• ItsPequod [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I think it was of all people, Seth McFarlane that made the surprisingly eloquent observation: celebrity presidential nominees are basically the death knell of American Democracy such as it is. It's already a huge slog for average politicians to actually get ahead in the race, now imagine if some poor shlub has to try and out compete, out spend and out-exposure themselves against say, Oprah. It'd be impossible, the reach and resources she possesses would outstrip non celebrity nominees.

    I think Trump being elected quietly endorsed this possibility and we are seeing it here. Johnson may be a fine president for all we know but him being a nom strips away the illusion of fair and equal elections.

    • CarlTheRedditor [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      It's funny, I can recall being in grade school and learning about the constitution and presidency and the teachers explaining that if someone unqualified but popular was able to win the popular vote, well the wisely-designed Electoral College would put a stop to that!

    • fuckwit [none/use name]
      ·
      4 years ago

      I think Trump being elected quietly endorsed this possibility and we are seeing it here. Johnson may be a fine president for all we know but him being a nom strips away the illusion of fair and equal elections.

      Why are you acting like Trump isn’t a celebrity lol?

      • RowPin [they/them]
        ·
        4 years ago

        But he is saying Trump is a celebrity. It's why, presumably, DeSantis or Don Jr won't work the same way - neither has 15-20 years of media exposure as the archetypal billionaire.

      • ItsPequod [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        4 years ago

        I am? I never said he wasn't

        I think Trump being elected quietly endorsed this possibility

        Means I think Trump being a celebrity has broken the seal, people are gonna be more into the idea now that it's happened.

    • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
      ·
      4 years ago

      celebrity presidential nominees are basically the death knell of American Democracy such as it is

      All politicians are, at the end of the day, celebrities. There is no way to win a regional campaign if nobody knows who the fuck you are.

      MacFarlane is doing the "Idiocracy" bit where he pretends past presidents have been experts and savants, but future "celebrity" presidents will be dumbies who look pretty. But there's nothing special about the current generation. Neither was there anything special about the prior generations. Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, Obama - all did the celebrity thing. They all sucked.

      They've always been celebrities. They've always sucked. Twitter hasn't changed that.

      • ItsPequod [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        MacFarlane is doing the “Idiocracy” bit where he pretends past presidents have been experts and savants

        No, he really isn't but go off. I for one see it pretty clearly as a complaint that the election can't become a literal popularity contest between literal celebrities who have more soft power and recognition than your average politician.

        • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
          ·
          4 years ago

          the election can’t become a literal popularity contest between literal celebrities

          There is no other way to do a democracy, pretty much by construction.