Comments on: How to Fix Politics: Celebrity Edition

By: MJ

MJ — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:23:06 +0000

Definitely. I wouldn’t say Hollywood selects for optimal qualities for holding office (though, of all the professions in the world, I’d say it’d be in the top quartile for selecting them).

I think the key is, the selection process is more open to letting some mavericks in. I.e., not every celebrity would make a good politician, but there exist celebrities who (1) are electable, and (2) wouldn’t let themselves be bought-and-paid-for if elected. The same cannot be said for our traditional pipeline of elected officials, due to the vetting process.

By: D. Wilson

D. Wilson — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 00:12:22 +0000

You speak of the ‘political gatekeepers’ and all the lying, bullshit, selling out and other typical things that goes along with getting the green light from them to enter the arena.

I’m not so sure celebrities will be a viable way around that. Don’t you think there’s an equivalent gauntlet at work in Hollywood? ie, to become a hooj big-name ‘Celebrity’, an actor(ess) would have to deal with a number of selection pressures imposed by agents/studios/whomever-else-is-involved that would weed out some of the very qualities you’re looking for?

That being said, these people make their living -acting-. If they decided to treat it as just another role, espousing responsibility and the general appearance of being fit to govern, would we even know it’s a con?

By: MJ

MJ — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 02:19:06 +0000

Thanks for the comment, Rose. I think you’re absolutely right about the artist thing. The temperament of the average politician vs the average celebrity is much different— and though I wouldn’t put it wholly in the celebrity’s favor, I’d put it significantly so.

Jesse Ventura was blasted from the right and left, and he blasted right back— my dad likes to joke that, for such a big guy, he sure had a thin skin… but at least you could tell exactly what he was thinking. I can’t say he was perfect, but I think he was a lot more honest and effective than governors since.

Perhaps there’s some comment to be made about Al Franken and sending clowns to Washington. I’m actually really impressed with how he’s done there. I was expecting quips and I think we’ve got substance.

I think celebrities in politics only ‘works’ if we can get the cream. Most celebrities are *not* cut out for office, and the danger is this strategy might work too well— the pool of electable celebrities is much larger than the pool of celebrities who would make good candidates. But at the same time, Desperate times, desperate measures and such, perhaps.

By: Rose

Rose — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 01:54:28 +0000

Hmm, interesting. I was expecting robots (or, you know, electing me benign dictator as we discussed long ago).
I think it would be more honest; celebrities already swim in sensationalism, and the ones you named are able to function in that soup and still do good. Plus, it would be amazing to have an ARTIST in power!!
I think you’re right about more freedom–Jesse Ventura was crazy (and we got silly bumper stickers while he was in office in MN), but he was the one who started the Light Rail, and he just said whatever he wanted to, and I think we were more forgiving. Maybe we view politicians more like we view priests; likewise, it would do us good to view our religious leaders more like clowns (sacred clowns, not mockingly).

Do you see any downside to celebrities in politics that we don’t currently experience?
-Rose