Democracy's End

[abbey1227]

Record Numbers Of Voters Show Up To End Democracy
Nov 8, 2022

babylonbee.com/news/record-numbers-of-voters-show-up-to-end-democracy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fears are growing throughout the nation's capital as record numbers of voters are turning out to polling stations across the country in an effort to end democracy as we know it. Leaders of both parties have been conducting closed-door meetings to determine what should be done.

"In a nation built on democracy, we simply cannot afford to have this many people making their voices heard in a democratic fashion," said one high-ranking member of Congress under the condition of anonymity. "If we let everyone in the country legally vote to choose the nation's leadership, democracy itself may be lost forever. Democracy!"

In order to calm the intense waves of voter turnout, plans were being hatched and put into motion from coast to coast. While vote tabulating machines in Maricopa County, Arizona were being commanded to malfunction and voters in Michigan were being informed that they had already voted, other potential schemes were rumored to involve blaring Nickelback at polling locations and even unleashing hatchet-wielding badgers in major urban centers.

"We'll do anything to make sure people stop exercising their right to vote," another Congressional staffer said. "Just think — if record numbers of people were to actually vote, our entire democratic process would collapse in on itself. Things might actually change, and we can't have that!"

At publishing time, calls had already been made to Dr. Anthony Fauci and the NIH to fast-track the release of their newest deadly virus with the hope that a new global pandemic might save democracy as we know it.

[merh]

FINAL UNOFFICIAL ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS
PROJECTED OUTSTANDING BALLOTS: 500,000
NEXT POST 11/10/2022 BY 5 P.M.
VOTER TURNOUT 29.4%
Ballots Cast 565,982
Mail Ballots 468,632
Vote Center Ballots 97,350
Registered Voters 1,925,738

So San Diego didnt care.
But it was raining like hell so maybe all the people who planned to turn out to vote in person changed their minds.
It was windy as well.
Our ground was bone dry but there are little lakes all over the ground

[abbey1227]

Nov 9, 2022 23:30:42 GMT merh said:

FINAL UNOFFICIAL ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS
PROJECTED OUTSTANDING BALLOTS: 500,000
NEXT POST 11/10/2022 BY 5 P.M.
VOTER TURNOUT 29.4%
Ballots Cast 565,982
Mail Ballots 468,632
Vote Center Ballots 97,350
Registered Voters 1,925,738

So San Diego didnt care.
But it was raining like hell so maybe all the people who planned to turn out to vote in person changed their minds.
It was windy as well.
Our ground was bone dry but there are little lakes all over the ground

Rain kept people from voting?       Yeah, we're a country just full of freedom fighters

NOT that much changed in Cali anyway, right? Congrats to Nancy and Nephew

[merh]

Nov 10, 2022 3:13:03 GMT abbey1227 said:

Nov 9, 2022 23:30:42 GMT merh said:

FINAL UNOFFICIAL ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS
PROJECTED OUTSTANDING BALLOTS: 500,000
NEXT POST 11/10/2022 BY 5 P.M.
VOTER TURNOUT 29.4%
Ballots Cast 565,982
Mail Ballots 468,632
Vote Center Ballots 97,350
Registered Voters 1,925,738

So San Diego didnt care.
But it was raining like hell so maybe all the people who planned to turn out to vote in person changed their minds.
It was windy as well.
Our ground was bone dry but there are little lakes all over the ground

Rain kept people from voting?       Yeah, we're a country just full of freedom fighters

NOT that much changed in Cali anyway, right? Congrats to Nancy and Nephew

Actually our turnout was better.
They apparently aren't counting the Ballots until they are read which makes sense(some might not be valid), but it also means we won't know until December.

Our district for the House has been back & forth. It looks like Levine will keep his seat, but we aren't close to counted & there is no telling.

But yeah.
Californians melt in the rain, I swear. 
They can't drive in it, either.

It is unreal.
Particularly considering how many come from elsewhere.

It's like they forget how to drive on slick roads.

[merh]

[Prometheus]

Nov 14, 2022 22:55:13 GMT merh said:

And the system in AZ was created by Republicans to benefit Republicans.

Oopsie

[abbey1227]

Nov 14, 2022 22:55:13 GMT merh said:

They choose the winner on American Idol by shows end.

They know if someone won the Powerball within hours.

We used to announce election results before people went to bed........and that was before advances in tech.

But stick with the BS theory that everything is perfectly legit these days. Just as the science is unquestionable.

[merh]

Nov 15, 2022 4:01:43 GMT abbey1227 said:

Nov 14, 2022 22:55:13 GMT merh said:

They choose the winner on American Idol by shows end.

They know if someone won the Powerball within hours.

We used to announce election results before people went to bed........and that was before advances in tech.

But stick with the BS theory that everything is perfectly legit these days. Just as the science is unquestionable.

...
American Idol is a limited electronic voting thing, isn't it?
Never watched the show.

Gee, they sell the printed ticket so the COMPUTER knows where the ticket was sold at.

Elections are a bit more complex. 

More like a teacher grading tests.
Takes a bit of time.
Dozens of questions. 

I remember when they stopped projecting winners until all the polls closed.

WASHINGTON – Thirty-five days. That’s how long it took — from the ballot boxes to Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore conceding the election — for voters to know who won the 2000 presidential election.

The 2000 election is the longest in contemporary American history in terms of "elapsed time in days," Michael W. Traugott, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Michigan, told USA TODAY.

Damn, dude.

My polls close at 7. That's what, 2, 3 hours later than yours?

It's not voting on a single thing. 

There's presidents & senators & initiatives...
All that stuff takes a minute to tally.

Unlike American Idol where they are voting for what, half a dozen choices?
Push 1 for this, etc?

[abbey1227]

Nov 16, 2022 21:24:27 GMT merh said:

Nov 15, 2022 4:01:43 GMT abbey1227 said:

They choose the winner on American Idol by shows end.

They know if someone won the Powerball within hours.

We used to announce election results before people went to bed........and that was before advances in tech.

But stick with the BS theory that everything is perfectly legit these days. Just as the science is unquestionable.

...
American Idol is a limited electronic voting thing, isn't it?
Never watched the show.

Gee, they sell the printed ticket so the COMPUTER knows where the ticket was sold at.

Elections are a bit more complex. 

More like a teacher grading tests.
Takes a bit of time.
Dozens of questions. 

I remember when they stopped projecting winners until all the polls closed.

WASHINGTON – Thirty-five days. That’s how long it took — from the ballot boxes to Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore conceding the election — for voters to know who won the 2000 presidential election.

The 2000 election is the longest in contemporary American history in terms of "elapsed time in days," Michael W. Traugott, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Michigan, told USA TODAY.

Damn, dude.

My polls close at 7. That's what, 2, 3 hours later than yours?

It's not voting on a single thing. 

There's presidents & senators & initiatives...
All that stuff takes a minute to tally.

Unlike American Idol where they are voting for what, half a dozen choices?
Push 1 for this, etc?

Electronic tests do not take forever to grade. That's the entire point

And there wasn't a problem declaring a winner before bedtime until the last few elections. Coincidence? Shameful.

I love how you referenced all of the steps the Gore team took without suggesting he was trying to subvert democracy or push an insurrection, too.

That 'hanging chad' incident should have been the last time we had any doubts about our own elections.......but they do love keeping the waters murky

[merh]

Nov 17, 2022 2:51:47 GMT abbey1227 said:

Nov 16, 2022 21:24:27 GMT merh said:

...
American Idol is a limited electronic voting thing, isn't it?
Never watched the show.

Gee, they sell the printed ticket so the COMPUTER knows where the ticket was sold at.

Elections are a bit more complex. 

More like a teacher grading tests.
Takes a bit of time.
Dozens of questions. 

I remember when they stopped projecting winners until all the polls closed.

Damn, dude.

My polls close at 7. That's what, 2, 3 hours later than yours?

It's not voting on a single thing. 

There's presidents & senators & initiatives...
All that stuff takes a minute to tally.

Unlike American Idol where they are voting for what, half a dozen choices?
Push 1 for this, etc?

Electronic tests do not take forever to grade. That's the entire point

And there wasn't a problem declaring a winner before bedtime until the last few elections. Coincidence? Shameful.

I love how you referenced all of the steps the Gore team took without suggesting he was trying to subvert democracy or push an insurrection, too.

That 'hanging chad' incident should have been the last time we had any doubts about our own elections.......but they do love keeping the waters murky

American Idol controversies

The American singing competition show American Idol (2002–2016; 2018–present) has generated controversy over the years in numerous areas.

Many of the controversies have centered on the show's voting process and results, and in later seasons, gender bias against female contestants, as well as contestant comments. Another major source of controversy that has spanned multiple seasons has been the activities of contestants prior to competing on the show such as past recording contracts in contravention of the rules, and undisclosed criminal charges.

Voting controversies
Voting has been the biggest source of controversy with American Idol becoming embroiled in numerous controversies in various seasons over the voting process and its results.

Season one autodialer power-voting
Around 100 people using auto-dialing software and their home dial-up modems reportedly placed as many as 10,000 votes a night. However, FremantleMedia, which produces the show, contended that this represented a 'statistically insignificant' proportion of the overall voting, and Fox insisted that the system was fair. Nevertheless, concerns were raised about possible unfairness in the situation of a tight vote. One of the show's executive producers Ken Warwick later indicated that equipment was put in place afterwards to address this issue but it has not detected any such problem since its installation.

Season two finale vote
Out of 24 million votes recorded following the season two finale, Ruben Studdard finished just 130,000 votes ahead of Clay Aiken. There was confusion over the winning margin as Ryan Seacrest initially announced it as 13,000, later again 1,335, and then finally corrected by Fox as 130,000. There was much discussion in the communication industry about the phone system being overloaded, and that potentially more than 230 million calls were dropped just by AT&T and SBC (over 30% of the market), making the results statistically invalid. The phone lines may have been running at capacity that made a near-tie inevitable, with the winner potentially decided by text-messaging which was unaffected by capacity problem.

In an interview prior to the start of the fifth season, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe revealed for the first time that Aiken had led the fan voting from the wild card week onward until the finale.

Season two phone scam
During the second season, a phone scam operation based in Salt Lake City, Utah was discovered, in which people were tricked into believing that viewers could vote for their favorites through an 800 number, rather than the 866 number used on the show.

Season three Jennifer Hudson's ouster
At top seven, the three African American singers Fantasia Barrino, LaToya London, and Jennifer Hudson, dubbed the Three Divas, all unexpectedly landed at the bottom three. Jennifer Hudson was eliminated, prompting much discussion and criticism. Elton John, who was one of the mentors that season, called the results of the votes "incredibly racist" (though Barrino went on to win the competition). Criticisms were also voiced about the voting system that resulted in survival of contestants such as John Stevens over Jennifer Hudson, or Jasmine Trias over LaToya London. It was claimed that Jasmine Trias' fans were able to vote early and often outside of the 2-hour voting window, and a disproportionate number of votes came from Jasmine Trias' home state of Hawaii.

Season four voting numbers mix-up
During the Top 11 performance show, three of the contestants had their numbers mixed up with the wrong numbers appearing on the screen, resulting in millions of votes being voided. Recordings of the performances were therefore reshown on the Wednesday show with new, live commentary from the three judges, and the audience revoted. The elimination night was moved to Thursday.

Season five Chris Daughtry's vote-off
In the week finalist Chris Daughtry was voted off, some voters claimed that phone calls dialed for Daughtry during the first few minutes of voting were misrouted to Katharine McPhee's lines, and they heard her recorded message thanking them for voting. Other voters claimed similar problems voting for other contestants, in some cases resulting in votes going to Daughtry that were intended for another contestant, Elliott Yamin.

Season six voting campaign for Sanjaya
This season saw a concerted attempt to influence the outcome of the vote in American Idol, led most notably by Howard Stern and Vote for the Worst. Howard Stern encouraged his listeners to vote for Sanjaya Malakar who had become a phenomenon in Season 6, and to take delight in possibly "ruining" Idol.

Season six Melinda Doolittle's vote-off
Melinda Doolittle's departure stunned fans and critics alike. Simon Cowell admitted that the sixth season's crown should have rightfully gone to Melinda. Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe responded, noting that "[Idol producers] were so engrossed with the mentors and didn't really focus on the Melinda Doolittles of the show." Lythgoe also produces So You Think You Can Dance, and has noted that the dance program gives background information about its contestants, while American Idol focused more on its big-name celebrity mentors, such as Tony Bennett, Gwen Stefani, and Jennifer Lopez.

Season eight phone numbers
In the top thirteen in season 8, the expected phone number for finalist Alexis Grace, IDOLS-13, was not owned by American Idol, but by a company called Intimate Encounters, who used it as a sex line. Although host Ryan Seacrest made ample mention of the replacement phone number, IDOLS-36, some commentators feared that the phone number confusion could have led to Grace being inadvertently voted off the show. However, she was not voted off that week.

Season eight finale vote: "Textgate"
In May 2009, following allegations in the media of an American Idol texting scandal dubbed "Textgate", one of American Idol's corporate sponsors, AT&T, admitted providing free mobile phones and texting services for fans of Kris Allen (who won the competition) at parties organized on the night of the program's final episode. Company representatives also provided Allen's supporters with lessons in how to send "power texts" which send ten or more votes with the touch of a single button. Bobby Kierna, one of the 2,000 guests who attended just one of the events, told reporters that she had voted for Allen 10,840 times. AT&T denied attempting to "fix" the contest and apologized, saying that employees had been "caught up in their enthusiasm" and promised that they will in future "celebrate the competition, not individual contestants".

While speculations were rife over the reasons for Allen's win over Adam Lambert, in a statement, Fox said that an independent monitor was employed to oversee the voting process to ensure the competition results were "fair, accurate and verified."

Season nine Siobhan Magnus' vote-off
Siobhan Magnus's elimination caused a stir among the judges and fans of the show. The controversy grew when it was discovered that a phone number printed on Facebook was not a number to vote for Magnus, but to vote for Aaron Kelly. Some commentators speculated that the phone number mix-up may have led to Magnus's exit. An unsuccessful campaign to bring Magnus back into the show was started by her fans.

Gender and ethnic biases
American Idol faced criticism for implications of gender and ethnic bias in its finalists; for five consecutive seasons—seven through eleven—the winner of American Idol was a guitar-playing, Caucasian male. The string of winners led to complaints by critics, who classified them as being a "white guy with guitar" (WGWG), and felt that the likely winner of the program had become too predictable due to the repeated victories by such performers.

The first five contestants eliminated from the finals in the tenth season were all female, which led some critics to believe that it was partly due to the demographic of the voters being skewed towards females who tended to vote for men. Idol producer Ken Warwick said, "It's no secret that most reality shows are female driven, either by moms or by young girls. It does mean we're going to get a heftier amount of female votes and it's always bent towards the boys, obviously, we are very much aware that the voting can be skewed towards the boys." In response to the criticism, the producers considered tweaking the voting format for the following season to correct the bias.[40] The last of these five girls to be eliminated was a presumed front-runner, Pia Toscano, and her elimination drew considerable criticisms, with various former Idol alums and celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher and Tom Hanks expressing shock and surprise.

Prior to the eleventh-season finale, which saw the victory of the fifth "WGWG" winner Phillip Phillips, American Idol: The Untold Story author Richard Rushfield explained that the notions of attractiveness and personality of these contestants had influenced their victories, stating that "You have this alliance between young girls and grandmas and they see it, not necessarily as a contest to create a pop star competing on the contemporary radio, but as ... who's the nicest guy in a popularity contest," and going on to say that these tactics had "led to this dynasty of four, and possibly now five, consecutive, affable, very nice, good-looking white boys."

Season twelve Angie Miller vote-off
Angie Miller's elimination drew considerable criticisms. Miller was considered a fan-favorite, often placing in the voting's top ranks and becoming the season's sole contestant to not land in the bottom group until her elimination in the Top 3. The elimination was described by journalists as "shocking" and "surprising".

Season thirteen Malaya Watson vote-off
Malaya Watson's elimination caused stir amongst many fans with some stating that the judges use of the "Judges Save" on April 3, 2014 should have been used on her. Some said that Malaya deserved to win and others announced that they would no longer watch the show as they were outraged by her elimination. Judge Jennifer Lopez revealed in an interview that she was outraged and disappointed with the result and believed that Malaya did not deserve to be eliminated from the show; then added that she wished she could've done something about it. American Idol Season 11 runner-up Jessica Sanchez stated on Twitter her anger and disappointment with Malaya's elimination. Stating "Mad and disappointed about it Malaya should have been safe. #idoldisagree"  Dozens of American Idol reviewers also stated their disappointment and outrage with the result saying that Watson did not deserve to go home.

Season nineteen Arthur Gunn comeback
Season 19 added a comeback round where contestants from the previous series competed to earn a place in the live shows. When Season 18 Runner-up Arthur Gunn was selected for this contest alongside several semifinalists, fans claimed he was being given an unfair advantage. Gunn won the contest and joined the competition at the Final 10. His comeback was unpopular with many fans, with some claiming that Season 19 was rigged for him to win at the expense of favorites such as Grace Kinstler or Willie Spence, who had been part of the series from the beginning. An unsuccessful campaign to disqualify Gunn from the competition was started by fans of the contestants that originally auditioned for Season 19. Gunn was eventually eliminated during the Top 7 round.

 BUT AMERICAN IDOL CAN PROCESS IT IN A NIGHT!!!!!!!

[Prometheus]

Nov 18, 2022 4:30:24 GMT merh said:

Nov 17, 2022 2:51:47 GMT abbey1227 said:

Electronic tests do not take forever to grade. That's the entire point

And there wasn't a problem declaring a winner before bedtime until the last few elections. Coincidence? Shameful.

I love how you referenced all of the steps the Gore team took without suggesting he was trying to subvert democracy or push an insurrection, too.

That 'hanging chad' incident should have been the last time we had any doubts about our own elections.......but they do love keeping the waters murky

American Idol controversies

The American singing competition show American Idol (2002–2016; 2018–present) has generated controversy over the years in numerous areas.

Many of the controversies have centered on the show's voting process and results, and in later seasons, gender bias against female contestants, as well as contestant comments. Another major source of controversy that has spanned multiple seasons has been the activities of contestants prior to competing on the show such as past recording contracts in contravention of the rules, and undisclosed criminal charges.

Voting controversies
Voting has been the biggest source of controversy with American Idol becoming embroiled in numerous controversies in various seasons over the voting process and its results.

Season one autodialer power-voting
Around 100 people using auto-dialing software and their home dial-up modems reportedly placed as many as 10,000 votes a night. However, FremantleMedia, which produces the show, contended that this represented a 'statistically insignificant' proportion of the overall voting, and Fox insisted that the system was fair. Nevertheless, concerns were raised about possible unfairness in the situation of a tight vote. One of the show's executive producers Ken Warwick later indicated that equipment was put in place afterwards to address this issue but it has not detected any such problem since its installation.

Season two finale vote
Out of 24 million votes recorded following the season two finale, Ruben Studdard finished just 130,000 votes ahead of Clay Aiken. There was confusion over the winning margin as Ryan Seacrest initially announced it as 13,000, later again 1,335, and then finally corrected by Fox as 130,000. There was much discussion in the communication industry about the phone system being overloaded, and that potentially more than 230 million calls were dropped just by AT&T and SBC (over 30% of the market), making the results statistically invalid. The phone lines may have been running at capacity that made a near-tie inevitable, with the winner potentially decided by text-messaging which was unaffected by capacity problem.

In an interview prior to the start of the fifth season, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe revealed for the first time that Aiken had led the fan voting from the wild card week onward until the finale.

Season two phone scam
During the second season, a phone scam operation based in Salt Lake City, Utah was discovered, in which people were tricked into believing that viewers could vote for their favorites through an 800 number, rather than the 866 number used on the show.

Season three Jennifer Hudson's ouster
At top seven, the three African American singers Fantasia Barrino, LaToya London, and Jennifer Hudson, dubbed the Three Divas, all unexpectedly landed at the bottom three. Jennifer Hudson was eliminated, prompting much discussion and criticism. Elton John, who was one of the mentors that season, called the results of the votes "incredibly racist" (though Barrino went on to win the competition). Criticisms were also voiced about the voting system that resulted in survival of contestants such as John Stevens over Jennifer Hudson, or Jasmine Trias over LaToya London. It was claimed that Jasmine Trias' fans were able to vote early and often outside of the 2-hour voting window, and a disproportionate number of votes came from Jasmine Trias' home state of Hawaii.

Season four voting numbers mix-up
During the Top 11 performance show, three of the contestants had their numbers mixed up with the wrong numbers appearing on the screen, resulting in millions of votes being voided. Recordings of the performances were therefore reshown on the Wednesday show with new, live commentary from the three judges, and the audience revoted. The elimination night was moved to Thursday.

Season five Chris Daughtry's vote-off
In the week finalist Chris Daughtry was voted off, some voters claimed that phone calls dialed for Daughtry during the first few minutes of voting were misrouted to Katharine McPhee's lines, and they heard her recorded message thanking them for voting. Other voters claimed similar problems voting for other contestants, in some cases resulting in votes going to Daughtry that were intended for another contestant, Elliott Yamin.

Season six voting campaign for Sanjaya
This season saw a concerted attempt to influence the outcome of the vote in American Idol, led most notably by Howard Stern and Vote for the Worst. Howard Stern encouraged his listeners to vote for Sanjaya Malakar who had become a phenomenon in Season 6, and to take delight in possibly "ruining" Idol.

Season six Melinda Doolittle's vote-off
Melinda Doolittle's departure stunned fans and critics alike. Simon Cowell admitted that the sixth season's crown should have rightfully gone to Melinda. Executive producer Nigel Lythgoe responded, noting that "[Idol producers] were so engrossed with the mentors and didn't really focus on the Melinda Doolittles of the show." Lythgoe also produces So You Think You Can Dance, and has noted that the dance program gives background information about its contestants, while American Idol focused more on its big-name celebrity mentors, such as Tony Bennett, Gwen Stefani, and Jennifer Lopez.

Season eight phone numbers
In the top thirteen in season 8, the expected phone number for finalist Alexis Grace, IDOLS-13, was not owned by American Idol, but by a company called Intimate Encounters, who used it as a sex line. Although host Ryan Seacrest made ample mention of the replacement phone number, IDOLS-36, some commentators feared that the phone number confusion could have led to Grace being inadvertently voted off the show. However, she was not voted off that week.

Season eight finale vote: "Textgate"
In May 2009, following allegations in the media of an American Idol texting scandal dubbed "Textgate", one of American Idol's corporate sponsors, AT&T, admitted providing free mobile phones and texting services for fans of Kris Allen (who won the competition) at parties organized on the night of the program's final episode. Company representatives also provided Allen's supporters with lessons in how to send "power texts" which send ten or more votes with the touch of a single button. Bobby Kierna, one of the 2,000 guests who attended just one of the events, told reporters that she had voted for Allen 10,840 times. AT&T denied attempting to "fix" the contest and apologized, saying that employees had been "caught up in their enthusiasm" and promised that they will in future "celebrate the competition, not individual contestants".

While speculations were rife over the reasons for Allen's win over Adam Lambert, in a statement, Fox said that an independent monitor was employed to oversee the voting process to ensure the competition results were "fair, accurate and verified."

Season nine Siobhan Magnus' vote-off
Siobhan Magnus's elimination caused a stir among the judges and fans of the show. The controversy grew when it was discovered that a phone number printed on Facebook was not a number to vote for Magnus, but to vote for Aaron Kelly. Some commentators speculated that the phone number mix-up may have led to Magnus's exit. An unsuccessful campaign to bring Magnus back into the show was started by her fans.

Gender and ethnic biases
American Idol faced criticism for implications of gender and ethnic bias in its finalists; for five consecutive seasons—seven through eleven—the winner of American Idol was a guitar-playing, Caucasian male. The string of winners led to complaints by critics, who classified them as being a "white guy with guitar" (WGWG), and felt that the likely winner of the program had become too predictable due to the repeated victories by such performers.

The first five contestants eliminated from the finals in the tenth season were all female, which led some critics to believe that it was partly due to the demographic of the voters being skewed towards females who tended to vote for men. Idol producer Ken Warwick said, "It's no secret that most reality shows are female driven, either by moms or by young girls. It does mean we're going to get a heftier amount of female votes and it's always bent towards the boys, obviously, we are very much aware that the voting can be skewed towards the boys." In response to the criticism, the producers considered tweaking the voting format for the following season to correct the bias.[40] The last of these five girls to be eliminated was a presumed front-runner, Pia Toscano, and her elimination drew considerable criticisms, with various former Idol alums and celebrities such as Ashton Kutcher and Tom Hanks expressing shock and surprise.

Prior to the eleventh-season finale, which saw the victory of the fifth "WGWG" winner Phillip Phillips, American Idol: The Untold Story author Richard Rushfield explained that the notions of attractiveness and personality of these contestants had influenced their victories, stating that "You have this alliance between young girls and grandmas and they see it, not necessarily as a contest to create a pop star competing on the contemporary radio, but as ... who's the nicest guy in a popularity contest," and going on to say that these tactics had "led to this dynasty of four, and possibly now five, consecutive, affable, very nice, good-looking white boys."

Season twelve Angie Miller vote-off
Angie Miller's elimination drew considerable criticisms. Miller was considered a fan-favorite, often placing in the voting's top ranks and becoming the season's sole contestant to not land in the bottom group until her elimination in the Top 3. The elimination was described by journalists as "shocking" and "surprising".

Season thirteen Malaya Watson vote-off
Malaya Watson's elimination caused stir amongst many fans with some stating that the judges use of the "Judges Save" on April 3, 2014 should have been used on her. Some said that Malaya deserved to win and others announced that they would no longer watch the show as they were outraged by her elimination. Judge Jennifer Lopez revealed in an interview that she was outraged and disappointed with the result and believed that Malaya did not deserve to be eliminated from the show; then added that she wished she could've done something about it. American Idol Season 11 runner-up Jessica Sanchez stated on Twitter her anger and disappointment with Malaya's elimination. Stating "Mad and disappointed about it Malaya should have been safe. #idoldisagree"  Dozens of American Idol reviewers also stated their disappointment and outrage with the result saying that Watson did not deserve to go home.

Season nineteen Arthur Gunn comeback
Season 19 added a comeback round where contestants from the previous series competed to earn a place in the live shows. When Season 18 Runner-up Arthur Gunn was selected for this contest alongside several semifinalists, fans claimed he was being given an unfair advantage. Gunn won the contest and joined the competition at the Final 10. His comeback was unpopular with many fans, with some claiming that Season 19 was rigged for him to win at the expense of favorites such as Grace Kinstler or Willie Spence, who had been part of the series from the beginning. An unsuccessful campaign to disqualify Gunn from the competition was started by fans of the contestants that originally auditioned for Season 19. Gunn was eventually eliminated during the Top 7 round.

 BUT AMERICAN IDOL CAN PROCESS IT IN A NIGHT!!!!!!!

And if anyone ever asked Abbey to agree to electing politicians the same way people vote for American Idols, he'd be the first one to point out every actual and potential flaw in the system.

It's interesting that he brought up Gore since that's where the GOP latched onto the idea that the polls were crooked and it has been the GOP bitching every step of the way since then even though THEY have managed to create the current system that they trust so little.

[merh]

Nov 18, 2022 13:05:42 GMT Prometheus said:

Nov 18, 2022 4:30:24 GMT merh said:

 BUT AMERICAN IDOL CAN PROCESS IT IN A NIGHT!!!!!!!

And if anyone ever asked Abbey to agree to electing politicians the same way people vote for American Idols, he'd be the first one to point out every actual and potential flaw in the system.

It's interesting that he brought up Gore since that's where the GOP latched onto the idea that the polls were crooked and it has been the GOP bitching every step of the way since then even though THEY have managed to create the current system that they trust so little.

The problem is how can it be rigged for different races?

There's always some Republicans winning so what, those are correct but the ones they lose are fixed?

[Prometheus]

Nov 21, 2022 1:32:11 GMT merh said:

Nov 18, 2022 13:05:42 GMT Prometheus said:

And if anyone ever asked Abbey to agree to electing politicians the same way people vote for American Idols, he'd be the first one to point out every actual and potential flaw in the system.

It's interesting that he brought up Gore since that's where the GOP latched onto the idea that the polls were crooked and it has been the GOP bitching every step of the way since then even though THEY have managed to create the current system that they trust so little.

The problem is how can it be rigged for different races?

There's always some Republicans winning so what, those are correct but the ones they lose are fixed?

Yup.

They seriously think that the only proof required that the election was rigged is that they lost.

[abbey1227]

Nov 21, 2022 1:32:11 GMT merh said:

The problem is how can it be rigged for different races?

There's always some Republicans winning so what, those are correct but the ones they lose are fixed?

My predictions for the future is more and more democratic wins than ever before. The GOP will lose more and more ground as renters and illegals influence the country's cultural swing more towards socialism/Marxist beliefs.

And after they've achieved almost total control........THEN you'll see the end of democracy.

So, like all that debt that's piling up.........YOU might avoid the worst of it because of your age........your children and possible grandchildren will do all the suffering. 

[merh]

Nov 21, 2022 3:35:58 GMT abbey1227 said:

Nov 21, 2022 1:32:11 GMT merh said:

The problem is how can it be rigged for different races?

There's always some Republicans winning so what, those are correct but the ones they lose are fixed?

My predictions for the future is more and more democratic wins than ever before. The GOP will lose more and more ground as renters and illegals influence the country's cultural swing more towards socialism/Marxist beliefs.

And after they've achieved almost total control........THEN you'll see the end of democracy.

So, like all that debt that's piling up.........YOU might avoid the worst of it because of your age........your children and possible grandchildren will do all the suffering. 

Damnation.

So now renters are evil?

GOP only have themselves to blame.
We heard all that crap about Crime & Inflation & blah blah blah before the election.

What do we see now?

INVESTIGATE THE CRIMINAL BIDEN FAMILY!!!!!!!

They are going to run the Benghazi trial ad nauseum. McCarthy bragged they did it to Hillary & she lost so he's going to run it again.

Suddenly who gives a damn about fixing any problems?

 Boehner couldn't wrangle the House GOP.
Ryan couldn't wrangle them.

Nothing but investigate the Democrats. 

[ant-mac]

Nov 14, 2022 23:36:18 GMT Prometheus said:

Nov 14, 2022 22:55:13 GMT merh said:

And the system in AZ was created by Republicans to benefit Republicans.

Oopsie

Apparently, Gen Z turned out to vote in unexpectantly high numbers this time around and upset the Republicans' plans...

So they would've gotten away with it, if it hadn't been for those meddling kids!

[abbey1227]

Nov 21, 2022 6:10:44 GMT merh said:

Damnation.   So now renters are evil?

GOP only have themselves to blame.
We heard all that crap about Crime & Inflation & blah blah blah before the election.

What do we see now?

INVESTIGATE THE CRIMINAL BIDEN FAMILY!!!!!!!

They are going to run the Benghazi trial ad nauseum. McCarthy bragged they did it to Hillary & she lost so he's going to run it again.
Suddenly who gives a damn about fixing any problems?

 Boehner couldn't wrangle the House GOP.
Ryan couldn't wrangle them.

Nothing but investigate the Democrats.

Renters aren't evil.........they're just more prone to vote away property rights since they don't own any themselves. You see how this works, right? It's a mind set groomed for more collectivism.

Crap? So inflation doesn't exist and isn't hurting your pocketbook right now? Denial

Crime hasn't gone up since 2019? More denial.

The Bidens are criminals. More so than Trump, by a long shot. But go on.........keep supporting the witch hunt, while excusing the criminals in your own tent.

Yep, they're going to waste time and $Millions in tax dollars on more investigations that will accomplish nothing. We ALL already know nothing happens to the connected crowd in DC.

And they'll refuse to shrink Govt and it's spending in direct conflict with their voter base yet again.

[Prometheus]

Nov 21, 2022 3:35:58 GMT abbey1227 said:

Nov 21, 2022 1:32:11 GMT merh said:

The problem is how can it be rigged for different races?

There's always some Republicans winning so what, those are correct but the ones they lose are fixed?

My predictions for the future is more and more democratic wins than ever before. The GOP will lose more and more ground as renters and illegals influence the country's cultural swing more towards socialism/Marxist beliefs.

And after they've achieved almost total control........THEN you'll see the end of democracy.

So, like all that debt that's piling up.........YOU might avoid the worst of it because of your age........your children and possible grandchildren will do all the suffering. 

"Renters" are now the equivalent of "illegals" in your eyes, Abs?

I'm not surprised as you seem to value people based on their wallets and assets rather than their character. When did "renters" become synonymous with "Marxists" in your eyes?

Will you be riding out to spread the alarm, "The renters are coming! The renters are coming!"

[Prometheus]

Nov 21, 2022 7:11:39 GMT abbey1227 said:

Nov 21, 2022 6:10:44 GMT merh said:

Damnation.   So now renters are evil?

GOP only have themselves to blame.
We heard all that crap about Crime & Inflation & blah blah blah before the election.

What do we see now?

INVESTIGATE THE CRIMINAL BIDEN FAMILY!!!!!!!

They are going to run the Benghazi trial ad nauseum. McCarthy bragged they did it to Hillary & she lost so he's going to run it again.
Suddenly who gives a damn about fixing any problems?

 Boehner couldn't wrangle the House GOP.
Ryan couldn't wrangle them.

Nothing but investigate the Democrats.

Renters aren't evil.........they're just more prone to vote away property rights since they don't own any themselves. You see how this works, right? It's a mind set groomed for more collectivism.

Crap? So inflation doesn't exist and isn't hurting your pocketbook right now? Denial

Crime hasn't gone up since 2019? More denial.

The Bidens are criminals. More so than Trump, by a long shot. But go on.........keep supporting the witch hunt, while excusing the criminals in your own tent.

Yep, they're going to waste time and $Millions in tax dollars on more investigations that will accomplish nothing. We ALL already know nothing happens to the connected crowd in DC.

And they'll refuse to shrink Govt and it's spending in direct conflict with their voter base yet again.

And now you managed to slip in the big, bad, buzzword: grooming.

What a buffoon!