AMERICAN IDOL AND MYTHS
After the American Idol host announced that 64.5 million people voted in choosing the winner of American Idol, he declared “more people voted than for the president.” Well, let’s examine this closer. In the 2004 Presidential election, over 112 million votes were cast. Nearly twice as many as in American Idol. Adding further insult to injury, one can cast more than one vote for the American Idol candidate, with the average being nearly three votes cast per person. Thus, less than 30 million people actually voted. Also, anyone of any nation or age can vote in American Idol.
American Idol, as illustrated in a Newsweek article a few years ago, is not an upright, honest, show. So it should be of no surprise that the show spouts falsehoods. But, Americans are easily enticed into believing myths and lies.
Now, I realize why so many naïve Americans believed G. W. Bush when he stated that former Iraqi leader Hussein was responsible for 9/11 and had weapons of mass destruction.
If some Americans paid as much attention to current issues and policies as they do following American Idol, America probably would not find itself in the quagmire in Iraq and the President and Congress would be held more accountable.
BY CHRISTIAN GATSBY
