You folks might recall that a man running for Sheriff in Grant County, Wisconsin changed his name from "William Harold Fenrick" to "Andrew Jackson Griffith" so he could run under the name "Andy Griffith" and hopefully use the iconic name to win the election.
He didn't win.
He did, however, have a lawsuit filed against him by Andy Griffith, the actor who played Andy Taylor on the Andy Griffith Show. Recently, however, a judge dismissed the case, saying that Fenrick did not violate any copyright and that what he did was protected under the First Amendment. I'm not a fancy big city lawyer, so I can't say much about this.
However, I will say this: why didn't he change his name to Andy Taylor, since that's the name of the actual character? For all the voters knew, he was that guy from that one episode of Hawaii Five-O.
Of course, I understand more people would recognize "Andy Griffith" than "Andy Taylor," that's exactly the reasoning I used when I first moved to Minneapolis, had a sex change, and applied for a job at the local news studio under the name Mary Tyler Moore.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-08-2007 @ 10:19AM
emor8t said...
Heck, why didn't he change his name to Steve McGarrett.
It wouldn't have mattered, cause stupid doesn't win elections. (Not to be confused with ignorant, or pompous like some current elected officials).
Stupid changes it's name to try and look like something else. In this case, the people who voted for him, should so him, for voter fraud.
Somewhere in Wisconson a villiage is missing a policec offic..er idiot.
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5-08-2007 @ 12:36PM
Peanut said...
Stupid people voted for the current president because his name was George Bush.
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5-08-2007 @ 12:47PM
Menachem said...
Peanut:
And a lot of people voted for him because his name wasn't Al Gore or John Kerry
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5-08-2007 @ 1:23PM
emor8t said...
Oh, I'm sorry, you thought I was referring to Bush?
I was thinking more like Ted Kennedy.
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5-10-2007 @ 11:50PM
Andy J Griffith said...
Hey emor8t, let me clue you in to what stupid is -- stupid is thinking "sue" is spelled "so". That's stupid.
But, incredible stupidity is saying things like "stupid doesn't win elections," or "stupid changes its name to try and look like something else". That's far beyond stupid, it's incredibly stupid.
Elections in the U.S. are popularity contests; contests of marketing and image, nothing more. The public doesn’t know the issues, facts or the candidates’ positions on the issues … although they try to sound like they do by repeating sound bites and catch phrases. It’s a thorough disgrace, and I’d insulted to be a part of it. Campaigns use the very same marketing that’s used to sell soap. Do you actually think that George Bush has ever cleared brush on a ranch in his entire life ... aside from when there's a television camera around? Holy cannoli!!! It’s marketing, that’s all.
And, speaking of selling soap ... Irish Spring, lemony fresh, April fresh? The entire goal of marketing products (including candidates) is to make a product appear more enticing by making it "look like something else"! emor8t would have us simply call soap soap ... because according to him, doing otherwise, making soap "look like something else", would be stupid.
It was so incredibly mind-numbing and imbecilic for me to read that "stupid" tries to "look like something else", I had to actually pinch myself and blink before I completely believed I read it! Gosh, those Madison Avenue people are so stupid for trying to make dust mops look exciting! And, boy, are those political consultants stupid for naming the elimination of pollution controls "the clear sky initiative" or the trampling of our civil liberties "the Patriot Act".
emor8t's judgment is so delusional, he has obviously forfeited his right to call anything or anybody stupid ... except for himself.
And, just to clear up the issue, I didn't want to be sheriff at all, you idiot! I was commenting on the absurdly ignorant state of democracy in this country ... that's why I changed my name to Andy Griffith and ran for sheriff! Believe it or not, some people are actually attempting to make contributions to this society! Yes, some people actually do other things besides spending their time reading what OTHER PEOPLE are doing, and then commenting in blogs that those people are stupid!
And, if you want to see something really, really stupid, you should see the amount of money I just made on this book deal. You should see my new car. Yea, I'm stupid alright.
Sincerely,
Andy J. Griffith
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