Rock the Vote (Ireland) are fucking stupid
On May 3rd I said:
Well done to Rock the Vote. They’ve made me want to not vote in protest. Stupid cunts. Without the question the worst thing I have ever seen.
Today I received an unsolicited email from press@rockthevote.ie, saying:
Hey guys,
The latest Rock the Vote video for your viewing…
Now, I would have thought that somebody who called you ’stupid cunts’ and said that your project was the worst thing they’d ever seen might not be the kind of person you want to spam to tell them there’s more of the worst thing they’ve ever seen.
This latest video features some half-witted, zany cunt called Frazier who needs his face introduced to wall. Repeatedly.
So, Rock the Vote, you pack of witless clits, stop fucking emailing me with your dreadful shite.
Honestly, Rock the Vote is worse that Ireland’s Eurovision entry this year. In fact, if this year’s entry had a baby with those two retarded gingers that were in it a couple of years ago it would be better than Rock the Vote.
Update: After sending an email to Rock the Vote telling them I didn’t care to receive any further emails about their terrible project I received this in reply:
Apologies. Your blog suggested you were interested. Call into the office at any point if you’re interested in inputting for the years to come. Call in after May 24th.
Fuck me, told you they were stupid.
Further update (Tuesday afternoon): They just emailed me again with a press release I don’t care about. That’s just too much now.
May 20th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Why? I mean, I’m assuming this campaign is aimed at ‘the Yoof’ the people who will not be able to make it to the poling both because BBBBertie and co called the election for a Thursday…
May 20th, 2007 at 12:56 pm
hahaha…Colin Farrell told me to rock the vote and made the devil horns, id better pretend I like one of the candidates and vote!
May 20th, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Is there anything in the statute book about unsolicited email?
May 20th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
So negative, Major. Why not rock the vote?
May 20th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
Nothing wrong with voting. Everyone eligible should vote.
‘Rocking’ the vote, however, is not the same thing. In order to ‘rock’ the vote, or indeed, say ‘rock the vote’ with no sense of irony, one would have to be some class of a cunt.
May 20th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
No, one wouldn’t. I repeat, why not rock the vote?
May 20th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
who the fuck is that sad sack of shite? Its like watching a less self aware DJ spiral. Unless its an act of Chris Morris-esque post modern genius but I doubt it. The current issue of Phoenix magazine features a piece about the pisslickers behind this campaign. Fuckin rich kids.
May 20th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Freegan:
Voting = good
Rocking the vote = tedious load of shite shamelessly ripped off from some similar US campaign featuring ‘celebs’ with all the credibility of Hitler at a “Let’s love the Jews” conference.
May 20th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
I’d have liked to rock something when the smoking ban was being introduced.
Democracy. Interesting concept.
May 20th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
I would have liked to have been rocked by Amadeus.
“Oooh, rock me Amadeus”, I might have said.
May 20th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
I still don’t see what’s wrong with the campaign. Does it matter if the people behind it are rich kids? Does it matter if it’s ripped off? It’s either going to make young people think about politics and matters that will actually change their circumstances(ok, maybe a little bit of a high expectation for Irish politics, but still), or else they’ll think it’s a pretty embarassing campaign and slag it off. Simple as. In the end, at least it’ll make them think of voting. I don’t see where the whole thing is wrong.
May 20th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
Fair enough, Maj.
May 20th, 2007 at 5:16 pm
I still don’t see what’s wrong with the campaign. Does it matter if the people behind it are rich kids? Does it matter if it’s ripped off?
No, but it seems to be little more than an ego trip for the people behind it – they can’t honestly think that these videos will get people to vote. If they do they either know nothing about young people or nothing about politics. Or both.
And given that RTÉ are backing it there may be public money going into it – that’s the real problem.
It’s either going to make young people think about politics and matters that will actually change their circumstances(ok, maybe a little bit of a high expectation for Irish politics, but still), or else they’ll think it’s a pretty embarassing campaign and slag it off. Simple as. In the end, at least it’ll make them think of voting. I don’t see where the whole thing is wrong.
