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American Idol Votes Barrack Obama!
Written by -Nick-Democracy: we get the government we deserve. There are only a small percentage of United States citizens that qualify, through intelligence and research, with the right to vote. The best example of morons practicing politics: straight-ticket voting. They teach this method of ‘not researching your candidates’ early in junior high school. If our teachers shouldn’t be voting, we are doomed.
Early on when we have very impressionable minds, middle school teachers give us the easy way out. They tell us that there is a two party system, that we are either Republicans or Democrats and we should vote accordingly. …and there goes our freedom.
American Idol demonstrates how, on average, 25 million Americans vote for the wrong people 2 days a week. Singing isn’t NEARLY as intricate as politics, so if we can’t get American Idol right, we aren’t going to choose the right president.
If you want to vote this upcoming election, you better get to work!
I remember the practice voting we did in middle school. As if any of us knew what was what. It is kind of funny to think back on now. Good points made because I for one know that I don’t take the time to research. So I can admit I don’t know enough about the candidates to vote except that my parents push voting Republican because of their beliefs.
As for American Idol I can’t even begin to tell you how many times America has voted someone off that was better then someone who was allowed to stay. And everyone is always shocked by it. So good comparison there.
I completely disagree. Though it may be that a lot of your points are well thought out (and you speak them well), I find that a lot of your points are emotionally biased instead of evidence-based.
1. Everyone can vote.
- Note some of the basic requirements for someone to be able to vote.
– A United States citizen
– At least 18 years of age
– Must have no, or be cleared of, any felonies or related crimes.
– Again… Must be a United States Citizen.
I find it kind of odd that your paragraphed argument on why certain people shouldn’t vote uses the example of what they wear in the morning and not based on who the actual voters are. I am willing to bet that lawmakers who wear business suits everyday wonder why in the world should you be able to vote when you roll out of bed and throw on a pair of torn jeans and a t-shirt in the morning. What if they are thinking the same about you as you do about the people who don’t wear the same as you.
To answer your question of, “Why would we want everyone to vote?,”… it’s because that’s what separated us from all of Europe when we became a nation. Back to your clothing issue, don’t you like the fact that you can CHOOSE what you want to wear today instead of being TOLD what to wear. (I realize that example is a bit extreme, but I am just showing the point of freedom of choice)
2. We got rid of literacy tests.
- It may have been racially slanted during the time, but do we really even need literacy tests anymore? With grade school education required by law, our students come out of high school knowing how to read and write. And it’s all for free (because voters chose it to be.) We don’t need literacy tests anymore. Yes, it may be true that some people can’t read or write. But let’s be honest, that number compared to those who can are enormously shadowed.
3. No one does the research.
- I will agree with you on this one. I used to hate it when someone didn’t vote. Then after a while I realized that I hate it even more when someone casts an uneducated emotionally based vote. i.e- I know too many females who are voting for Sen. Hillary Clinton this coming election SOLELY BASED ON the fact that she is a female. Ridiculous.
- But at the same time, how can we as a public know when someone is “educated enough” to vote? You can’t. So, we go with it.
4. We push voter turnout
- Of course we do! It’s because too many people are too lazy to get up early in the morning to go vote. Even if they know who they want and why they want, too many people just leave it up to the masses to do the voting for them. “Ah, well… I know who I want. If enough other people do as well, then my vote won’t matter because he/she will already be elected. But if they lose, then what’s one more vote gonna matter? It’s not like they lost by only one vote anyway.” Terrible.
– “Why in the world to we encourage people to vote?” Because it’s our right to. And if we don’t encourage it, no one else will.
- I agree, we should encourage people to research. And we already do! Things like MTV’s voting ads or that rappers (I forgot who) “Vote or Die” does not encourage people to vote just to vote. They encourage people to understand why they are voting and to vote for who they truly think the best candidate is. Watch their commercials and their rallies… they truly do push for education, not just “caddle herding” voting.
5. Elections are popularity contests… but not real ones.
- Being in the military, I can tell you that I have seen many many many people faint while we are outside. I have had to do quick medical assessments and treatments on the spot from people fainting.
– The people in the videos are not fainting because of Sen. Obama, they are fainting because of heat, fatigue, and standing up in one place for hours on end. People who come to a rally that starts at 3, show up hours and hours before it starts. And I am willing to bet there is little to no seating available for the masses that show up.
– I have been in too many formations in which I see Marines who lock out their knees while at attention even for 15 minutes and pass out on the spot.
