John Pinnette's impression of a Chinese buffet owner wasn't offensive, it was funny. Pete Hoekstra's ad, on the other hand, was not funny. It was just cringeworthy.

Oh, and while we're on the subject of the Yellow Menace, couldn't they bring out a better Yellow Menace? Like one of these guys?







I, for one, would love to see Pete Hoekstra put out a Fu Manchu ad.

I like how it's so offensive that he gets away with the childish act of changing his opponent's last name as an attack. Seriously, this is an actual candidate?

I look forward to seeing this ad one day on a Daniel Tosh "Is it racist" bit.

/If you have to ask, the answer is most likely yes, it's really racist.

Wait until Hoekstras takes a sip of that Coke that he got from the set...

/REVENGE!

Up further reflection, is the ad implying that the federal government is spending money directly in China? Shouldn't that blame be placed on the shoulders of China's biggest trading partner, Wal-Mart, and Wal-Mart's customers?

Jeebus, 'Dat Website. I feel like I've committed a war crime just by looking at it.

Crocodilly_Pontifex: if you look at the source on the page (on his official page) the video is named "yellowgirl"

WTF people! You can be clueless all you want, but do you have to make it so bleeding obvious?

This ad brings teh lulz.

jpo2269: I found the young lady in this ad gave me a tingly feeling in my pants...

Prolly lead poisoning, or melamine in your diet.

jpo2269: I found the young lady in this ad gave me a tingly feeling in my pants...

Me ruv you wrong time.

Lo Pan says to vote for Hoekstra.

So a stereotypical poor farm girl in a rice field somehow knows broken English, the global trade situation, US politics down to the State level, and is crediting us for adding jobs...growing rice?

I'm trying really hard here to take this at face value, rather than a bigoted, xenophobic screed. On the surface, this doesn't make any sense at all. They should have used a wealthy businessman wearing a nice suit, sitting in his high-rise condo, speaking fluent English. Or hell, even a low factory worker on the production line, speaking Mandarin (w/subtitles).

But nope. Racist xenophobia is the message I'm left with if I dig any deeper than the facade. China's industrial growth is based on retail products. No government spends a whole hell of a lot of money on such things. Bonds are merely investment vehicles. Joe Consumer, along with Big Business are the reasons behind China's growth (although their economy is due for a bust soon, due to internal issues).

Scared of China? Buy American. You can't vote China's trade imbalance away. Take a real stand, stop buying iProducts, don't shop at big retail chains, and support your local businesses.

Hots_Kebabs: Crocodilly_Pontifex: if you look at the source on the page (on his official page) the video is named "yellowgirl"

honestly if they were going to do a caricature of a Chinese person, why didn't they find one who didn't have an obvious american accent, and could speak English just fine?

image name is yellow-shirt.png, I don't think yellowgirl is a reference to her race

It doesn't really matter, the connotation is there and you know they know it. They just chose to ignore it. That or they are inept, and as such not really fit for the office sought.

rjakobi: There are plenty of Asians in Michigan, I wager?

There's been a long history of anti-Asian racism in Michigan, especially due to Japanese car manufacturing competition. In 1982, a bunch of Chrysler employees found a Chinese guy and beat him to death because they thought he was Japanese.

And the worst part of it? The guys who murdered Vincent Chin got away with it.

Father Ted wants you to vote for Pete Hoekstra.

KatjaMouse: Kuroshin: I'm trying really hard here to take this at face value, rather than a bigoted, xenophobic screed. On the surface, this doesn't make any sense at all. They should have used a wealthy businessman wearing a nice suit, sitting in his high-rise condo, speaking fluent English. Or hell, even a low factory worker on the production line, speaking Mandarin (w/subtitles).

Do you think that his constituents who watch the Superbowl would be able to read subtitles?

Even as I was typing that, I knew this would be the response. :)

And to answer your question: That's why my first suggestion was the businessman speaking perfect English. ;)

/so that's a "no"

sunsawed: Exactly how much money do we owe to the Viet Cong?

That was my first thought too, now not that I'd expect racially accurate casting from this guy, nor am I an expert on such things but the woman in the ad looks Vietnamese, and specifically Hmong to me, not Chinese

ha-ha-guy: /also Chinese cars are pieces of shiat and we have least 15 years before they are a threat to the North American market

Oh, I know. Most of them are seriously cheaply built. I've ridden in plenty of them in China. That said, there are also Chinese cars that were just amazing to ride in. My uncle has an Audi A6L, which is a variant only available in and also built in China. That car is amazing. We drove from Tianjin to Beijing in a massive blizzard in December of 2008 where the roads were littered broken down cars with zero problems.

Magorn: sunsawed: Exactly how much money do we owe to the Viet Cong?

That was my first thought too, now not that I'd expect racially accurate casting from this guy, nor am I an expert on such things but the woman in the ad looks Vietnamese, and specifically Hmong to me, not Chinese

As somebody mentioned, she looks southern Californian to me, except for the straw hat. Nobody wears white capri pants and American Eagle shirts if they're in a rice paddy in Asian. You know why? Guess what's used to fertilize rice paddies.