It's kinda sad that the Yanks have to resort to this kind of crap to generate interest in politics.

I can see it now.....

"Hey Chuck, what's happening in the election race these days?"

"I don't know Cletus, why don't we check out Facebook and find out?"

"OK Chuck, but couldn't we just watch the news? It'd be much easier"

"Yeah we could Cletus but we can't leave an electronic footprint that way, so how's the NSA supposed to log our political affiliations and keep us under surveillance?"

"Good point Chuck. I'll fire up the lappy"

Does anyone in American even care who gets elected anymore? I mean, they vote for who they want and the courts will get the other guy in anyway won't they?

Corporations are going to try anything they can to reach the "Facebook" demographic. ABC is certainly not the first, nor the last. To pretend this is just an American phenomenon is a bit ridiculous. Of course idiots who depend on Facebook for any kind of solid reporting deserve what they get. ABC isn't a source I'd trust for that anyway.

Of course Americans care who gets elected. Personally, I care desperately about not putting another Bush in the White House. The courts deciding elections is a whole other debate. I'm worried more about how easy it is to hack into the voting machines.

And if I'm not mistaken, the UK is one of the leading violators in surveillance. Both our governments are screwed up when it comes to spying on their own citizens.

I mean when you only have 2 parties to choose from and they are made up of the 50 richest families in America you don't get a lot of opportunity for real change or a new way of governing. Look at American politics for the last 50 years and it is clear the the neo-conservative movement is running the country.

Aha well who cares anyone for $6/L gasoline?

Great. As if the late, great Dubya wasn't enough, now the future political structure of the USA will be decided by illiterate 14-year-olds? What next, a war on education? Invasion of Legoland?

Given how violently sectarian the American political scene is these days, I don't see much discussion happening, but I do see lots of shouting. Even more than normal, I mean.

Look at the state of the American political blog scene: You have Left-wing circle-jerks, with occasional Right-wing trolls crashing the party, and we have Right-wing circle-jerks, with occasional Left-wing trolls getting banned and having their posts removed.

(Hey, I never said *I* was unbiased, either!)

But nowhere (that I know of) is there anywhere catering to reasoned bi-partisan discourse. And I don't see this new Facebook app doing anything to change that.

I wasn't born until the US was already out of Vietnam, but I'm guessing the current atmosphere is worse than it has been at any time since then.

Great work, Bushie! (a.k.a. Mr Uniter-Not-A-Divider.)

or an unlimited source of COMEDY GOLD!

depending on your sense of humor

> Does anyone in American even care who gets elected anymore?

Not really - according to the US Census:

"Sixty-four percent of U.S. citizens age 18 and over voted in the 2004 presidential election, up from 60 percent in 2000 [...]"

And I don't suppose they will do anything to change this abysmal low rate - imagine if the people got the impression their opinion actually mattered if they don't have "multi dineros" to back it up!

On the other hand - it might just end up being even more about supporting the "right" denomination...

It's exactly the same in this country, if not worse. Anything that attempts to get people (especially young people) interested in politics is a welcome move.

He's a jewel in the shite of American political commentary. And that's truthy.

A couple of comments. While only 2 parties may not give us a lot of choice, it does help prevent the tail wagging the dog when a small faction joins a larger faction to create a government. You end up with a very small group dictating policy. We have the same problem with the religious-right/neo-conservative whackos in the Republican party... I pray that someday the Republican party goes back to being a sane party dedicated to doing what is right, rather than what it must do to appease these idiots.

No one party will always maintain power. This is the blind spot of the Republican party and their puppet masters Carl Rove, Tom Delay, Newt Gingrich and all non-indicted co-conspiritors... Even with redistricting of congressional districts, purging of voter records, K-Street money and stuffing of the judical branch, they still lost the last election by historical numbers!

What gives me hope, and lets me sleep at night is knowing that one day, maybe soon, we will have a Democrat (possibly Hillary) in the White House with ALL that power that the Republicans have been so eager to give to the President.

America does not have a crisis with its education of math and science as cited by the pundits, it has a civics crisis where students are not taught how to be critical consumers of information and judge the information based upon real American values as set forth within the Constitution... such as popular speech does not require protection, it is the unpopular speech that does (Watch Dixie Chicks video "I'm Not Ready To Make Nice") or the protection of the minority from the tyranny of the majority... or the separation of Church and state!

Can you believe in a recent Presidential debate the candidates were asked what their favorite BIBLE PASSAGE was? It made my stomach turn... I would have answered, Render unto Cease that which is Ceaser's and unto God, that which is Gods!"

a very good piece on this very website about how blogging is generally lowering the quality of debate and polarising opinions rather than empowering the masses. This seems to be a classic example of the case.

Just to be pedantic, we aren't but do help the US in being The leading violator in surveillance (globally), have you heard of Menwith Hill?

Actually, I have heard of RAF Menwith Hill; and I stress RAF, as in the UK's Royal Air Force. You are, however, correct in saying that this station aids the US in worldwide surveilance, but if you're suggesting that the UK gets/uses/conducts zero of that surveilance intelligence, you are sadly mistaken. In fact, in '84 BT and MoD (not the US) erected the satellite surveilance array known as STEEPLEBUSH, which, again is not US-owned.

Oh, and the UK's 4 million-some-odd (or whatever unearthly number) CCTV cameras, yeah, that's not domestic surveillance at all. >.>

As a Canadian, I do not care for the US 'cash and carry' form of government. I do take umbrage at the slur against Dr. Stephen Colbert, PhD DFA. He has won 3 Emmys, a Peabody, and was named one of the top 100 influential people by Time magazine. In January 2006, the American Dialect Society named truthiness, which Colbert featured on the premiere episode of The Colbert Report, as its 2005 Word of the Year.

All this aside, Colbert has big balls. While many comedians joke about President Bush, Colbert had the guts to do it to Bush's face at the 2006 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner. In Time magazine James Poniewozik called it "the political-cultural touchstone issue of 2006." Writing six months later, New York Times columnist Frank Rich referred to Colbert's speech as a "cultural primary" and christened it the "defining moment" of the 2006 midterm elections. In 2 short years, Colbert has left his mark on American pop culture like no others before him. Even though he is only on basic cable, his popularity propelled him ahead of several other Democratic candidates when he announced he was running for president. BTW, his facebook group is now over 1.5 million. So please give credit where it is due.

The real bitch about American politics, isn't that there aren't any worthwhile third-party candidates. It's that we'll never elect them. It's a movie quote, but is ever so tragically true:

"People are smart, they can handle it."

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."

On their own, Americans are idealistic, principled, and passionate. But collectively, we all too often act as sheep. A huge part of the population doesn't vote at all (yet still feels they have the right to complain about the outcome...), and the vast majority of those that DO get off their ass to cast their vote, do so based on what their chosen media outlet says about the candidates. Seeing how most people tend to favor media outlets that line up with their political views...well...you do the math...

So what you're left with is a small minority of voters that actually care enough to educate themselves about the candidates and issues, and who aren't just sheep filling in a bubble next to a D or R.

The real shame is when good candidates don't get elected because they refuse to conform to a democratic or republican party platform, and that's the fault of the stupid electorate, not the government we elected.