- Looking at that video would lead people to believe that someone faints at every one of Sen. Obama’s rallies. I highly doubt that. But given all the factors leading to someone fainting: a. Heat, b. dehydration, c. standing for hours on end, d. the amount of people multiplies the chances greatly.
Zach, again you make really good points. But they are emotionally based. You told your arguments well and it is obvious that you truly believe in your theories which is awesome. Please don’t take my response as an attack on your beliefs, because I respect your beliefs and that’s why America is so great in that we can have our own beliefs and ideologies without reprimand from others.
Awesome website, you guys. I will definitely be reading/posting as much as I can.
~Scott
Lance Corporal Campbell, USMC
Alas, the United States legal voting requirements seem like a sure-fire way to exclude the fragile-minded from accidentally picking another Hitler from being president. However, even loyal and patriotic citizens make uneducated decisions.
Take for instance, the decision to smoke cigarettes. It has been proven time and time again that cigarettes kill people. It doesn’t JUST kill people, it kills swarms of people at such a dramatic rate it only compares with the plague.
1.3 billion people smoke cigarettes. We can deduce that AT LEAST these 1.3 billion people who make bad decisions on a daily basis, WILL strike again. You can judge me however you like, but from now on when I see someone smoking I’m just going to assume that they wouldn’t be able to make an educated decision about politics.
People want life. Life equals happiness. Cigarettes equal death. People smoke cigarettes. Cigarettes kill people. People die.
I propose that we start making a stricter list of voter requirements. Here is my list:
1. United States Citizen – Why vote for OUR president if you aren’t a part of OUR country?
2. No History of Smoking
3. No Reported Crimes or Felonies – UNLESS crime was directed towards a smoker!
4. Must Pass Standing Longevity Test – If you can’t stand up straight for more than 15 minutes at any given time, your political opinion doesn’t matter.
5. Must Log 60+ Pre-Election Study Hours – If you haven’t done the research about who you are about to vote for, you could wind up giving control of our government to some extremist charismatic leader.
If any one of these requirements are not met prior to voting time and person shows interest in voting for our future President, I will personally cut their hands off.
Thanks for posting Scott (LCPL CAMPBELL),
I just want to mention a few things.
1. Of course there are basic requirements for voting, I didn’t realize I had to be so specific to say that someone had to be an 18 year-old, non-criminal, Citizen. But you are right, they do. The point I was making was that I just a lot of people around who can vote, that probably just shouldn’t. It really had nothing to do with clothes. It was a comment about how people have a tough time deciding what to wear, which is a fairly simple, rather unimportant decision, unlike choosing a President, or government officials.
2. Just because everyone goes to school, doesn’t mean everyone learns. School has been watered down so much over the years that a person can graduate high school, which isn’t a government law (and shouldn’t be), with basically no knowledge or reasoning ability whatsoever. If it were up to me, a test would be given on comprehension of the subjects being voted on. If you can’t answer simple questions about the law, or person you are voting for, your vote doesn’t count. Period.
3. Agreed.
We can show if a person is educated enough by passing the comprehension test mentioned above.
4. If people are too lazy to get up and vote, then why would we want their vote? If they are too lazy to vote, than you can be assured that they are DEFINITELY too lazy to have done the research needed to make a rational decision. And I don’t want those people voting.
MTV’s voting ads are directed at liberal voting. Not research. The last thing MTV wants is their viewers to get “educated”.
5. “The people in the videos are not fainting because of Sen. Obama, they are fainting because of heat, fatigue, and standing up in one place for hours on end.”
People stand just as long for every other candidate, but it doesn’t happen for anyone else. Coincidence?
And the video doesn’t suggest that someone faints at every Obama rally. It has 6 in the title, which shows that it’s not implying anything (“6 Different Women Faint For Obama Compilation”)
I hope that you don’t consider this response an “attack on your beliefs”.
Thanks for stopping by, Hope to hear from you soon.
Awesome man. Very well put. We can definitely agree on the same general belief:
Uneducated sheep shouldn’t vote.
Sheep, meaning dumb and follow the pattern of the masses (which I am sure you can agree on.)
And I totally agree on the MTV thing. Even though I do believe they are pushing for education and knowing what to vote for, there is DEFINITELY a liberal slant to it. And slant is putting it quite mildly.
Take care buddy.
You stay classy, San Diego.
