Or these leg irons that were on sale just 15 years ago.
These heavy duty leg irons are made in South Africa and are the same type used on the famous Mr Mandela.
I will give Ted Cruz all the dignity and respect he and his party gives to people like me - none whatsoever.
This is of course hyperbole. I mean, I’m pretty sure you could dig up Ted Cruz’s grandparents and use their bones to carve a xylophone that you then play in a performance of a week-long opera you wrote about how the actual schism between God and the devil is that neither wanted to take responsibility for someone so odious, and it would still be more dignity and respect than they treat anyone other than money.
For me it’s that piñatas are solidly associated with children. Hence, political piñatas are used by adults to manipulate children towards their political views.
Idol worship and desecration have been a thing for eons, yes, absolutely. Do people need outlets for their anger? Yes. Is Ted Cruz synonymous with fascist scum? Yes. Is this product a clever double entendre related to fascist scum vacationing in the midst of a crisis? Absolutely!
Is this something I personally would ever condone or participate in? No, not really. Do I super care that it’s a thing? As a new(ish) dad and hopeless idealist yeah, I kinda do.
But all mutants walk their own path. What yall do with sticks and clubs and inanimate objects in your own home is your own business.
Cruz is a horrible excuse for a person who would readily let people die because they are not rich and White, so as far as I’m concerned he can go fuck himself, sideways.
I want to call the mariachi band playing in front of the Cruz residence to provide the entertainment.
Btw for hard core Cary Elwes fans, I recommend “Teen Lust” it’s a Canadian tax shelter film where he plays a hunchback satanic priest.
agreed . and it would seem that we agree on “beating” a likeness of a celebrity or politician in effigy is a cultural thing, even if it is in front of (OMG) children!
Thank you. I will keep that in mind as you clutch your pearls in the fear of your own children becoming aware of demonstration of political dissent in public - and private - gathering and discourse.
Wow, what? You’re implication is that beating effigies with sticks is the best way to teach youth about political dissent and advocacy. Miss me with that shit.
It’s BY the children! BY the children!
No one said that. Children might not be aware of nuance in politics, but they are pretty good at separating out a toy filled with candy from a human being filled with hatred and shit.
Effigies, maybe? Pinatas? I don’t think so.
Most of the “most popular” pinatas are unicorns and mermaids and beloved game or cartoon figures. I don’t think kids hit them out of hatred for the figure represented, but out of love for the candy that will spill forth. And the sheer joy that comes from destruction (sand castles, block towers, they love busting stuff up!)
I get not wanting to sink to their level or let them drag us down, but in this case, I think your concerns are misguided. If your concern is truly for the children, I think you can relax, or switch your concern to the looming diabetic risks.
Diabolical! I wonder though how it compares to other popular techniques adults use to manipulate children toward their political views…namely
I’m so confused by this. Parents don’t raise their children in a vacuum. Parents instill their own morals and values all the time. They also comment about politics and politicians all the time. We don’t refer to this as manipulation, do we?
Kids pick up on what their parents say and what they watch, and sometimes these political philosophies get passed down and sometimes kids rebel.
Better never say anything to your children at all, as they might accidentally learn ethics, morals, and values from you, and we wouldn’t want that! It’s clearly BRAINWASHING! They should learn their morals, etc, where god intended… Saturday Morning Cartoons! But not those new WOKE cartoons, the old classics, like Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse! But only to about 1985… /s
Apparently, that’s a “bad thing” now, at least if you’re on the left side of the spectrum. 
Oh, no! You’re on to me! Please don’t report me to the thought police!
I never said I was afraid of my children becoming aware of demonstrations of political dissent, either. Why didn’t anyone call out Jefe for putting words in my mouth?
I stated my point that this particular joke pinata is funny, but has serious jingoist undertones that are not my personal cup of tea. That’s all.
Step 2 is the important one here. 100% in support of this! Following this with, “here kid, now go beat Ted Cruz with sticks and you’ll get some candy,” is not me, personally, as an individual and father. My oldest child is 5 and takes everything very literally at this stage in emotional learning & development.
I wouldn’t, no, and I disagree with Chenille’s framing it as such in the comment I quoted above. Thank you for commenting on the substance of my message instead of resorting to a personal attack.
For someone who is always quick to point out when words get put in in other peoples mouths, this comment blows me away. It appears to be a direct personal attack on me as a father. You know nothing about me.
Great Thunberg, Amanda Gorman, Aji Piper, Levi Draheim, Journey Zephier, Jayden Foytlin, Miko Vergun and Nathan Baring… here are kids doing it right, engaging in politics and activism in constructive and thoughtful ways. I don’t believe the foundation for their awesomeness included, “Man bad. Bash man with stick.” And I’m not going to raise my kids that way. You all need to make room for that point of view instead of shitting all over it.
I don’t think Jefe was doing that… I think he was being hyperbolic by extending your point to a logical conclusion. None of us believe that you believe that children should never get moral guidance from their parents and other adults in their life. Rather, we don’t believe, as you seem to, that a pinata in the shape of a political figure is an example of providing moral guidance to children. It’s a popular party game…
How is a pinata in the shape of Cruz “jingoistic” exactly?
Presumably, he understands that if you say “here is a pinata” that’s shaped like an animal, that you don’t mean go beat that animal the pinata is in the shape of?
I’m fully aware that you don’t believe this. However, that’s very much a logical conclusion that can be reached, hyperbolic though it may be.
Why do you believe that a party game means that? There is no one to one connection with pinatas and lynching. None. Children DO understand that.
Well, because I first learned to stick tacks into live animals at a 2nd grade birthday party. I mean, we started with the tail, but it never ended.
(/s, to be clear, since better safe than sorry)
Context matters, I think. If someone was taking their kids to places where people are attacking and beating others (such as people used to do with lynchings), then you are teaching your kids to hurt and attack other people. If you are taking them to political rallies that involve acts of real and simulated violence that allude to things like lynchings or public hangings, then you are teaching your children it’s okay to demonize your political opponents.
I disagree that a party pinata amounts to the same thing, since it’s a long tradition that includes both sides. This seems more like lampooning politics and politicians to me, which is not the same thing as the other. It seems that @ArcLighter 's mileage varies on that point. 
Agreed. Our last pinata was a flamingo. No one thought it would be fun to violently beat a real flamingo with a stick.
And they totally failed to address my comment about how the most popular pinatas are actually beloved figures, so all the hand-wringing about using them to indoctrinate children into hate is misguided.
