The United States’ government is under attack. Not by terrorists, or North Korea, or aliens from outer space. No, in fact, the threat is right here on our own soil: celebrities.
People that have been given too much time in front of a camera, who feel their popularity warrants their vapid opinions on any number of subjects, are affecting our political discourse.
When a man that used to be paid to wrestle muscle-bound dudes in spandex can ride on the nostalgia of his fans straight to the governor’s mansion, it goes to show how ridiculous our American culture is.
Jesse “The Body” Ventura, former wrestler for the World Wrestling Federation, was elected governor of Minnesota in 1998.
We’re lucky Ventura actually had good policies to bolster up Minnesota. He was probably the only celebrity to ever do something well in government.
Our other famous governor, Arnold Schwarezeneggar, hasn’t been working out as well as we hoped he would.
California’s first ever gubernatorial recall election was held in 2003 and we decided the last guy just wasn’t cutting it, so he was replaced with the dude from Predator.
The Terminator won the recall election and was re-elected in 2006 all because he was widely recognizable for wearing sunglasses and blasting guys with an M1887 shotgun.
No other reason can come to mind since his policies stink; like keeping the Three Strikes Law?
It didn’t start there though. In fact, this “celebritician” mess all started with, former president and actor, Ronald Reagan.
His career as a television and film star was the only thing that allowed him to enter politics so brazenly, but he proved to be a poor leader. The man increased the national debt by 20.6 percent during his two-term presidency.
Celebrity glamour is becoming a pervasive problem in American politics, and it is beginning to tear away at our values. Our politicians are now trying to emulate the behaviors of the famous in an attempt to connect with an apathetic population.
We’ve become so bored with real life and it’s many issues that no one in government can connect with us unless they have a huge media presence backing them.
Sarah Palin isn’t the governor of Alaska anymore, yet she has a ridiculous amount of pull in politics just because she is seen, heard and talked about everywhere. Palin has gained a huge political following, despite the fact she is no longer a politician.
We, as a population, need to become more aware of this superfluous influence celebrities have over our lives. Choosing leaders based on popularity instead of credentials is the worst neglect of our national stability.
When we make our decisions based on such foolish criteria, we leave ourselves vulnerable to horrid consequences. What is worse is we will have no one to blame but ourselves.
We are responsible, to an extent, for who is in charge of our governing bodies. If we continue to allow ourselves to be swayed by renown and not results, then we will be condemned to lackluster leadership.
If things continue this way, then how long until Jackie Chan becomes governor of New York? Sure he’s the greatest action hero of all time, but do we really need the drunken master in charge of fiscal policy?
