goulo: is metrospy real or a spoof?

russ (

goulo) wrote,
@ 2004-11-28 12:28:00

is metrospy real or a spoof?
http://www.metrospy.com/
Is this site real or a parody? It seems very over-the-top, with merchandise like the t-shirt to "Support our Marine who Shot the Wounded Insurgent". There are plenty of sites that pretend to support one political group but are really spoofing them to make them look bad, but usually those sites have some clear tell-tale winks like a link to Landover Baptist... Metrospy makes no such clear wink. Plus they sell some non-over-the-top rightwing stuff like bumperstickers for Bush along with weird bumperstickers like the "Conservative values" sticker with icons for Christianity, straight family, fetus, flag, and gun that has a stylized ironic look to it. And Our Story is simultaneously over-the-top, yet like some swaggering rhetoric I've seen on right-wing sites. I also noted some of the pull-down menus to select t-shirt size have prices of $0, which makes it seem not real after all, but then it nonetheless fills in the order form with $17.99 as quoted in the descriptive text, so maybe that was just a technical glitch. So I haven't decided if it's a for real rightwing site, or a leftist spoof trying to make rightwingers look bad, or some apolitical guys who are just trying to stir up controversy and get attention. Anyone know more about them?

Poll #392934 is it for real?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

is metrospy.com for real?

View Answers

Yes, they are edgy hip slick rightwingers
4 (36.4%)

No, they are edgy hip slick leftwingers spoofing rightwingers
5 (45.5%)

No, they are just apolitical people trying to create controversy and offend people
1 (9.1%)

Damned if I can tell, it's totally ambiguous
2 (18.2%)

Temas pri mistera retpaĝaro kiu vendas tre dekstremajn varojn, ekzemple t-ĉemizon kun tekston "Subtenu nian Marsoldaton, kiu Pafis la Vunditan Insurgenton"... mi ne povas decidi ĉu ĝi estas reala, aŭ parodio. Ili ankaŭ vendas ordinarajn varojn (ekz glumarkojn por Bush) kaj la retpaĝaro havas neniujn klarajn indikojn ke temas pri ŝerco por parodii dekstremulojn, do eble ili sinceras. Aŭ eble ili vere estas nepolitikaj kaj nur volas ofendi homojn kaj gajni atenton. Ne klaras!

(Post a new comment)

It's a farce -- and poll doesn't work for Macs

zainybrain
2004-11-28 10:46 am UTC (link)

http://www.metrospy.com/cgi-bin/cNc/showPage.plx?db=metrospy&pid=7
From reading this page I deduce that the site is inciting humor against the right. You can indeed probably buy the materials and wear them, whether ironically or putatively is your decision. But I'm guessing the folks who made the site are progressive politically and very black in their humor.

I couldn't get your poll to work for me, btw. I never got to a screen that let me vote.

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: It's a farce -- and poll doesn't work for Macs goulo 2004-11-28 10:49 am UTC (link)
	http://www.livejournal.com/poll/?id=392934&mode=enter - does that link take you to the poll? This is just a standard lj poll, so I don't think I did anything funky. (Other than erroneously using checkboxes instead of radio buttons :) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: It's a farce -- and poll doesn't work for Macs jaylake 2004-11-28 01:05 pm UTC (link)
	Poll worked for me on a PowerBook... (Reply to this)(Parent)

	cowquat 2004-11-28 11:31 am UTC (link)
	I would have voted if "Damned if I can tell, it's totally murky" was an option. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	goulo 2004-11-28 11:34 am UTC (link)
	Damn my carelessness. First I use checkboxes instead of radio buttons, then I forget to use the m-word. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	willyumtx 2004-11-28 12:21 pm UTC (link)
	My guess is that it's not real. Not real in the sense that it's not designed by the Religious Reich. The fetus looks like an alien. There are misspellings in the text. My overall feel. "I sense wackiness." --- channeling Counselor Troi (Reply to this)(Thread)

	goulo 2004-11-28 12:41 pm UTC (link)
	I agree it's not designed by Religious Reich people, but a lot of it sounds like non-religious right talk to me. It seems like if it was just a spoof, it would be more consistently over the top, instead of a mixture of over the top stuff and ordinary merchandise for Bush etc. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	willyumtx 2004-11-28 12:48 pm UTC (link)
	It's also from California. Hmmmm. But who knows? It's all so murky. sigh (Reply to this)(Parent)

	jaylake 2004-11-28 01:02 pm UTC (link)
	The Christmas cards with the freedom quote from George Orwell seem a bit much, too. (Reply to this)

venaja
2004-11-28 01:23 pm UTC (link)

I really am not sure. While neo-cons do say things that are hilarious (take Ann Coulter for example), it's usually funny because they sound serious while being over the top. This site, on the other hand, has genuinely funny lines like:

Over the past few years, MetroSpy has become America's premier right-wing, neo-con, attack brand. We take orders directly from high level government officials and politicians. MetroSpy IS the vast right wing conspiracy. Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney, Don Rumsfeld all spend time plotting the new world order on the MetroSpy ranch compound.

It seems incongruous with the professional appearance of the webpage.

On the other hand, I doubt a spoof site would take the time to sell genuine merchandise. If they do, then it's possible that it's just a bunch of neo-cons with a sense of humor.

(Reply to this)

hxaosanto
2004-11-28 01:42 pm UTC (link)

Some of the t-shirt pictures are obviously Photoshopped (logos that don't bend with the fabric, etc.). This isn't a sure BS indicator, though; just something I noticed.

THe site looks damn good. Nice design, layout, colors, etc. I'm sorry, but conservatives don't have good design skills like that.

It's in California. This could explain the above, because there are, like, 7 conservatives in CA and one of them could be a web designer.

It's too much. A true neo-con is also a hard-right-wing Christian. I was there once - I was a far right-wing Christian survivalist "Bush I" supporter. There's no way they'd use a fetus image like that; it would offend their sensitivies and be considered extremely crass and bad form by other far right-wing Christian neo-cons. (See? Having come from there, I know how they think! :-) )

It's a joke site, I think.

I don't have a credit card. Who's brave enough to order a t-shirt and one of their free bumper stickers?

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	gwalla 2004-11-28 08:46 pm UTC (link)
	Actually, California has quite a few conservatives. They tend to be spread out in the large, less populated inland counties, so they have little influence compared to the liberals who dominate the coastal metropolitan areas. California's current governor is a Republican. Not all of the state is the San Francisco bay area. More's the pity. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	La Ĥaosanto (Anonymous) 2004-11-29 07:58 am UTC (link)
	I don't have a credit card. giggle Not old enough? Not smart enough? Not rich enough? giggle (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: La Ĥaosanto hxaosanto 2004-11-29 12:33 pm UTC (link)
	Plenty old enough. And smart enough to know that they're trouble and the cause of many of Americans' difficulties with debt control. And I know plenty of poor folk with credit cards, so what difference does that make? This will be my last reply to any anonymous posts in this thread due to your obvious lack of maturity and interest in serious discourse. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Free test? shaevel 2004-11-30 08:08 am UTC (link)
	Did I see correctly that you can get a free bumper sticker by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope? That seems like a simple, cost-effective way to test if the site is for real. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	(Anonymous) 2004-11-28 03:01 pm UTC (link)
	I can answer that! We are definitely NOT edgy, hip, or slick. - Metro (Reply to this)(Thread)

	hxaosanto 2004-11-28 09:00 pm UTC (link)
	How do we know? You posted anonymously, so we can't verify your comment. If you're really from Metrospy.com, post from an IP which is within the same subnet as the webserver (I hope goulo has IP logging turned on in his LJ config). (Reply to this)(Parent)

	mastermetrospy (Anonymous) 2004-11-29 08:00 am UTC (link)
	mastermetrospyneedinstructionforthissite! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	earthbound01 2004-11-28 06:03 pm UTC (link)
	I think they are trying to promote conservativism. I've heard things like it said on the radio, on television. There are different types of conservatives, like the religious fanatics, the "socialism is evil" cold war holdovers, and hillbillies. This one is for the "I hate liberals" type, the kind that just want to start shit with people that have different beliefs than them. (Reply to this)

	mikeydapikey 2004-11-29 08:57 am UTC (link)
	Not sure if it's real without ordering something. But it is damn funny. It reminds me of a bumper sticker in this movie I watched over the weekend "saved", which I am tempted to find: "Jesus loves you, but everyone else thinks you're an asshole!" Priceless.... (Reply to this)(Thread)

	willyumtx 2004-11-29 10:18 am UTC (link)
	"Jesus saves sinners. And redeems them for valuable prizes!" "Jesus died for our sins. Make it worth his while." (Reply to this)(Parent)

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