Republican hilarity

Crooks and Liars points to two strange decisions made by the Republicans for the 2008 election. First, there is the official logo for the Republican National convention to be held in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Considering the experience of Senator Larry Craig in the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, doesn't that elephant seem to have a very wide stance? Somehow I don't think that was the intended effect of the logo.

Second, the RNCC has adopted a new slogan for the 2008 election. To counter the Democratic message of "change" the RNCC is going to use the slogan “the change you deserve.” Whoever adopted that slogan had to be unaware that it "...is the registered advertising slogan of Effexor XR. … also known as Venlafaxine, is approved for the treatment 'of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in adults.'”

Jason at Huffington Post describes it thus

Effexor, also known as Venlafaxine, is approved for the treatment "of depression, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and panic disorder in adults." Its common side effects are very much in keeping with the world the House Republicans have striven to build: nausea, apathy, constipation, fatigue, vertigo, sexual dysfunction, sweating, memory loss, and - and I swear I am not making this up - "electric shock-like sensations also called 'brain zaps.'"

Its less common side effects are equally awesome in their appropriateness.

And when the Food And Drug Administration reviewed the ad copy that included the tagline, "The change you deserve," it took issue with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures Effexor, saying that the company made "unsubstantiated superiority claims." Sounds like the GOP have picked an ironically accurate tagline for their efforts!

Somehow I don't think the normally humorless conservative Republicans really meant to provide such laughter-provoking material to the rest of us.