~Scott
LCpl Campbell, USMC
Change takes too long. That’s why people don’t do the research and vote. If they research and figure out who is going to bring about the best considerable amount of change in their opinion, they realize that the change is just a proposal, and might not ever happen. Plus, the changes being advertised by presidential hopefuls are often slanted to each demographic they want to target. For instance, in Maine they might push higher drug enforcement, better road conditions, etc… While in Texas they might completely neglect the conditions of their roads in order to talk about agriculture and homicide. How is it that your upmost importance in the United States is roads in one state, but agriculture in another. How are you going to be able to bring about each of these individual changes to our states?
If we can speed up the process of good change, than we will get people to vote. If we took all the time and effort put into pushing people to vote, and spent it towards research into speeding up the process of great change…people will WANT to vote. That is what’s important.
here is my two cents, now breathe, this IS based on emotional evidence.
i have here quite the predicament. shouldnt we want to vote for someone who’s beliefs are most similar to our own, and not just on popularity or charisma?
can doing research on political candidates dishearten the masses?
i have become much more aware of politics since i turned 18 nearly 3 years ago. this election is/was very important to me. as an independent i wanted to research all the candidates so i could support the candidate that MOST represents my personal beliefs.
ATTN: If you do this, don’t get too attached to your candidate!
i discovered that a certain Mike Gravel, a democrat, was the candidate that most correctly represented my thoughts. However, he is no longer in the running and I am forced to do re-research of the current candidates to once again see who will MOST represent my beliefs.
isn’t that beautiful? i know if i vote for someone who isn’t running anymore she/he isn’t going to win. we have freedom. should i be living in a place where the candidate i want to vote for will actually be able to be supported by the masses? should i move to Europe? i love all my freedoms, but at this point I feel like i am only satisfying those people out there who are paying to have their candidate win. at this point, i don’t give a shit about the election.
convince me otherwise.
Well, it’s true. Not everyone can count on the person they want winning the election. There are some guaranteed Walt Disney extremists who are still hoping that Mickey Mouse takes the presidency this year.
However, I don’t base my voting on which canditate has the closest personal beliefs to mine. Instead I base my decision on who can make the best changes for the largest group of people. Granted if I’m not part of that large group of people, I’m not going to be inclined to vote for them. Hence, the masses elect the president. So that all makes sense. What’s the flaw?
The flaw is that the masses don’t actually elect which person is going to run in each party. Only the people who are highly involved in their specific parties get a large say in who they are going to vote for, support financially, and advertise for. So when it comes down to it, we have to pick from a very narrow group of people.
Again, I’d like to stress that if we spent all the money that we spend on campaigns trying to encourage people to vote, and campaign money for each presidential candidate, then we would be able to use that money in order to do research that would lead to a speed up process in the democracy of our government.
It’s often too late for change to make a difference by the time it starts turning it’s wheels.
Hey Nick, yes points well taken. The question in case was whether to vote through personal preference or to make the best changes for the largest group of people. Whether we are able to inspire others to join us in our quest for picking our favorite candidate is difficult for several reasons:
1. impact of the media blitz on paying more attention to specific candidates
2. monies given to specific candidates to help promote their campaign
3. influence of wealthy people involved in politics
Relative perspectives in our country’s time line may delineate who is considered radical. I.e. Senator Obama may have been considered a radical candidate in the ‘00 if his ideas were to run. However, these ideas are being ever more supported by a large group of people in our country.
In keeping terms with your statement: “It’s often too late for change to make a difference by the time it starts turning it’s wheels…” I would like to add that we live in a society that as it feels oppressed builds its culture around capitalizing on this oppression before instilling change to create a new form of government. How many bumper stickers have seen in the last couple years of people giving the impression of “fuck bush.” Before we are physically able to remove him from office, we become more and more aware of “considered oppression” of the Bush administration. In turn, we want to instill change but are not immediately able to do so until the masses unite. Businesses create an “idealized facade of identity” for Americans. “I hate Bush, so I’m going to wear this t-shirt, I am going to use this bumper sticker, that’ll make me happy until the next president comes around…in which I can exploit her/him in some new unique way…” thereby creating one’s individuality. Americans hold individuality as an important guide to way of life. However, this individuality can be harnessed in different ways: being satisfied with our outward representations; being unsatisfied with them and actually performing rebellious acts towards what we believe in.
We are representations of rebellions of earlier decades of American society: materialistic and humanistic.
p.s. i want to get the RSS feed on my livejournal, but i do not know if there is a direct link to that, do you know how this would be possible? thanks - kev
if 1.3 billion smoke cigs, than obviously it’s not that bad for you.
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