My issue with rock the vote is the way in which it is actually damaging what it claims to be fixing – youth participation and political engagement with young people. The campaign smacks of those sickening Hot Press-type interviews where politicians remove their ties, talk about their favourite bands and admit to once seeing a guy smoking something that may have been “the pot”.
Here’s the problem with Rock The Vote – All it does is patronise young people. It assumes they need to have everything dumbed down to in order to become politically aware. It assumes that some celebrity credibility is all that is needed to turn apathy into activism. It assumes that young people need to be told something is cool before they’ll bother their holes to do it. It assumes young people are too fucking thick to be engaged in real debate.
Worst of all it skips over the actual issues and gives young people nothing in terms of a real reason to vote.
I’m of the belief that young people need to make their voices heard before politicians will start to legislate for them – we can’t sit back and wait for politicians to come to us with solutions. I’m also of the belief that most young people do have strong opinions on many issues that are political in their basic nature. The problem is that there’s no nature of debate amongst most young people, no voter education in schools and no-one willing to organise a system that says “voting matters, here’s why.”
Look at it this way. All Rock The Vote says is “you should vote”. That’s not a message anyone should have to tolerate. What would your reaction be if a politician knocked on your door and said “Give me your vote.” I’d bet the first thing you’d say is “why?”
Rock the Vote has no answer to “why” – nor do the politicians. It’s not a case of young people seeing this as a good campaign or a bad one because it offers nothing to the discourse.
May 20th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Sorry to add to my rant, but I’m just watching these Frazier Fraze videos and they prove my point exactly.
How are you encouraging someone to engage in politics with a weak attempt at comedy that isn’t even political satire?
Are we supposed to think “that guy’s hilarious, and while there is absolutely nothing close to a substantial reference in terms of the real issues, he has somehow really made me think.”
For God’s sake, they spend more time talking to Louis Walsh about Westlife and Boyzone than they do on Claire Byrne when she pretends to start discussing stamp duty.
And to think these guys are getting paid.
May 20th, 2007 at 7:35 pm
Not to be a completely shameless bastard (Well I am) here’s my post about why the whole things a sham http://www.johnmortell.com/2007/05/16/rock-the-vote-not-bloody-likely/
And yes it is getting a fair bit of public funds and no encouraging young people to vote is a good idea. Treating them like their fat retarded 8year olds in a sweet convention isn’t.
May 20th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Fuck the vote, they’re just all dirty cunts:
http://www.indymedia.ie/attachments/apr2007/keep_to_the_left_there_lads.mp3
Go on de Captain Moonlight http://www.myspace.com/captainmoonlightkilkenny
May 20th, 2007 at 8:35 pm
Does Rock The Vote mean throw a load of rocks at the patently uncool cunts running for election?
May 21st, 2007 at 6:43 am
I get called a stupid cunt all the time on some days its all I’ll answer to.
May 21st, 2007 at 8:31 am
Here’s our blog URL : hope the cool dudes over at ‘Rock The Vote’ contact us looking for support -
http://1169andcounting.blogspot.com/search/label/Spoil%20It%20on%20May%2024th%20%2F%20Bodenstown%20June%2010th%20.
…as that post shows , we are firmly on their side !
Sharon .
May 21st, 2007 at 10:49 am
Agreed, RTV are not working out in my opinion. The reason that the vast majority of young folk are not voting is because their needs are not being addressed by the political parties not because they don’t understand the system or are lacking rich-kid-pet-project-video-guidance-yaw. Hopefully they’ll disappear permanently after the 24th.
May 21st, 2007 at 10:52 am
Christ, haven’t they fucked off yet?? Surely they realise people are simply laughing at them? And what does “Call into the office at any point if you’re interested in inputting for the years to come” mean? Sounds a bit ominous, I bet they’ll tie you up and kill you by forcing you to watch all the Mock the Vote videos.
May 21st, 2007 at 11:18 pm
Are you people for real, or are you just more of the gang Paddy Cosgrave uses to drive awareness of the campaign by getting them to write off the wall criticisms of it. I smell a set-up here. You people are working for Cosgrave aren’t you?
May 21st, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Fuck off, that’s what I say to that.
I really don’t see how calling them stupid cunts and then demonstrating quite how stupid they are does them much good at all.