Shut Up and Act
I’m all for more voter participation, especially by people who truly care about our country and take the time to learn about the issues. This does NOT mean watching MTV, mind you. I think NONPARTISAN campaigns like Declare Yourself are fine, if they encourage INFORMED voting. What’s the real answer to the apathy of young Americans? I have no idea. What I DO know though, is that the last thing we need are people voting based on the views of movie stars and other celebrities. Talk about UNinformed and even whacked out!
Take, for example, the lovely Cameron Diaz. She appeared last week on the Oprah Winfrey show in an episode titled "Oprah’s Voting Party". Oprah had lots of brain trusts on the show like P.Diddy (I can't even bring myself to comment about that) and Christina Aigulara (however she spells it). I ask you: What does Cameron Diaz know about elections? Well obviously a lot since she won one herself. She DID win the Best Burp award by popular vote at the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards a year or so ago.
Unfortunately, this victory did not educate Ms. Diaz about the United States government and politics in general. Our friend Cam seems a bit fuzzy on some issues. She seems convinced that the United States “used to be the strongest country in the world” and apparently the US has now lost all support. To hell with our economic and military strength. That stuff's all fluff anyway in "CamWorld." In fact, Cameron was so upset about the imminent Third World status of the US that she was moved to tears. Here’s the transcript from Oprah's website:
During the show taping, Cameron is overwhelmed by emotion.
Oprah: Cameron is having a moment. What is this about?
Cameron: Well, I'm so proud of my friend [Drew Barrymore]. She took a whole year out of her busy schedule. She's a producer, she's an actor…she did this to take the time to educate people about it. And then I started listening to people saying, 'Oh, I don't vote because it just doesn't affect me. And I just got overwhelmed, because I think this is the best country in the world. And it just scares me that we're just going to squander it all away. That we're going to lay down and let people take it away from us.
Cameron: I'm really scared. I don't know if you guys know this about our country…but people—we're all alone right now. And, where we used to be the strongest in the world, we're alone. So, that's the beginning of something terrible, and so it's very important to go out there.
Ms. Diaz also seems convinced that a vote for George Bush would be a vote for legalized rape. This from the same show:
Cameron: We have a voice now, and we're not using it, and women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies. We could lo--if you think that rape should be legal, then don't vote. But if you think that you have a right to your body, and you have a right to say what happens to you and fight off that danger of losing that, then you should vote, and those are the...
I have no idea how her thought processes work, but I can only assume she believes that Bush is going to repeal Roe v. Wade in his second term. Perhaps old Cam needs to visit a high school government class to see that a President cannot single handedly accomplish this.
And my friends, lest you think this was a misstatement of her point, that perhaps she really doesn’t believe something THAT extreme, I give you this transcript from a November 2000 interview with BeatBoxBetty with the fair Cam and her Charlie’s Angels buddies:
Betty: Cameron, can you tell us what you'll be thinking about when you go into the voting booth to pick our next President?
Cameron: Yes. I will be thinking about our rights as women and our environment. We want everyone to vote.
Lucy: We're not saying you have to vote for...
All: GORE!!!
Lucy: But you should just go out and vote.
Cameron: But voting for Gore is the best choice you can make at this time. People don't think that their choice makes a difference.
Drew: They also think they'll always be protected and that's not true.
Lucy: God, we could possibly be really screwed if we don't pay attention and wake up.
Cameron: But the issue is that there is a man out there [BUSH] that's going to take the rights away from women and tap into our natural resources.
Drew: But there are people out there that think "What do you crazy Hollywood girls know?" We just have to vote at this election!
Yes Drew. That’s exactly what I think.
Unfortunately the message to the MTV generation is not “Be an intelligent voter.” The message is “Just Vote”. And many celebrities have taken it upon themselves to influence your vote. If you're stupid enough to vote for someone just because some bimbo actress like Cameron Diaz tells you to, then do us all a favor and don't vote. Or better yet, do what you did during high school elections and just write in Garfield. $20 says you didn't know he was the 20th US President.
Take, for example, the lovely Cameron Diaz. She appeared last week on the Oprah Winfrey show in an episode titled "Oprah’s Voting Party". Oprah had lots of brain trusts on the show like P.Diddy (I can't even bring myself to comment about that) and Christina Aigulara (however she spells it). I ask you: What does Cameron Diaz know about elections? Well obviously a lot since she won one herself. She DID win the Best Burp award by popular vote at the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards a year or so ago.
Unfortunately, this victory did not educate Ms. Diaz about the United States government and politics in general. Our friend Cam seems a bit fuzzy on some issues. She seems convinced that the United States “used to be the strongest country in the world” and apparently the US has now lost all support. To hell with our economic and military strength. That stuff's all fluff anyway in "CamWorld." In fact, Cameron was so upset about the imminent Third World status of the US that she was moved to tears. Here’s the transcript from Oprah's website:
During the show taping, Cameron is overwhelmed by emotion.
Oprah: Cameron is having a moment. What is this about?
Cameron: Well, I'm so proud of my friend [Drew Barrymore]. She took a whole year out of her busy schedule. She's a producer, she's an actor…she did this to take the time to educate people about it. And then I started listening to people saying, 'Oh, I don't vote because it just doesn't affect me. And I just got overwhelmed, because I think this is the best country in the world. And it just scares me that we're just going to squander it all away. That we're going to lay down and let people take it away from us.
Cameron: I'm really scared. I don't know if you guys know this about our country…but people—we're all alone right now. And, where we used to be the strongest in the world, we're alone. So, that's the beginning of something terrible, and so it's very important to go out there.
Ms. Diaz also seems convinced that a vote for George Bush would be a vote for legalized rape. This from the same show:
Cameron: We have a voice now, and we're not using it, and women have so much to lose. I mean, we could lose the right to our bodies. We could lo--if you think that rape should be legal, then don't vote. But if you think that you have a right to your body, and you have a right to say what happens to you and fight off that danger of losing that, then you should vote, and those are the...
I have no idea how her thought processes work, but I can only assume she believes that Bush is going to repeal Roe v. Wade in his second term. Perhaps old Cam needs to visit a high school government class to see that a President cannot single handedly accomplish this.
And my friends, lest you think this was a misstatement of her point, that perhaps she really doesn’t believe something THAT extreme, I give you this transcript from a November 2000 interview with BeatBoxBetty with the fair Cam and her Charlie’s Angels buddies:
Betty: Cameron, can you tell us what you'll be thinking about when you go into the voting booth to pick our next President?
Cameron: Yes. I will be thinking about our rights as women and our environment. We want everyone to vote.
Lucy: We're not saying you have to vote for...
All: GORE!!!
Lucy: But you should just go out and vote.
Cameron: But voting for Gore is the best choice you can make at this time. People don't think that their choice makes a difference.
Drew: They also think they'll always be protected and that's not true.
Lucy: God, we could possibly be really screwed if we don't pay attention and wake up.
Cameron: But the issue is that there is a man out there [BUSH] that's going to take the rights away from women and tap into our natural resources.
Drew: But there are people out there that think "What do you crazy Hollywood girls know?" We just have to vote at this election!
Yes Drew. That’s exactly what I think.
Unfortunately the message to the MTV generation is not “Be an intelligent voter.” The message is “Just Vote”. And many celebrities have taken it upon themselves to influence your vote. If you're stupid enough to vote for someone just because some bimbo actress like Cameron Diaz tells you to, then do us all a favor and don't vote. Or better yet, do what you did during high school elections and just write in Garfield. $20 says you didn't know he was the 20th US President.
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