Max: The Gray Elephant

Okay, why gray?  There is a bit of confusion. Certainly, elephants are gray in the real world but since when have the Republicans allowed reality to intrude into their world view?  

Perhaps the Gray is, as with pink, an attempt to reach out, to show the RNC as something that it hasn't. After all, haven't they specialized in portraying the world in black and white, with no ability to deal with nuance?  Thus, is Max a symbolic attempt to GrayWash the Party into more nuance than has been seen for decades?

Going Green with Paddy?

Does the Green Elephant suddenly a Republican Party suddenly embracing of the importance for green power for a stronger American economy and for securing the nation's future?

From the RNC's fundraising email announcement the new, wonderful opportunity to get this "green" elephant.

Meet Paddy, the newest member of the Republican National Committee's family of elephants.

By the way, this is a limited time offer, ACT QUICKLY, ACT NOW!!!

Paddy is available for a limited-time onlyand is sure to be snapped up quickly.

Rush to the phones. NOW!!!!

Well, as this is "Paddy", pretty sure that this means the Republican Party is declaring where it stands on the Catholic-Protestant divide in Northern Ireland.

Embroidered with the official logo of the RNC, Paddy is a wonderful plush toy and makes a perfect gift for St. Patrick's Day.

 

Or, is this a multiple identity elephant?

Or give Paddy to the "Green" Republican in your life who is dedicated to improving the environment.

No wonder Paddy is a limited edition Elephant. With the "Green" Republican as target audience, one has to wonder if they've made more than ten.

"Dedicated to improving the environment" and Republican haven't been much of a match since the days of men like Mac Mathias. Thus, there is a good reason for making this a limited edition version as, with each passing day, Green Republicans are becoming an ever-more endangered species even though there is an identified group of the "Green GOP" (who really read as Energy HAWKS rather than focused on saving the planet.)

The GOP is reading the political environment and, just like George W Bush's false embracing of "compassionate conservatism" and seemingly reasonable environmental views during the 2000 campaign, the 2008 campaign will likely see efforts to wrap John McCain and the GOP (Gigantic Opportunistic Polluters) as somehow "Green".  Thus, Paddy, the Green Elephant, as part of Republican GreenWashing efforts.

John McCain might be the Poster Child for this Greenwashing this year.  

Yet it's hard to shake the feeling that McCain may have been more interested in using global warming to burnish his maverick reputation than in passing legislation. (TNR: Grand Canyon: The big mystery that is McCain's environmental policy)

Very simply, when it comes to Global Warming, McCain's Straight Talk is a Dirty Energy Twisted Action Delay Machine:

John McCain gets much credit for his Straight Talk when it comes to Global Warming, speaking tough even in the face of a Republican Party that seems determine to reject reality.  The Republican Base seems to trust their hatred of Al Gore more than what the data, science, and the weather all around us (US) say to those focused on reality-based policy-making.  McCain is on the record as to the need to invest in renewable power to deal with Global Warming, even in face of special-interest opposition.

Yet ... yet ... repeatedly ... when given the opportunity to take action to go along with his Green Straight Talk Express, John McCain has boarded the Black Twisted Action Delay Machine and help inhibit (rather than help) a move toward an Energy Smart future.

Next time you hear someone saying something like "McCain makes sense about global warming," perhaps you should remind them that he got a big ZERO (0) on the 2008 environmental scorecard.  Straight talk in one direction and action totally contrary to that straight talk.

Yes, John McCain is a "Green Elephant", an aging white elephant tinted green for show, but not substance.  

NOTE:  Original version posted at Energy Smart.