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This Is What Happens When the GOP Tries to Get In On the Meme Game

By Vivian Kane | Twitter | July 31, 2016 |

By Vivian Kane | Twitter | July 31, 2016 |


As memes and GIFs slowly but wholly become a major form of communicating ideas (I’m not complaining, although emojis can still go screw), it’s becoming harder and harder to fake your way through a lack of understanding the medium. When corporations tried to relate to the those fellow youths through the use of cool Twitter stuffs, John Oliver skewered them. And now we’ve clearly reached the point of needing a similar skewering for professional and political accounts.

While failing to understand and utilize memes isn’t just a Republican failing, there are more than a few Conservatives who should probably be working full time to poach (or at least take notes from) Clinton’s interns. Because the GOP’s history with memes has ranged from totally idiotic—

To just plain racist.

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Like, REALLY racist.

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You, as people who take a strong disliking to any or all things happening in the world, are probably familiar with the “this is fine” webcomic. It’s like Kermit Drinking Tea (internet for passive aggressive disapproval) but with the denial cranked up to eleven.

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This is the kind of thing that can be used for any situation ranging from a personal-level work annoyance, to a low-investment shorthand for watching the RNC and feeling a deep-seeded terror when imagining what the worldwide ramifications of a Trump presidency would mean. Unfortunately, the GOP doesn’t seem to understand that in this specific comment, they are always and forever playing the role of the fire. When they try to recast themselves, well… it’s just missing the mark, isn’t it?

By their nature, memes are mostly anonymous creations. However, this one blurs the line between comic (a piece of art) and meme (whose entire point is to be repurposed to fit different scenarios). And it DOES have a known creator and source: K.C. Green’s Gun Show. And when Green saw how his art was being used, he took the highest road possible. He didn’t attack Trump for using his work without permission, since he’s accepted that as the nature of the meme world. But that doesn’t mean Green isn’t going to tell you when you’re clearly using his work for evil. Or at least for the exact opposite of the purpose for which it was created.

Yes, I firmly believe that the term “eat me” can be used on the high road.

Oh, and as an extra bonus dig at the GOP, the political cartoon site The Nib DID pay Green for a response to their usage.

Extra extra bonus: If you’d like a way to support Green and/or own an awesome thing, he’s apparently working on a (not yet up) Kickstarter for this beauty: