View Full Version : Assholes who were able to re-brand their image to reclaim fame, power or money
Evan Wiener
03-01-2009, 05:38 AM
Bendis is right about Norman Osborn being able to reclaim a position of power, regardless of his past life as a supervillain fighting Spider-man.
Brian explained on Word Balloon that many people who had a fall from grace seem to find ways to re-brand their image to get them in positions of power again.
Just as an example: Rush Limbaugh is all over cable news this weekend, delivering a raucous speech at CPAC, many of whom vote based on "family values". His devoted followers easily forget the pain killer addiction, as well as the more suspiciously egregious trip to the Dominican Republic (home of many problems with under-age sex trade activities) with a bottle of 29 Viagra pills: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0706062rush1.html
Just to be "fair and balanced": The Kennedys are mired in scandal in their entire family (some worse than others), but they seem to still get the royalty treatment.
adam_warlock_2099
03-01-2009, 05:51 AM
Bendis is right about Norman Osborn being able to reclaim a position of power, regardless of his past life as a supervillain fighting Spider-man.
Brian explained on Word Balloon that many people who had a fall from grace seem to find ways to re-brand their image to get them in positions of power again.
Just as an example: Rush Limbaugh is all over cable news this weekend, delivering a raucous speech at CPAC, many of whom vote based on "family values". His devoted followers easily forget the pain killer addiction, as well as the more suspiciously egregious trip to the Dominican Republic (home of many problems with under-age sex trade activities) with a bottle of 29 Viagra pills: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0706062rush1.html
Just to be "fair and balanced": The Kennedys are mired in scandal in their entire family (some worse than others), but they seem to still get the royalty treatment.
That's because they are well liked. It is irrelevant what one does to themselves and others, as long as, for some reason (JFK in this case) they are well liked and then get a pass to be complete dipshits and still get praise.
Ask God, he's been doing it since the dawn of time.
Generic Poster
03-01-2009, 05:58 AM
Boner and pain pills are a bit different that deliberately killing tons of people with thrown razor blades and pumpkin shaped bombs.
Maestro
03-01-2009, 06:03 AM
Caroline Kennedy didn't seem to get the "royalty treatment"
Foolish Mortal
03-01-2009, 06:11 AM
John Edwards: Lies about cheating on his wife, branded an asshole, viable political career is over.
Bill Clinton: Lies about cheating on his wife, gets blowjobs in the Oval Office and lies about that, but yet still popular and successful, and if he chose to run for a public office, he could probably win.
Foolish Mortal
03-01-2009, 06:15 AM
Caroline Kennedy didn't seem to get the "royalty treatment"
Caroline isn't a good public speaker, and lacks the charm and charisma to sell herself to voters. If she had those talents, she would've done better.
lonesomefool
03-01-2009, 06:24 AM
John Edwards: Lies about cheating on his wife, branded an asshole, viable political career is over.
Bill Clinton: Lies about cheating on his wife, gets blowjobs in the Oval Office and lies about that, but yet still popular and successful, and if he chose to run for a public office, he could probably win.
The women in those relationships play a big part though. Hillary is viewed, fairly or unfairly, as a "bitch" by a lot of men and even some women. John Edwards wife was always viewed as quite sweet and she had cancer, meaning she had even more sympathy.
The women in those relationships play a big part though. Hillary is viewed, fairly or unfairly, as a "bitch" by a lot of men and even some women. John Edwards wife was always viewed as quite sweet and she had cancer, meaning she had even more sympathy.
That doesn't justify what their respective husbands did to them, though. If your girl/woman is a "bitch", then don't be a cheating asshole---leave/divorce/separate from her.
BronxRonin
03-01-2009, 06:33 AM
Bendis is right about Norman Osborn being able to reclaim a position of power, regardless of his past life as a supervillain fighting Spider-man.
Brian explained on Word Balloon that many people who had a fall from grace seem to find ways to re-brand their image to get them in positions of power again.
Just as an example: Rush Limbaugh is all over cable news this weekend, delivering a raucous speech at CPAC, many of whom vote based on "family values". His devoted followers easily forget the pain killer addiction, as well as the more suspiciously egregious trip to the Dominican Republic (home of many problems with under-age sex trade activities) with a bottle of 29 Viagra pills: http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0706062rush1.html
Just to be "fair and balanced": The Kennedys are mired in scandal in their entire family (some worse than others), but they seem to still get the royalty treatment.
I'll try and not be negative but that Rush is a hateful loser.;)
BronxRonin
03-01-2009, 06:34 AM
In real life...norman would never get to a position he's in now. Never!
Foolish Mortal
03-01-2009, 06:36 AM
That doesn't justify what their respective husbands did to them, though. If your girl/woman is a "bitch", then don't be a cheating asshole---leave/divorce/separate from her.
True. And basically my point was that Clinton's "got game" and Edwards doesn't.
Bill Clinton has a remarkable knack for spinning his way out of trouble and getting people to like him despite his bad behavior.
Maestro
03-01-2009, 06:36 AM
In real life...norman would never get to a position he's in now. Never!
you're right, it's pretty unrealistic. but then again, who knows how Earth would react in the aftermath of an alien invasion.
Foolish Mortal
03-01-2009, 06:40 AM
In real life...norman would never get to a position he's in now. Never!
And Lex Luthor would have never ascended to the presidency either. Even if he successfully covered up his murders, there's no way Luthor could have completely hidden every single one of his shady business practices and have it not used by his opponents.
lonesomefool
03-01-2009, 06:54 AM
That doesn't justify what their respective husbands did to them, though. If your girl/woman is a "bitch", then don't be a cheating asshole---leave/divorce/separate from her.
Not disagreeing at all, I dont agree with Bill Clinton or John Edwards or anybody else who cheats, but the public perception in both those cases played a big part in terms of who got let off the hook and who didnt. For many people, Hillary is viewed as "unloving" towards Bill and he was "forced" to find love in the arms of another woman, while John Edwards was viewed as having a loving wife and he cheated on her when she had cancer.
That's why those two cases turned out so differently, sure Bill Clinton is great as getting out of trouble, but the public perception of both their relationships played a bigger part as well.
Evan Wiener
03-01-2009, 06:45 PM
It depends on the nature of the circumstances. Rush's problems were mostly drug-related, and the odd vacation habits were left not investigated (which means it probably helps knowing politicians who can cover a trail).
Drug use is probably perceived as the least offensive since it's a somewhat less harmful crime.
This goes beyond politics too. Look at professional athletes, musicians, etc. Ray Lewis was involved in a murder case years ago, but he's an incredible player.
Others didn't fare so well, at least in the court of public opinion. OJ Simpson probably couldn't go anywhere without people whispering about him or calling him a murderer, even if he wasn't found guilty in the criminal case.
There's even talk that Chris Brown can save his career from what he did to Rhianna. Isn't it a BIT early for that talk?
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