn spoof.
http://newnumber6.livejournal.com Peter

I’m not opposed to a little delicious schadenfreude now and then, but… I wish they’d leave the kid ones out of it. At that age, they probably don’t really understand issues at all and are sad at little more than “the team that was chosen for me lost” and “my parents are sad”. I don’t support making fun of that.
- Finnagain
  
  Yes, but do you remember that lovely little image of Santorum conceding his race years ago? He trotted up his whole brood on stage, crying little girl and all. Christ, what an asshole.
- ChicagoD
  
  The other thing about those kids is that in Boston is was probably 11:15 or so when reality set in. For every kid there that was certainly past bedtime. Not sure if you’ve ever dealt with a kid past bedtime, but they can be emotional.
  - http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
    
    It’s true, the kids were more likely to be crying for being there at all. Talk about a yawnfest after the big room full of people novelty wears off (about 10 minutes.)
- mappo
  
  It’s OK, the kids will be fine.
  
  When I was a little kid in the eighties, I was so relieved when Reagan won reelection. All I knew about politics at the time was that he was the president, and “the other guy” was someone new and strange. It’s kinda weird thinking back and remembering feeling that way about ole Lizard Brain, but we were all young and stupid once.
  - Donald Petersen
    
    I had my own moment like that in 1976, when I told my mom she should vote for Gerald Ford. She didn’t listen to her damfool kindergartener son then, and I’m happy to state that my opinions have earned a bit more of her respect in the years since.
Finnagain

These people and their grand ol party have been acting like complete assholes for years now, and they deserve all the pointing and laughing they got coming to them. I feel absolutely wonderful that they are so upset. I just hope that they learn their lesson: Running a moderate is always a bad idea! Palin/Bachmann, 2016!
- ChicagoD
  
  Palin/Bachmann 2016?
  
  Face lifts and crazy eyes for all!
  
  USA! USA!
  - TheKaz1969
    
    ha! dare we dream..?
thecardcheat

Missed the “Black people rejoice for Obama” article.
- Navin_Johnson
  
  Sniffle…sniffle…
OohErMissus

Never, ever, has my freude been ever so very schaden….
http://grumer.org/ Avram Grumer

This seems like a natural for combining with Sad Don Draper.
http://twitter.com/chrisjimson chris jimson

Wait. . . isn’t “white people” mourning Romney kind of. . . redundant? Or at least obvious. Show me “black people mourning Romney.”

What do you mean there aren’t any photos of that?
- http://www.genreville.com/ Josh Jasper
  
  http://blackpeoplemourningromney.tumblr.com/
  
  HTH. HAND.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Nell-Anvoid/100002383626402 Nell Anvoid

I’m an old white guy in his 60s. I try to live by the golden rule and my Christian principles… but…damn….I’m having a VERY hard time suppressing an overwhelming sense of gloating and shadenfraude as I see these photos.

Shame on me.

(Anyone have more?…) :)
- http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul
  
  Today’s Diane Rehm Show on NPR is a full hour of hilarity from four tea party strategists explaining how Romney really won except for the slut vote.
  
  http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-11-08/whats-ahead-republican-party
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Drop/100000929402049 Robert Drop
  
  I’ve not been feeling any real joy over the election results – the vote was far closer than it should have been in a rational universe, as far as I’m concerned. When I first started looking at the pictures, I felt weird and bad for these people – that they were sad and that they wanted Romney to win (which is disturbing). Then, for some reason, after seeing these hyperbolic “the country is dead, everything is shit now” sorts of statements by them, I actually started feeling some serious twinges of schadenfreude.
http://twitter.com/Kra1d Alex

Who’s gonna take care of these poor white people and their asinine privileged values? Truly heartbreaking. ; ___ ;
travtastic

White people, keep fighting and maybe you’ll get equal rights one day!
Felton / Moderator

Mitt, meanwhile…
Uppitynproud

Too funny watching the Teavangelicals finally realize they are not a majority.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Otis-Farnapple/100000235293358 Otis Farnapple

Wow – Those expressions look like the night my friends and I learned Ronald Reagan was elected… Well, the shoe is on the other foot now, we survived and so will they.
- cdh1971
  
  When Ronald Reagan was elected, I was almost 11 years-old. I was born in CA, and we lived in CA until 1974 until my parents moved us to Oregon. My grandma lived in Fairfax, she moved up here in ’75. Reagan was the CA governor from ’67 to ’75. Reagan fled the state when the Watts Riots happened and former Governor Jerry Brown had to step in to handle things.
  
  My parents and g’ma burst out laughing when RR was elected, the same as when he gained the nomination. They were _not_ supporters of Reagan the governor or presidential candidate.
  
  The if you can’t laugh you’ll cry thing I think. But if Romney was elected, my fam and I would not have been crying, but would have had a reaction similar to the guy in the attached pic.
http://thisisonlya.blogspot.com robcat2075

A lot of those look like they could just as well be disappointed Cowboys fans.
Culturedropout

Whaaaa whaaa whaaa whaaaaaaaaaaaa. (How the hell do you indicate descending tones in ascii text, anyway?) I’m quite pleased with the way the election and the votes on gay marriage and pot turned out. In fact, I think I’ll go look at the depressed rich white conservatives again, while Drunken Facebook Woman plays in the background… XD
Cowicide

Oh boy… found some that look like a certain grumpy cat family…

http://whitepeoplemourningromney.tumblr.com/image/35285819046

http://i.imgur.com/pxyFL.jpg
Monkey_pants

I honestly don’t see what is so pleasurable about these photos. All the expressions of horror indicate is how deeply divided the country is. I’m the thousandth person to complain about how much the tone of political discourse has coarsened lately, but it’s true. I have a hard time feeling good about that, no matter how much I politically disagree with the Romney-mourners. I wish people would make some kind of attempt to take the high ground.
- Finnagain
  
  Ahem. I can only speak for myself, but I find it highly enjoyable to watch as reality, with its known liberal bias, comes crashing down on their heads. They have been living in the echo chamber of fox noise for so long that they didn’t have a clue that what fox was peddling was complete bullshit. Maybe a bucket of cold water was what was needed.
  - Monkey_pants
    
    I do get the pleasures of shadenfraude, but I don’t we need to pretend like it’s a good idea to indulge in it. I don’t think losing an election is going to make any of them “wake up.” They’ll just take comfort in the fact that 47% of the country agreed with them and the rest are “brainwashed.”
    - Finnagain
      
      If we don’t mock them, however will they learn?
      
      Just kidding! They are never going to learn. They will just keep believing the same garbage as their little party becomes littler and littler. And this is the best possible outcome as it will guarantee that they keep losing elections. Double down, derpers!
      - Monkey_pants
        
        I get what you’re saying, but I’d prefer to be optimistic and take the approach that many of them cling to fears that stem from ignorance. Ignorance can be fought, but ignorant people rarely change their mind because the people that they perceive to be their enemies mock them.